Author: Alex Strauss

Chemotherapy | Multi-Modality Therapy | Radiation Therapy | Surgery | Treatments

Many Pleural Mesothelioma Patients May Be Missing Out on Life-Extending Treatments
ByAlex Strauss December 7, 2017

Too many patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma are not getting the trimodality treatment protocol that could significantly change their outcomes. That is the finding of a newly-published study conducted at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Researchers reviewed the records of more than 20,000 patients in the National Cancer Database with a definitive diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma between 2004 and 2014. They discovered that, even though a combination of therapies has been shown to yield the best mesothelioma outcomes, too many patients were not being given the option of multi-modal treatment. Mesothelioma Treatment Patterns “Vary Widely” Among the 20,561 mesothelioma patients included in the study, only 4,028 underwent cancer-directed surgery. Of those, just 533 (2.6% of the total) received…

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Biomarkers | New Studies | Prognosis | Research | Surgery | Treatments

Protein May Help Predict Complications After Peritoneal Mesothelioma Surgery
ByAlex Strauss December 4, 2017

Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center say they may have found a way to help predict which peritoneal mesothelioma patients are most likely to develop complications after cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Cytoreductive surgery to remove as much of a mesothelioma tumor as possible, followed by a rinse of heated chemotherapy drugs in the abdomen is known as CRS + HIPEC. It has become a standard treatment for people with the abdominal form of the asbestos cancer known as malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. In a new study, researchers analyzed cases of all patients who underwent CRS + HIPEC at MD Anderson between June of 2014 and February of 2016 to find commonalities among those who did not do well. Their findings…

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Alternatives | Asbestos | Asia | International | Prevention | Symptoms | Treatments

A New Approach to Reducing Mesothelioma Risk in Asbestos-Exposed People
ByAlex Strauss December 2, 2017

The Japanese researchers who first suggested that removing iron from the body could help prevent malignant mesothelioma have come up with a way to make the process even easier and safer. In their original 2016 study, scientists at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine induced a pre-mesothelioma state in lab rats by injecting their abdomens with deadly crocidolite asbestos. As predicted, the rats exhibited all the precursors to the development of peritoneal mesothelioma – inflammation, higher iron levels, and oxidative stress. The team then attempted to lower the risk and stave off mesothelioma by giving the rats an iron-removing agent called desferal. Excess Iron Can Lead to a Mesothelioma Diagnosis The good news from the original study is that removing…

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Asbestos | Asia | Biomarkers | Diagnosis | International | Prevention

Immune System Changes Could Signal Mesothelioma Risk
ByAlex Strauss November 30, 2017

The state of an asbestos-exposed person’s immune system might give doctors clues about how likely they are to develop malignant mesothelioma. It’s a fear for any person who has worked around asbestos – that one day they may develop the asbestos-linked cancer, mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma can take decades to develop, causes few symptoms at first, and is extremely hard to treat. Right now, there is no definitive way to screen for it. Even making a mesothelioma diagnosis is a challenge. Now, a team of occupational medicine experts in Japan and China have released an article in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine detailing a list of biomarkers they believe may indicate asbestos-induced immune changes that could result in mesothelioma. How Asbestos…

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Alternatives | Asia | Holistic | International | New Studies | Research

Fish and Sunlight May Lower Mesothelioma Risk
ByAlex Strauss November 27, 2017

Want to lower your risk for malignant mesothelioma and other common cancers? Get more sunlight, eat more fish, and consider Vitamin D supplements. That advice comes from Michael Holick, MD, PhD, a long-time expert in Vitamin D at Boston University and is supported by a growing body of new research. In an article in the Journal of Clinical & Translational Endocrinology, Dr. Holick discusses the relationship between blood levels of Vitamin D and deadly cancers like malignant mesothelioma. “Although the exact mechanism by which enhanced vitamin D status reduces risk for cancer is not completely understood,” he writes, “there is evidence that by raising blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D this metabolite can enter a wide variety of cells in the…

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Diagnosis | Europe | International | New Studies | Research

Improving Communication for Mesothelioma Patients and Providers
ByAlex Strauss November 25, 2017

When it comes to communicating with malignant mesothelioma patients and their families, a longitudinal approach where patients are followed throughout their cancer journey may be most effective. That is the suggestion of a lung cancer communication study newly published in the European Journal of Cancer Care. Researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and the University of Utah Population Health Sciences Department conducted interviews with nine patients with metastatic lung cancer and nine of their relatives, as well as with a panel of 15 healthcare providers involved in their care. “Patients and relatives described a situation of shock and coping deficits with moments of insufficient communication and lack of continuity of care,” writes study author Matthias Villalobos, MD, a…

