Author: Alex Strauss

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    New Tools Help Pathologists Make Mesothelioma Diagnosis

    ByAlex Strauss

    Pathologists may be able to do a better job of diagnosing mesothelioma in the lab, thanks to a new set of tools released by the International Mesothelioma Interest Group. A rare malignancy, mesothelioma typically carries a poor prognosis. Part of the reason may be the difficulty of making an accurate diagnosis. Even with sophisticated testing capabilities, including immunohistochemical staining and electron microscopy, it can be difficult to distinguish mesothelioma from other types of cancer. Now, pathologists who work with the International Mesothelioma Interest Group have come up with a list of guidelines they hope will help streamline the process in laboratories around the world. Drawing on their own experiences, as well as studies in peer-reviewed publications and text books, the group came…

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    Monoclonal Antibody a ‘Novel Treatment’ for Mesothelioma?

    ByAlex Strauss

    A drug currently used to treat colorectal cancer and some types of head and neck cancer may also offer a new way to combat mesothelioma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an asbestos-linked cancer that spreads across the mesothelial tissue surrounding the lungs. The disease is highly resistant to most conventional therapies and is often fatal within a year of diagnosis.  As the number of mesothelioma cases continues to increase in many developing counties, scientists around the world are studying mesothelioma cells for clues that could help them develop more effective treatments. One clue is the overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR is overexpressed by mesothelioma cells and several other types of cancer cells. The monoclonal antibody cetuximab, which is derived…

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    Mesothelioma Risk High if Raised Near Asbestos

    ByAlex Strauss

    There’s more evidence that exposure to asbestos early in life increases the risk of mesothelioma and a host of other cancers. A team of Australian researchers have released the results of a study of more than 2,400 adults who lived in an asbestos mining town during their childhoods (under the age of 15). The study participants all lived in a town where crocidolite, also known as blue asbestos, was present. Crocidolite is the most common type of asbestos found in Australia. Among the 2,460 people evaluated, there were 217 (93 female) incident cancers and 218 (70 female) deaths. Compared to other Australians women, the women who had lived around asbestos as children were more likely to have mesothelioma, ovarian, and brain cancers….

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    Mesothelioma Patients Lack Psychosocial Support

    ByAlex Strauss

    Most newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients need more psychosocial support than they are getting, according to a British sociologist. Sara Arber is a professor in the University of Surrey’s School of Health and Social Care in Surrey, England.  To conduct a study on the psychological and social impact of a mesothelioma diagnosis, Arber and colleague L. Spencer conducted face-to-face interviews with 10 mesothelioma patients within three months of their diagnoses. After analyzing the data, the two concluded that many newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients feel uncertainty and a lack of control surrounding their illness, leading to what they call “emotional, physical and psychosocial” distress.  They report that mesothelioma patients they talked to tended to feel like they were hearing “all bad news” from their…

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    New Chemo Research: Good and Bad News for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Three new published studies contain a mixed bag of findings on the effectiveness of chemotherapy for mesothelioma. In a study designed to help doctors predict which mesothelioma patients will respond to pemetrexed-based chemotherapy, the most common first-line treatment, results were promising. Pemetrexed works, in part, by preventing mesothelioma cells from synthesizing several key enzymes, including thymidylate synthase (TS). Scientists involved in the multi-center pemetrexed study found that, as predicted, high levels of TS during therapy were a sign that the drug was not working to fight a patient’s mesothelioma. In a separate cellular process, pemetrexed is converted into a more effective form by folylpoly-y-glutamate synthetase (FPGS).  In the same study, patients who had high FPGS expression saw better mesothelioma tumor response…

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    Cediranib Fails Phase II Mesothelioma Trial

    ByAlex Strauss

    Some disappointing news for mesothelioma patients and doctors who had high hopes for the chemotherapy drug cediranib.  The oral cancer drug, made by Astra Zeneca, failed to produce the results researchers were looking for in a phase II trial. It also caused a host of serious side effects and was “poorly tolerated” at the only dose high enough to show any clinical improvement in mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer, claiming an estimated 2,500 lives in the U.S. each year. Typically caused by inhalation or ingestion of the mineral asbestos, mesothelioma spreads across the membranous linings around the lungs, heart or abdominal organs. It is usually fatal. Studies have found that patients with higher serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor…

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    Plant Compound May Slow Mesothelioma Tumors

    ByAlex Strauss

    A natural compound found in red onions, tea and the skins of red apples may play a valuable role in the ongoing fight against malignant mesothelioma. These and other fruits, vegetables, leaves and grains contain quercetin, a flavonoid which has been found to induce apoptosis (cell death) in certain types of cancer cells. Now, for the first time, researchers in Korea have tested the compound’s effectiveness against pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive asbestos-related cancer with no known cure.  Using cultured mesothelioma cells for testing, the scientists treated the samples with 20-80 µM of quercetin.  The compound reportedly reduced the viability of the mesothelioma cells while, at the same time, increasing the rate of apoptosis. At the heart of quercetin’s apparent anti-mesothelioma effect…

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    Study Supports CRS/HIPEC for Peritoneal Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Another study supports the safety of a new treatment approach for peritoneal mesothelioma that combines cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC). The study finds the procedure safe, even when it is performed by surgeons who are new to the technique. HIPEC is a secondary treatment for mesothelioma and other cancers used in combination with open surgery. It involves bathing the open body cavity with a mixture of heated chemotherapy medicines. The drugs are designed to attack mesothelioma and other cancer cells left behind after cytoreductive surgery and to prevent new cancer cells from forming. The heat is believed to help the drugs more easily penetrate into tissue. Cancer researchers at the University of Arizona, which has recently begun using CRS/HIPEC,…

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    Europe Launches First Mesothelioma Tissue Bank

    ByAlex Strauss

    A hospital in Cambridge, England has opened Europe’s first dedicated mesothelioma tissue bank, an important step forward for doctors and researchers working to develop a treatment for this aggressive cancer. Although rare at 2,300 cases annually in the UK, mesothelioma is a serious and growing problem in that country, which now has the world’s highest per capita mesothelioma mortality rate. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer with no known cure. It is caused by exposure to asbestos. The ‘Mesobank UK’ tissue bank recently launched at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge (a part of Cambridge University Health Partners) will provide vital tissue samples and anonymous, detailed clinical information which can be used to conduct research studies. In a hospital press release, Dr. Robert Rintoul, who…

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    New Chemotherapy Approaches for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A pair of new studies may help doctors improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for mesothelioma. The first of two new chemotherapy studies tested the value of adding bevacizumab to the drug combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed often used to treat mesothelioma. Bevacizumab (Avastin) inhibits angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels needed to feed cancer cells. It is currently used to treat a number of different cancers, including colorectal, lung, kidney and ovarian cancer. In the U.S., it has also been used to treat the brain cancer glioblastoma.  Results have been mixed. In a multicenter study led by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, bevacizumab was added to the cisplatin/pemetrexed combination for 52 previously untreated mesothelioma…