Author: Alex Strauss

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    Cancer Centers May Not Manage Mesothelioma Symptoms Adequately, Study Finds

    ByAlex Strauss

    UK researchers say the number of patients receiving palliative care to manage mesothelioma symptoms may be lagging behind the need. Nottingham University conducted a needs assessment of more than 700 patients over two years. Seventy percent of patients with pleural mesothelioma or another thoracic cancer completed a questionnaire shortly after diagnosis. Their results revealed a high unmet need for palliation to manage mesothelioma symptoms and those of other thoracic malignancies. How Does Palliative Care Help Manage Mesothelioma Symptoms? Palliative care is any kind of care that helps patients manage mesothelioma symptoms. These can be physical symptoms like breathing difficulty or fatigue. Or they can be psychological symptoms like fear and worry. Palliative care to manage mesothelioma symptoms can include things…

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    Predicting Thyroid Disease After Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Researchers in Italy say it is possible to predict which mesothelioma patients are likely to develop thyroid disease after immunotherapy. They are advising their colleagues to use the technique for better management of malignant mesothelioma. Immune checkpoint inhibitors like Keytruda are improving the outlook for people with asbestos cancer. But immunotherapy is not without risk. Certain people are prone to develop thyroid disease after immunotherapy. If doctors know ahead of time which mesothelioma patients are at risk, they can be better prepared to manage problems later.   Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Thyroid Disease after Immunotherapy Pleural mesothelioma is extremely difficult to treat. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have given many mesothelioma patients new hope. Recent studies suggest that some of these drugs…

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    New Research Reveals Gene Signature for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Researchers in China say they have come up with a three-gene signature for mesothelioma. The gene signature may help doctors determine mesothelioma prognosis and plan treatment. Pleural mesothelioma is challenging to diagnose and even harder to treat. Many patients do not receive a diagnosis until the disease is in an advanced stage. The new study finds that the gene signature for mesothelioma is “significantly associated”  with overall survival in people with the pleural variety. Testing a Gene Signature for Mesothelioma Genes play an important role in the development and progression of cancers like mesothelioma. The Chinese researchers started by searching for other studies on  mesothelioma prognosis and genes. “The lack of relevant search results indicated that no gene prognostic signatures…

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    Research Highlights Connection Between BDNF and Mesothelioma Survival

    ByAlex Strauss

    French scientists say there is a clear connection between a biomarker called BDNF and mesothelioma survival. The research may open the door to improved mesothelioma diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. BDNF stands for brain-derived neurotrophic factor. It is a protein found in the brain and other tissues. In a new published study, researchers at the University of Nantes found that mesothelioma patients had higher BDNF levels than people with other cancers. Mesothelioma patients with the highest BDNF levels had the shortest mesothelioma survival. Linking BDNF and Mesothelioma Survival A biomarker is a substance that can be used to show the presence of disease. BDNF is a soluble mesothelioma biomarker. Soluble biomarkers are in body fluid and can be collected without a…

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    Staging of Mesothelioma Could Change with Discovery of New Lymph Nodes

    ByAlex Strauss

    A recent discovery at the University of Maryland could dramatically change how doctors handle the staging of malignant pleural mesothelioma. More accurate staging could lead to better mesothelioma treatment outcomes and longer survival. More than three quarters of people diagnosed with mesothelioma have the pleural variety. Pleural mesothelioma is the deadliest form of asbestos cancer. Most patients do not live longer than 18 months, even with aggressive treatment. Cancer staging is the process doctors use to determine how advanced the cancer is. Staging of mesothelioma is important because it directly impacts treatment decisions. But staging of mesothelioma – just like diagnosis and treatment – can be difficult. Lymph Nodes May Help in Staging of Mesothelioma The discovery was made by…

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    Mesothelioma Research Demonstrates Power of Intrapleural Immunotherapy

    ByAlex Strauss

    New metadata suggests that intrapleural immunotherapy is a powerful, targeted way to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma.   Pleural mesothelioma is a deadly cancer of the lining around the lungs. It is caused by asbestos exposure and is notoriously difficult to treat. Now, a new study suggests that delivering immunotherapy treatments directly into the pleural space where mesothelioma tumors form may help these drugs work even better. What is Intrapleural Immunotherapy? Immunotherapy treatments harness the immune system to help fight cancer. Immunotherapy works alone or in combination with other treatments like chemotherapy or surgery. Many researchers and doctors believe that immunotherapy is the future of mesothelioma treatment. Intrapleural immunotherapy is a more targeted way to deliver these cancer-fighting messengers. It does…

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    Childhood Environmental Asbestos Exposure and Malignant Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Environmental asbestos exposure in childhood can dramatically raise the risk for malignant mesothelioma later in life. That is the finding of new mesothelioma research conducted in Denmark. The study appears in the newest issue of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. It included more than 12,000 people who attended school near an asbestos cement plant during a 30-year period. Researchers discovered that kids educated near the plant were much more likely to receive a mesothelioma diagnosis as adults. Environmental Asbestos Exposure in Danish Children Asbestos was once thought to be an ideal component of building products such as insulation, roof tiles, and cement. It has high tensile strength, is impervious to heat and flame, and is and highly resistant to corrosion. On…

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    Adjuvant Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma Extends Survival

    ByAlex Strauss

    The largest study ever conducted on adjuvant radiotherapy for mesothelioma shows that it can help patients live longer. Pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer that tends to be highly resistant to standard treatments. Doctors usually have to use a combination of treatments to attack it. These may include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and/or immunotherapy. But there are still many questions about what combination of therapies to use and in what order. Adjuvant radiotherapy for mesothelioma is radiation delivered after surgery. Now, radiation oncology researchers in Texas say this approach can extend mesothelioma survival. Killing Mesothelioma Cells with Radiation Mesothelioma cells are hard to kill. Chemotherapy with Alimta (pemetrexed) and cisplatin is the most common treatment. But mesothelioma tumors usually start to…

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    Defactinib Fails Again as a Maintenance Therapy for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    There has been another setback for a drug that showed promise as a maintenance therapy for mesothelioma. Defactinib is a focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor. FAK is a signaling pathway that allows stem cells to give rise to new cancer cells. The developers of defactinib hoped that FAK inhibition would help keep mesothelioma tumors from growing back after chemotherapy. But a team of international researchers has once again concluded that the drug does not work as a maintenance therapy for mesothelioma. In Search of a Maintenance Therapy for Mesothelioma Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that is very hard to treat. Standard chemotherapy drugs like pemetrexed, cisplatin, gemcitabine and vinorelbine can sometimes shrink tumors, but they usually come back. Doctors…

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    Chemotherapy with Alimta: Putting More Gold in the Gold Standard

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new Italian study suggests there may be a more effective way to deliver mesothelioma chemotherapy with Alimta. Chemotherapy with Alimta (pemetrexed) is the gold standard treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. But fewer than 40 percent of mesothelioma patients see improvement when they receive the drug by standard infusion. Now, researchers in biotechnology and nanomedicine think they may have found a way around the limits of chemotherapy with Alimta. Tiny particles of gold may be the answer. Why Chemotherapy with Alimta Does Not Always Work Even though most mesothelioma patients receive chemotherapy with Alimta at some point, it is usually only moderately effective. That is because pemetrexed is a highly potent drug that can cause deadly side effects at high doses….