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Asia | Australia | International | Mesothelioma | Symptoms | Treatments

Pleural Catheters May Shorten Hospital Time for Mesothelioma Patients
ByAlex Strauss November 23, 2017

Mesothelioma patients with a buildup of lung fluid may spend less time in the hospital if they are treated with an indwelling pleural catheter than if they undergo talc pleurodesis. An international team of researchers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong have just published the results of a two-year clinical trial of 146 pleural mesothelioma patients who were suffering from the symptoms of malignant pleural effusion. Patients were randomly selected to receive either an indwelling pleural catheter to continually drain off the pleural fluid or talc pleurodesis, a procedure designed to close up the pleural space and prevent fluid from collecting there. Their findings suggest that indwelling pleural catheters may have advantages over talc pleurodesis in the treatment…

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Europe | International | New Studies | Prevention | Radiation Therapy | Research | Treatments

Prophylactic Radiotherapy May Prevent Spread of Pleural Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss November 21, 2017

Irradiating the sites where mesothelioma treatments are performed as a way to prevent new tumors is “effective, well tolerated, simple, fast and cost effective”. According to French researchers this prophylactic radiotherapy has the potential to extend mesothelioma survival with few downsides. Malignant Mesothelioma Can Spread After Intervention A number of mesothelioma treatments involve the insertion of some kind of instrument into the tumor site. In some cases, these may be drains to remove fluid (called pleural effusions) that collects around the lungs as malignant mesothelioma tumors grow. In other cases, they may be needles or other instruments for collecting cell samples during ultrasound-guided needle biopsies or mesothelioma tumor resection. Any time an instrument is inserted into the tumor area and…

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Biomarkers | Diagnosis | Immune Systems | Immunotherapy | Research | Treatments

Study Highlights Challenge of Selecting Patients for Mesothelioma Immunotherapy
ByAlex Strauss November 20, 2017

A new study is casting some doubt on the value of a protein called PD-L1 as a way to select mesothelioma patients for targeted immunotherapy. Several of the most promising new treatments for malignant mesothelioma, including pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and avelumab (Avastin), are designed to inhibit PD-L1, a protein cells used to evade detection by the immune system. PD-L1 inhibitors like Keytruda have become an important focus of mesothelioma research in the past two years. But a new Mayo Clinic study suggests that PD-L1 may not be the miracle target that scientists and mesothelioma patients have been hoping for. That is because PD-L1 levels can sometimes vary widely, depending on when and from where the tissue samples were collected. PD-L1 Expression…

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Europe | International | Multi-Modality Therapy | New Studies | Radiation Therapy | Research | Surgery | Treatments

High Dose Radiotherapy Improves Mesothelioma Survival in New Study
ByAlex Strauss November 18, 2017

Treating malignant pleural mesothelioma patients with high doses of targeted radiotherapy after surgery or biopsy may significantly extend their lives. That’s the message from a multi-center mesothelioma study conducted in Italy and recently published in a French medical journal. Mesothelioma Treatment with Radiotherapy Scientists analyzed the cases of 36 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2012. Nineteen of the patients were treated with a surgical procedure called pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) to removed their diseased pleural lining, part of their diaphragm, and other tissues that could host new pleural mesothelioma tumors. The remaining 17 mesothelioma patients only had biopsies of their tumors. All of the patients underwent five days of hypofractionated (high dose) radiotherapy to one side of their chest….

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Author: Alex Strauss

Many Pleural Mesothelioma Patients May Be Missing Out on Life-Extending Treatments

Protein May Help Predict Complications After Peritoneal Mesothelioma Surgery

A New Approach to Reducing Mesothelioma Risk in Asbestos-Exposed People

Immune System Changes Could Signal Mesothelioma Risk

Fish and Sunlight May Lower Mesothelioma Risk

Improving Communication for Mesothelioma Patients and Providers

Pleural Catheters May Shorten Hospital Time for Mesothelioma Patients

Prophylactic Radiotherapy May Prevent Spread of Pleural Mesothelioma

Study Highlights Challenge of Selecting Patients for Mesothelioma Immunotherapy

High Dose Radiotherapy Improves Mesothelioma Survival in New Study

United States Sources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNITED STATES

Creighton University School of Medicine, UNITED STATES

David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, UNITED STATES

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, UNITED STATES

Mayo Clinic, UNITED STATES

Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, UNITED STATES

National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, UNITED STATES

University of Chicago, Medical Center, UNITED STATES

University of Maryland School of Medicine, UNITED STATES

University of Hawaii Cancer Center, UNITED STATES

Wake Forest University School of Medicine, UNITED STATES