Search Results for: cytoreductive surgery

Long Term Survival Possible with CRS/HIPEC for Mesothelioma
| |

Long Term Survival Possible with CRS/HIPEC for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

There’s hopeful news for peritoneal mesothelioma patients facing the prospect of surgery. A new study on the benefits of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) finds that both the process and outcomes have improved over time. Cytoreductive surgery refers to any surgery aimed at removing as much cancerous tissue as possible. With peritoneal cancers such as mesothelioma, the surgeons may follow the procedure with a wash of heated chemotherapy drugs into the open body cavity. The goal of HIPEC is to destroy any remaining mesothelioma cells and to help keep new mesothelioma cells from growing. A study of 1,000 cytoreductive surgery/HIPEC patients, 72 of whom had mesothelioma, found that complications have decreased and survival has increased for all of…

Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

How Do I Know If I Have Peritoneal Mesothelioma? Peritoneal mesothelioma is caused by asbestos. Most doctors believe it is caused from ingestion of asbestos fibers and that microscopic asbestos fibers become embedded in the abdomen (peritoneum). After about 20-50 years, these fibers can cause inflammation and mutations in the healthy mesothelial cells and these mutations ultimately cause these cells to become cancerous, thus, forming tumors in the peritoneum. Patients who are diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma may survive several or more years after diagnosis and there are long term survivors. Rates This cancer occurs in less than 1,000 people in the United States every year. Rates of this mesothelioma vary throughout the world and are highest in Australia and the…

Conventional Treatments

ByAlex Strauss

Conventional treatments for mesothelioma generally consist of chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes radiation therapy.  Of all three, chemotherapy is the most one size fits all approach because only one chemotherapy drug combination is FDA approved for mesothelioma.  Surgery requires the most expertise and there are only a handful of surgeons in the United States who are skilled and experienced with resecting mesothelioma tumors. Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma The standard chemotherapy treatment for mesothelioma (both pleural and peritoneal) is a combination of two drugs: Alimta (pemetrexed) and cisplatin (or carboplatin).  This is the only FDA approved chemotherapy regimen for mesothelioma. The pivotal study that made this treatment the standard of care that it is was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in…

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia
| | |

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia

ByAlex Strauss

Australia is bracing for an expected new wave of mesothelioma cases in the next decade and the Lung Foundation of Australia is taking action now to get ready. The Foundation has paid for ten nurses from around the country to receive specialized training in helping patients and families cope with mesothelioma. The nurses, who have recently completed the training, are now equipped to lead treatment planning for these complex cancer patients and to help other nurses do the same. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in the lining around the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, a toxin that was once alarmingly prevalent in Australia where it was mined and heavily used in construction. Because…

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival
| |

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

If one cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC procedure for mesothelioma is good, subsequent treatments may be even better. That is the central message of research conducted at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. The study’s aim was to assess overall survival among peritoneal mesothelioma patients who had not just one, but two or more rounds of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) after cytoreductive surgery. The cytoreduction/HIPEC approach has become popular for peritoneal mesothelioma, a treatment-resistant cancer of abdominal membranes caused by asbestos. Cytoreductive surgery involves removing as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible from the abdomen. Because the shape and spreading pattern of mesothelioma tumors make complete cytoreduction difficult, the surgery is often followed by a rinse with a heated solution…

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Study: Long-Term Survival is Possible
|

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Study: Long-Term Survival is Possible

ByAlex Strauss

A new study out of Italy has some encouraging news for patients with the peritoneal form of malignant mesothelioma. The recent analysis of 108 peritoneal mesothelioma patients who underwent complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS) followed by a rinse of heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) found a 43.6% cure rate among long-term survivors. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of one of the rarest cancers. Triggered almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma affects about 2,500 Americans each year.  About a third of those patients are diagnosed with the peritoneal form of the disease, which occurs on the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs. During cytoreductive surgery, surgeons attempt to remove all traces of the mesothelioma tumor so that no cells…

New Prognostic Factor in Peritoneal Mesothelioma
|

New Prognostic Factor in Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of mesothelioma that attacks the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds internal organs. The outlook for this rare malignancy, which affects fewer than 500 Americans annually, has been improved by the treatment combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). The combination has produced 5-year overall survival rates ranging from 29% to 63%. But not all peritoneal mesothelioma patients are good candidates for CRS/HIPEC. The challenge, for clinicians, is identifying which patients are likely to benefit from the procedure (or even be cured) and which are not. In an effort to help answer that question, French researchers recently tested the prognostic value of the glucose transporter protein GLUT1 as well as…

New Serum Marker Could Improve Mesothelioma Diagnosis
|

New Serum Marker Could Improve Mesothelioma Diagnosis

ByAlex Strauss

Japanese researchers believe they have found a way to diagnose a rare form of mesothelioma earlier using a simple blood test. Diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (DMPM), which represents about a fourth of all mesothelioma cases, is an aggressive malignancy that spreads across the lining of the abdomen. In most cases, DMPM is lethal within a year. The standard treatment for diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is cytoreductive surgery to remove as much of the mesothelioma as possible, followed by intraperitoneal chemotherapy to destroy residual cancer cells. In some studies, this approach has resulted in 5-year survival rates of 30 to 60 percent. However, it is most successful when it is performed early, while the primary mesothelioma tumor is more easily removed. Like all forms of…

Systemic Chemotherapy Ineffective in Peritoneal Mesothelioma?
| |

Systemic Chemotherapy Ineffective in Peritoneal Mesothelioma?

ByAlex Strauss

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare cancer that occurs in the membranous lining of the abdomen. This virulent cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos. Because it is so aggressive, most patients with peritoneal mesothelioma are treated with multiple modalities, or a variety of different treatments, in an effort to attack the cancer from all sides. For patients whose mesothelioma is considered operable, surgery is frequently preceded by a round of preoperative chemotherapy. Also referred to as neoadjuvant chemotherapy, preoperative chemotherapy aims to shrink the tumor as much as possible before cytoreductive surgery. Later, during surgery, the same peritoneal mesothelioma patient may have intraoperative chemotherapy (HIPEC) in which chemotherapy drugs are washed through the body cavity where the cancer was found. The procedure…

New ‘Calculator’ May Help Guide Mesothelioma Treatment
|

New ‘Calculator’ May Help Guide Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

An NIH study claims to have found a better way to predict treatment response and survival in peritoneal mesothelioma patients. The information could be used to individualize treatment planning and determine which patients are most likely to benefit from aggressive therapies. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that arises in the thin membrane that lines the walls of the abdomen. Like all forms of mesothelioma, it is highly aggressive, spreading across the membrane quickly and metastasizing to other parts of the body. It is usually caused by exposure to asbestos sometime in the patient’s past. Treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma usually consists of surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible (cytoreductive surgery) followed by a wash of heated…