Author: Alex Strauss

Chemotherapy | Multi-Modality Therapy | New Drugs | New Studies | Research | Treatments

Blocking This Cellular Process Could Help Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Work Better
ByAlex Strauss November 13, 2017

Researchers in California and Boston say blocking a process by which cells break down and recycle their components into new cells could make mesothelioma tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy. Although the process, known as autophagy, is a natural part of the lives of cells, it can also be induced by certain drugs. Emerging research suggests that the multi-stage process is not only more complex than once thought but may also play a critical role in the growth and development of cancer. Autophagy and Malignant Mesothelioma In a new study conducted at the University of California and Harvard Medical School, researchers used medications to inhibit autophagy in 3-dimensional fragments of pleural mesothelioma tumors before treating them with chemotherapeutic drugs. The team…

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Updates

PD-L1 Linked to Shorter Mesothelioma Survival
ByAlex Strauss November 10, 2017January 7, 2019

Mesothelioma patients who express too much of the protein PD-L1 are less likely to survive the asbestos cancer than those whose cells express less. That is the message from a new Australian study on mesothelioma prognosis, which backs up the findings from a number of previous PD-L1 studies. In a report published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology, oncologist Bella Hai Nguyen and colleagues at The Canberra Hospital in Garran analyzed the clinical data on 58 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients treated there between 2006 and 2016. As with previous studies on PD-L1, the Australian study found a link between overexpression of the protein and poor mesothelioma survival. Unlike other studies, though, the new study finds that an even higher…

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Asia | Biomarkers | Diagnosis | Holistic | International | Prognosis | Surgery | Treatments

Better Nutrition Could Mean Longer Survival for Elderly Mesothelioma Patients
ByAlex Strauss November 9, 2017November 9, 2017

Could eating better improve elderly patient’s chances of surviving malignant pleural mesothelioma? Another new study suggests that it may. An article in the journal Surgical Oncology found that lung cancer patients who score low on a nutritional status assessment tool called the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) have worse outcomes after surgery. The GNRI is a simple tool based on weight and levels of the protein albumin in blood serum. Albumin nourishes the tissues and transports substances like vitamins, hormones, and minerals throughout the body. A number of previous studies have linked GNRI status to poor outcomes in other conditions including esophageal cancer, chronic limb ischemia, and people on dialysis. The new study is the first to find a link…

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

Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma: Who Are the Best Candidates?
ByAlex Strauss November 6, 2017November 6, 2017

Immunotherapy is emerging as one of the most promising new treatment approaches for a wide range of cancers, including malignant pleural mesothelioma, the treatment-resistant lung-related cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Every year, more than 2,500 Americans are diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. Most will die of the illness within 18 months, even with the most advanced chemotherapeutic, radiotherapeutic, and surgical treatments. But immunotherapy, which recruits the body’s own immune system to help fight the cancer, may be a more effective option for some mesothelioma patients. Now, a new study conducted by researchers in Italy, with support from California-based Genentech, suggests that there may be a way to identify which mesothelioma patients are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy. Molecular and Histopathological…

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Chemotherapy | Europe | Immune Systems | International | New Drugs | Research | Treatments

Three-Drug Combo is New Standard of Care for Pleural Mesothelioma in France
ByAlex Strauss November 2, 2017

France has a new standard of care for people with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. Along with the chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and pemetrexed (Alimta), French doctors are now regularly also using bevacizumab (Avastin) to boost the effectiveness of mesothelioma chemotherapy. The addition of Avastin to standard mesothelioma care came after the 2016 French-led mesothelioma avastin cisplatin pemetrexed study (MAPS) showed that the VEGF inhibitor improved mesothelioma survival by 23 percent. In the US, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines have also included this three-drug combination as an option for standard first-line mesothelioma treatment since 2016. New Review of Avastin for Mesothelioma In a new article in the medical journal Future Oncology, doctors from Bichat-Claude Bernard Hospital in Paris reviewed the safety…

