Author: Alex Strauss

Asbestos | Europe | International | Prevention

Mesothelioma Fears Reignited by New Asbestos Makeup Allegations
ByAlex Strauss March 28, 2018March 28, 2018

The American accessories chain Claire’s is in trouble again after Dutch health and safety authorities claim to have found mesothelioma-causing asbestos in makeup powder for teenage girls. The news was reported today by Dutch news outlet DutchNews.nl. According to the website, the ILT and NVWA (Dutch health and safety authorities) have ordered two types of makeup – a face power and a contouring powder – pulled from the shelves while an investigation is conducted. The inspectors reportedly found 2% to 5% of asbestos, a known carcinogen and the primary cause of mesothelioma, in the face powder and 0.1% to 2% in the contouring powder. The US Environmental Protection Agency has stated that no amount of asbestos exposure is without risk…

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Alternatives | Holistic | Prevention | Symptoms | Treatments

National Nutrition Month: The Role of Food in Mesothelioma Survival
ByAlex Strauss March 27, 2018

Given the aggressive and treatment-resistant nature of malignant mesothelioma, it can be frustrating for patients to hear news about experimental therapies that may be decades away from clinical use. But patients are far from powerless, as the stories of mesothelioma survivors like Paul Kraus prove. At 20+ years post-diagnosis, Kraus is the longest-living mesothelioma survivor in the world and credits his longevity, in large measure, to dietary and lifestyle changes. During this year’s National Nutrition Month, the Academy of Nutrition and DIetetics is reminding everyone of the power of nutrition to impact health and wellbeing. This year’s theme, “Go Further with Food”, is a fitting slogan for mesothelioma patients and those with other cancers. Nutrition and Malignant Mesothelioma Malignant mesothelioma…

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Asbestos | Biomarkers | Diagnosis | New Studies | Research

How Asbestos Turns Healthy Cells into Mesothelioma Tumors
ByAlex Strauss March 25, 2018March 25, 2018

Scientists are a step closer to understanding how malignant mesothelioma may take hold in the body thanks to new research from the University of Vermont. A team of pathologists, biologists, and geneticists have released a report suggesting that exosomes, tiny vesicles secreted by cells, undergo dangerous changes when the cells encounter asbestos fibers. According to the researchers, exosomes from asbestos-exposed cells can carry gene-altering cargo that may then go on to “infect” cells on the mesothelial membranes where mesothelioma tumors start. Exosomes and Mesothelioma Risk To test the theory that these exosomes may prompt changes that results in pleural mesothelioma, researchers focused on lung epithelial cells and macrophages (white blood cells). These are typically the first cells to come in…

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Alternatives | Europe | International | New Drugs | New Studies | Research | Treatments

Could Drug “Repurposing” Be the Cure for Mesothelioma?
ByAlex Strauss March 22, 2018

An exciting new use for an old drug is shining a spotlight on the potential for repurposing previously approved drugs to treat malignant mesothelioma faster and more effectively. Malignant mesothelioma is the cancer most closely associated with the mineral asbestos. Although it’s incidence is slowly declining in some parts of the world, mesothelioma continues to rise in many poor countries where asbestos regulation is lax or nonexistent. While there are some exciting new therapies on the horizon there is still no cure for mesothelioma. But some scientists say using existing drugs to treat the asbestos cancer might be the key to curing it sooner rather than later. Parasite Drug the Latest to Show Promise for Mesothelioma The latest repurposed drug…

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Asbestos | Europe | International | Statistics

Malignant Mesothelioma Versus Asbestos Use: Which Costs More?
ByAlex Strauss March 19, 2018

There is some compelling new evidence on the economic impact of banning the mineral asbestos, the primary cause of the malignant mesothelioma. According to a team of economic experts and researchers at both the World Health Organization and Australia’s Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, asbestos bans don’t have a negative impact on a country’s gross domestic product or employment rates. The news comes as rates of both pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma continue to rise worldwide, largely because many third world countries have not only failed to ban asbestos, but are ramping up its use. Asbestos and Malignant Mesothelioma As early as the 1940s, when asbestos was a common component of thousands of building products and insulating materials, there were indications that…

