Author: Alex Strauss

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    DOE Workers Face Higher Risks for Mesothelioma and Other Cancers

    ByAlex Strauss

    Construction workers at four Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear sites have been exposed to asbestos and other dangerous materials that are putting them at significantly higher risk for mesothelioma, lung disease, and other cancers according to a new report published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Working in construction and other trade jobs at nuclear sites can be risky business. Workers are regularly exposed to a number of cancer-causing substances, including asbestos. Since the mid 1990s, the government has been conducting surveillance programs to determine the health risks faced by workers at four DOE sites: Hanford Nuclear Reservation (Richland, Washington), Oak Ridge Reservation (Oak Ridge, Tennessee), Savannah River Site (Aiken, South Carolina), and the Amchitka site (Alaska). In past studies,…

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    Should the Treatment for Mesothelioma be Individualized? A Frog’s Tale

    ByAlex Strauss

    Onconase®, a new type of cancer drug was tested in malignant mesothelioma patients whose tumors were inoperable. Results were not better than standard therapy although a minority of patients reportedly received a great benefit. The FDA has demanded a further clinical trial and now the future of this drug as a potential mesothelioma therapy may be in jeopardy. This story is not unusual, but it highlights the flaws in the drug approval process for mesothelioma and other cancers. Getting a new cancer drug to market is exceedingly expensive (hundreds of millions of dollars) and can take many years. While criticisms of the approval process have focused on its cost in time and money there has been little critique about one…

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    Tea Tree Oil Stops Mesothelioma Cells in Model

    ByAlex Strauss

    A recent study has suggested that tea tree oil can kill mouse mesothelioma cells in vitro. This indicates its potential usefulness in human mesothelioma, but more research is needed. Tea tree oil comes from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a tree in the myrtle family that is found in Australia. The tree oil has been traditionally used as a topical anti-fungal and antibiotic. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that the compound that is most likely responsible for the oil’s antiseptic properties is called “terpinen-4-ol.” In this study, researchers at the School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences at The University of Western Australia examined the in vitro anticancer activity of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil and terpinen-4-ol. They tested the substances…

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    Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma Tested in Greece

    ByAlex Strauss

    The standard chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma is cisplatin and pemetrexed. Another chemo regimen used in the U.S. and other countries is the combination of cisplatin and gemcitabine. A recent study performed at the Athens University School of Medicine in Greece examined if the chemotherapy combination – gemcitabine plus docetaxel – were more or less effective than the two standard regimens. The reason for the study, according to the authors, was that this combination has not been investigated in mesothelioma before. Gemcitabine (marketed as Gemzar) is used in various cancers including: non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer and breast cancer. Docetaxel (marketed under the name Taxotere) is an anti-mitotic chemotherapy used mainly for the treatment of breast,…

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    Mesothelioma is Increased Risk for Sheet Metal Workers

    ByAlex Strauss

    According to a new study from the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust and Duke University, sheet metal workers are at increased risk for asbestos-related diseases. Sheet metal workers make, install, and maintain a variety of products and equipment that employ sheet metal, including: heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, roofs, siding, skylights and rain gutters.  Sheet metal workers also work on ships, cars, and planes. Between 1986 and 2004, researchers followed 17,345 individuals with 20 or more years of experience in the sheet metal trade.  Information that was collected included smoking history, X-ray results and causes of death.  This data was than analyzed using statistical modeling.  The researchers found a “statistically significant excess mortality” for pleural cancers,mesothelioma, and asbestosis.  Increased…

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    Does Preventive Radiation After Mesothelioma Surgery Help?

    ByAlex Strauss

    Mesothelioma patients in the United Kingdom commonly receive radiation to prevent the cancer from spreading after open chest surgical procedures, even though the benefit of this practice has not yet been confirmed. Many doctors would like to have a more comprehensive clinical study performed on the use of preventive radiation, according to a review published in the July issue of the journal, Lung Cancer. Patients with mesothelioma often have fluid build-up in the space around the lungs (pleural effusion). To remove this fluid, doctors must open up the chest and drain it. However, during this and other invasive procedures such as biopsies and thoracoscopies (examination of the inside of the chest), the cancer can spread along the tracts made by…

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    Mesothelioma Diagnosis Improved by New Tests

    ByAlex Strauss

    An international panel of pathologists has released a consensus statement regarding guidelines for the pathological diagnosis of diffuse malignant mesothelioma. Among the key recommendations: antibody tests (immunohistochemical studies) are crucial to distinguishing mesothelioma from other types of cancers, and a patient’s history of asbestos exposure should not play a role in making the pathologic diagnosis. The expert panel included 16 pathologists from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group. Their goal was to provide guidelines to pathologists who do not have extensive experience in diagnosing mesothelioma. “What started the whole project was that our oncologists at the University of Chicago felt there were pathologists who saw maybe one case of mesothelioma every two or three years,” explains Aliya Husain, MD, Professor of…

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    Mesothelioma Patients Benefit From CT-PET Scan

    ByAlex Strauss

    A combination computed tomography-positron emission tomography (CT-PET) scan is more accurate than either CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at staging mesothelioma, preventing many patients with late-stage cancer from having to undergo invasive surgery, according to a recent study in Clinical Lung Cancer. A common mesothelioma treatment for earlier stage disease combines chemotherapy, radiation, and extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP)—a surgery that removes the entire lung, heart lining (pericardium), and diaphragm. Though it is effective at removing cancer cells, EPP is major surgery. Approximately 5% of patients die from the surgery, and many more develop serious complications such as bleeding, respiratory failure, and blood clots. Because of these risks, it is important to determine which patients are the most appropriate candidates before…

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    139 Ways to Avoid Cancer

    ByAlex Strauss

    Here are 139 ways to help avoid getting cancer from a well documented carcinogen – asbestos.  Asbestos causes mesothelioma, other cancers and asbestosis.  Most of these asbestos caused diseases are considered incurable by mainstream doctors. What is Asbestos? Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral.  Because of its heat resistance and tensile strength it has been used in thousands of products.  As early as the 1930’s and 1940’s manufacturers of asbestos containing products discovered that this mineral could cause diseases including cancer.  Unfortunately, even armed with this knowledge, they did little to protect workers and consumers for the next several decades. No Asbestos Ban in the United States On July 12, 1989, after conducting a ten year study, spending millions of dollars,…

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    Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Sodium selenite, the most common water-soluble form of selenium, is an antioxidant and redox-modulating compound that can kill mesothelioma cells in cell cultures. Now researchers are discovering why it works. This could potentially lead to new treatments for mesothelioma. Investigators from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden previously discovered that selenite triggers the death of mesothelioma cells, particularly sarcomatoid cells, which are the least common but deadliest form of this cancer. In the current study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the investigators aimed to determine the pathways by which selenite kills mesothelioma cells, and why sarcomatoid cells seem to be most sensitive to selenite treatment. “Developing anticancer drugs is difficult,” explains Gustav Nilsonne,…