Search Results for: epithelioid

For Select Mesothelioma Patients EPP Improves Survival
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For Select Mesothelioma Patients EPP Improves Survival

ByAlex Strauss

A new study has confirmed the value of the surgical approach known as extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma in select patients. The pleural membrane separates the lungs from other internal organs. Pleural mesothelioma starts in the pleural tissue where it can cause the membrane to thicken and stiffen, restricting the ability of the lungs to expand. Eventually, the pleural cancer may metastasize into the lungs and other internal membranes. Extrapleural pneumonectomy attempts to prevent the mesothelioma cancer from further spreading to other parts of the body cavity by removing the tissues most likely to be effected. During an extrapleural pneumonectomy, the surgeon removes part of the parietal pleura, or lung lining, as well as part…

Study Predicts Survival in Mesothelioma Patients
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Study Predicts Survival in Mesothelioma Patients

ByAlex Strauss

People who are older than 70, have a high white blood cell count, or high levels of a particular protein in their blood may be less likely to survive malignant mesothelioma than other patients. This is the finding of a group of researchers from the University of Tokyo.  The researchers studied 314 patients who had been diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer linked to asbestos exposure.  The survival of these patients was tracked using the Kaplan-Meier method, which takes into account the fact that certain patients may drop out of such a study prior to its completion. In addition to finding that older patients, those with high white blood cell counts, and those with high C-reactive protein levels were…

Mesothelioma Treatment Provides Survival Advantage to Women
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Mesothelioma Treatment Provides Survival Advantage to Women

ByAlex Strauss

A new study suggests that women have a survival advantage over men when it comes to treatment for the most common type of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Although as many as 90 percent of people who contract the asbestos-linked cancer are men, women who contract the disease in its most common form are more likely to respond well to aggressive treatment.  The study published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery reviewed 702 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma.  Of those, 145 were women. The researchers found a definite difference in survival for men and women with one type of mesothelioma but they found no gender difference with the other type. Among the 450 men and women with the most common histological type…

Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma
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Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Sodium selenite, the most common water-soluble form of selenium, is an antioxidant and redox-modulating compound that can kill mesothelioma cells in cell cultures. Now researchers are discovering why it works. This could potentially lead to new treatments for mesothelioma. Investigators from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden previously discovered that selenite triggers the death of mesothelioma cells, particularly sarcomatoid cells, which are the least common but deadliest form of this cancer. In the current study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the investigators aimed to determine the pathways by which selenite kills mesothelioma cells, and why sarcomatoid cells seem to be most sensitive to selenite treatment. “Developing anticancer drugs is difficult,” explains Gustav Nilsonne,…