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Biomarkers | Diagnosis | New Techniques | Prognosis | Radiation Therapy | Treatments

New Technology Could Change How Mesothelioma Treatment is Monitored
ByAlex Strauss March 15, 2018

New technology could eventually make it easier, less painful, and less expensive to track the progress of patients undergoing treatment for malignant mesothelioma and other cancers. A research team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison pharmacy professor Seungpyo Hong has developed what they say is a more efficient method for capturing free-floating cancer cells in the blood. The developers say the system is far more effective than existing systems at capturing these hard-to-find circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and could be used to supplement other technologies for tracking cancer treatment. Mesothelioma Biopsy vs CTC Tracking Although mesothelioma therapies have advanced in recent years, there is still no cure for the asbestos-linked cancer. As scientists work to develop new kinds of treatments like…

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Alternatives | Chemotherapy | Holistic | New Studies | Research | Symptoms | Treatments

Home-Based Rehab Helps Mesothelioma Patients Bounce Back After Chemotherapy
ByAlex Strauss March 13, 2018December 30, 2018

New evidence suggests that a pulmonary rehabilitation program that comes to them might help patients recover after pleural mesothelioma treatment. Experts in pulmonary cancers at several French institutions recently published what they called a “real-life feasibility study” of home-based rehab in patients who had received chemotherapy for either lung cancer or malignant pleural mesothelioma. Previous research has shown that these patients are typically less physically active and experience a lower quality of life as a result of the cancer and/or the treatment. Managing Mesothelioma Rehabilitation at Home In the new French study, patients who had undergone chemotherapy for lung cancer or pleural mesothelioma were screened to see if they would be good candidates for a rehabilitation program offered in their…

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Diagnosis | Europe | Holistic | International | New Studies | Research | Symptoms | Treatments

Measuring the Emotional Toll of Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss March 9, 2018March 9, 2018

A new report suggests that too many mesothelioma patients and their families may not be coping as well as they could be with the implications of their diagnosis. Italian researchers in environmental health, occupational disease, and psychology conducted extensive interviews with 10 mesothelioma patients and 9 of their caregivers. In a report in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, the team concluded that families with malignant mesothelioma are often more focused on their symptoms than on how their illness will impact their lives and that of their loved ones. The Subjective Experience of Mesothelioma Although several national and international reports have emphasized the importance of managing the psychological and social implications of a mesothelioma diagnosis, the Italian researchers say not enough…

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Diagnosis | Europe | International | Multi-Modality Therapy | Scans | Treatments

PET Beats CT in Study of Mesothelioma Staging Tools
ByAlex Strauss March 6, 2018

When it comes to accurately assessing the extent of an individual case of malignant pleural mesothelioma, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) may be more effective than Computed Tomography (CT). A combination of the two is even better. That conclusion comes from researchers at the University of Toronto who analyzed the cases of more than 100 mesothelioma patients being considered for multimodality therapy at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. Researchers compared the accuracy of PET and CT separately and together to determine how effective each was at identifying 1) the extent to which mesothelioma had spread to the lymph nodes (N stage) and 2) the number and location of metastatic mesothelioma tumors (M stage). Both N and M staging are used…

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Asia | International | New Studies | Research | Surgery | Treatments

New Surgical Technique May Improve Mesothelioma Survival
ByAlex Strauss March 4, 2018

A new study is asking the question, is it possible to remove a malignant mesothelioma tumor with pleurectomy-decortication (P/D) without risking the spread of new tumors? P/D, the lung-sparing pleural mesothelioma surgery, has become the preferred approach in many cases where mesothelioma has not spread to the lung tissue. Most studies have found that P/D has a lower complication rate, produces less pain, and allows for faster recovery than the more radical extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), in which surgeons remove a lung along with the diseased pleural membrane. But as a group of Japanese researchers note in a new article in the journal Surgery Today, the current method of performing P/D also poses significant risks for mesothelioma patients. One of these is the…

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