Author: Alex Strauss

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    Mesothelioma Quality of Life Bolstered by Online Support Group

    ByAlex Strauss

    Recent evidence appears to back the idea that private, guided support groups can help mesothelioma patients navigate the emotional ups-and-downs of this devastating and aggressive cancer – even if they meet via phone and email. In an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the developers of the Mesothelioma Survivor Project report that mesothelioma patients who actively participated in online and telephone support groups made up exclusively of other mesothelioma patients had a better experience of treatment, got their questions answers, and found the group “very helpful”. The Emotional Toll of Mesothelioma Treatment As the authors observe, a mesothelioma diagnosis and subsequent treatment can take a heavy toll on a patient’s health-related quality of life. They cite a 495-patient…

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    The Surprise Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Mesothelioma Survival

    ByAlex Strauss

    New research suggests that the socioeconomic status of some mesothelioma patients may have a greater influence on survival than how close they live to high-level cancer care. Researchers in Australia, a country with a long history of asbestos use and a high per capita incidence of malignant mesothelioma, assessed the cases of more than 900 pleural mesothelioma patients listed in the New South Wales Cancer Registry. Even though all of the patients in the study had received some level of compensation for their illness, their mesothelioma treatments and outcomes differed based on their socioeconomic status. Factors Impacting Mesothelioma Survival The median overall survival of mesothelioma patients in the new study was 10 months. Sixty-seven percent of participants lived in major cities,…

  • Second-Line Mesothelioma Treatment: “Uncertain” Evidence

    ByAlex Strauss

    A trio of researchers from England and Italy say the evidence for second-line treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma is “uncertain at best”. In a new article in JAMA Oncology, the three point out flaws or weaknesses in several of the most often-cited second line mesothelioma treatment studies and call for better-designed clinical trials in the future. First-Line and Second-Line Treatments of Mesothelioma Most pleural mesothelioma patients receive first-line chemotherapy with a combination of pemetrexed (Alimta) and cisplatin. A second-line mesothelioma treatment is a treatment that is administered when cancer recurs after first-line therapy. At present, there is no accepted second-line treatment for pleural mesothelioma. “Early case study reports including some pretreated patients had provided evidence that additional responses are possible…

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    Lung Disease Stigma May Impact Mesothelioma Outcomes

    ByAlex Strauss

    Patients with non-communicable respiratory diseases (NCRDs) such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asthma may feel stigmatized by their illness and those feelings can impact their clinical outcomes. That is the message of a report from researchers in New South Wales, Australia, a country with one of the highest per capita rates of malignant mesothelioma in the world. Experts in public health and behavioral science at the University of Newcastle performed an extensive review of the medical literature for evidence of stigma-related experiences and their potential impact on outcomes in mesothelioma patients and others with NCRDs. Although they found that the risks of stigma-related experiences were low to moderate in this population (and most prevalent in those with lung cancer), they…

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    Mesothelioma Patients See Long-Term Survival with EPP and IMRT

    ByAlex Strauss

    Radical surgery and intensity modulated radiotherapy may lead to long-term survival for select pleural mesothelioma patients, but at what cost? That is the finding, and the question, raised by cancer researchers at Japan’s Kyoto University in a recent article published in the Swedish medical journal, Acta Oncologica. In their study of 21 pleural mesothelioma patients, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) after EPP surgery produced an overall 3-year survival rate of 37.5% – more than double the typical pleural mesothelioma survival rate of 12 to 18 months.   IMRT in Pleural Mesothelioma Treatment IMRT is a form of highly-targeted radiation therapy. By conforming to the shape of a mesothelioma tumor or to the margins of a tumor resection site, IMRT makes it…

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    Fluorescent Nanoprobes Improve Visualization During Mesothelioma Surgery

    ByAlex Strauss

    A technique that uses minute fluorescent particles could light the way for surgeons to see and remove even tiny peritoneal mesothelioma tumors, potentially improving the odds of survival. In a study published in the American Chemical Society journal Nano, researchers with Boston University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital loaded fluorescent rhodamine into microscopic expansile nanoprobes (eNPs), tiny particles designed to expand and release their contents in the presence of cancer. The theory is that when these nanoprobes are injected into a cancer patient and then exposed to a certain wavelength of light, they will illuminate any tumors they have found, making them much easier for the surgeon to thoroughly remove. The team reports that the technique was successfully tested in rats with pancreatic…

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    Surgeons Disagree on Definition of Mesothelioma Surgery

    ByAlex Strauss

    When surgery is indicated for mesothelioma, doctors typically turn to one of two procedures: extrapleural pneumonectomy or pleurectomy/decortication (P/D). Of the two, extrapleural pneumonectomy is the most extensive and risky, involving removal of a lung, the lining of the lung, and parts of the diaphragm. Though somewhat controversial, this mesothelioma surgery is well-defined in most centers. In contrast, a new study finds that surgeons vary widely in their definition of pleurectomy/decortication. To get a better understanding of what mesothelioma surgeons mean when referring to P/D, members of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the International Mesothelioma Interest Group conducted a web-based survey of 62 surgeons from 39 medical centers who had performed at least one mesothelioma…

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    New Insights Into Mesothelioma Risk Among Brake Mechanics

    ByAlex Strauss

    The risk of mesothelioma among automobile brake mechanics may be higher than many in the industry even realize due, in part, to flawed research. A pair of researchers from Harvard and Brown Universities allege that a 2007 report deliberately manipulated asbestos exposure data to cast doubt about the relationship between malignant mesothelioma and brake work. The report in question, an Australian study published in the journal Occupational Medicine, was commissioned and paid for by Daimler Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation. It found the risk of mesothelioma among brake workers to be extremely low. But the Massachusetts researchers say the former study results are unreliable because of how the different groups of brake mechanics were classified. According…

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    Predicting Mesothelioma Prognosis with PET/CT

    ByAlex Strauss

    There is new evidence that the rate at which mesothelioma tumors metabolize glucose could provide significant prognostic information for mesothelioma patients and their doctors. Pleural mesothelioma is an especially fast-growing asbestos-linked malignancy. It typically carries a grim prognosis but several factors can impact mesothelioma survival, including tumor characteristics that can only be measured using advanced PET/CT imaging. Now, researchers in Japan say one of those characteristics, known as total lesion glycolysis (TLG), is especially valuable for determining mesothelioma prognosis. What is FDG PET/CT? Available primarily at larger cancer centers, positron emission tomography/computed tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET/CT) is an advanced nuclear imaging test for measuring the aggressiveness of cancers like malignant mesothelioma. PET with FDG is used to determine the metabolic…

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    BAP1 May Be Valuable for Peritoneal Mesothelioma Prognosis

    ByAlex Strauss

    There is new evidence that the same genetic mutation that is common in people with pleural mesothelioma may be present in many cases of peritoneal mesothelioma, too. BAP1 is a tumor suppressing protein encoded by the BAP1 gene. People with a mutation in this gene are less likely to produce the protein and are more likely to develop certain kinds of cancer, including pleural mesothelioma. Although there is a great deal of information linking BAP1 loss and pleural mesothelioma, which occurs on the lining of the lungs, much less is known about the link between BAP1 and peritoneal mesothelioma, which occurs in the lining of the abdomen. BAP1 and Peritoneal Mesothelioma To better understand the potential role of BAP1 mutation…