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Biomarkers | Diagnosis | Europe | International | New Drugs | New Studies | Research | Treatments

FGFR Inhibitors May Offer New Way to Treat Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss October 31, 2017

Drugs that inhibit a particular cell signaling pathway might offer a new way to help treat the intractable asbestos cancer, malignant mesothelioma. Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) is a tyrosine kinase signaling pathway that plays a fundamental role in the development of embryos, tissue regeneration, and the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Recent evidence suggests that it may also impact the development of cancers such as pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. Now, research conducted in London and The Netherlands further suggests that a subset of mesothelioma patients may be especially sensitive to drugs that interrupt the FGFR pathway. Testing FGFR Sensitivity A research team of scientists at Netherlands Cancer Institute and University College London used a range of tests, including…

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

More Evidence that Red Wine Compound Could Fight Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss October 27, 2017

There is more evidence that a compound derived from the resveratrol in red wine could have a role to play in the prevention and treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. The chemical, called pterostilbene, is a natural analog of resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol found in red wine and the skin of red grapes. Resveratrol has been studied extensively for its potential to combat treatment-resistant cancers such as pleural mesothelioma. Pterostilbene and Lung Cancer Pterostilbene is a natural analog of resveratrol, meaning that it is chemically similar. Although there is much less research behind pterostilbene, according to the supplement site Examine.com, for some applications it may be even more potent than resveratrol and better absorbed. In a new study of the anti-cancer…

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Asbestos | Asia | Biomarkers | Diagnosis | New Studies | Research

BAP1 Test Offers More Accurate Mesothelioma Diagnosis
ByAlex Strauss October 23, 2017

A Chinese research study finds that adding a test for expression of the BAP1 tumor-suppressor protein to standard biomarker testing increases the diagnostic accuracy for malignant pleural mesothelioma to 93 percent. Pleural mesothelioma is especially challenging to diagnose and to distinguish from lung cancer. The distinction is important, however, because the two cancers respond differently to different types of drugs. In addition, the earlier malignant mesothelioma can be identified, the more likely it is to respond to treatment, resulting in longer survival. BAP1 Expression and Mesothelioma Risk In 2011, a pivotal study of familial cases of malignant mesothelioma determined that an inherited mutation on the BAP1 gene made certain asbestos-exposed people more likely than others to develop mesothelioma. Another study…

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Europe | International | New Studies | Prognosis | Research | Surgery | Treatments

Age May Have Little Impact on Mesothelioma Surgery Outcomes
ByAlex Strauss October 20, 2017

Being older does not necessarily reduce a patient’s odds of benefiting from mesothelioma surgery. That is the good news from a study conducted by mesothelioma experts at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, England. The bad news is that too many elderly mesothelioma patients are not being referred for adjuvant treatments that could improve their surgical outcomes. Adjuvant Therapy and Mesothelioma Survival Adjuvant therapy is a treatment – such as radiation or chemotherapy – that a mesothelioma patient receives after surgery. Adjuvant therapies are often used to reduce the chances that residual cancer cells will seed new mesothelioma tumors after surgery. Neoadjuvant therapies are those that are used prior to surgery, usually as a way to reduce the size of the mesothelioma…

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Asbestos | Diagnosis | Europe | International | New Techniques | Prevention | Updates

New Assessment Identifies People at High Risk for Malignant Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss October 18, 2017

Scottish researchers say they have come up with a better way to decide which asbestos-exposed people might benefit from mesothelioma screening or even mesothelioma prevention measures. They have developed an assessment tool to gather detailed information from workers about the time, duration, and nature of their asbestos exposure in order to better quantify their mesothelioma risk. “The assessment is based on the tasks carried out and includes parameters for substance emission potential, activity emission potential, the effectiveness of any local control measures, passive emission, the fractional time the asbestos source is active, and the efficiency of any respiratory protection worn,” writes lead author John W, Cherrie with the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. Measuring Asbestos Exposure Asbestos is the…

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