| | | | | |

Quality of Life for Mesothelioma Patients Hinges on Activity and Nutrition

ByAlex Strauss

quality of life for mesotheliomaMuscle mass and nutrition can have a direct impact on quality of life for mesothelioma patients. That’s the finding of an Australian study of sixty-one men and women with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Researchers say the quality of life for mesothelioma patients was compromised by lower muscle mass or malnutrition. It is a wake-up call for mesothelioma patients to stay active and eat well for the best outcomes.

Impacts on Quality of Life for Mesothelioma Patients

Pleural mesothelioma is an incurable cancer. Even with the best mesothelioma treatments, most patients still face a grim prognosis.

But there is evidence that good self-care may help. Previous studies have shown that patients with the best nutritional status often have longer mesothelioma survival. Nutritional status measures the state of a person’s health in terms of the nutrients in his or her diet.

The current mesothelioma study was run by researchers at Edith Cowan University and the University of Western Australia.

Seventy-nine of the study participants were men and fifty-four percent were women. Patients had DEXA scans to determine their skeletal muscle mass. Sarcopenia is the term for a reduction in muscle mass.

Nutritional status and quality of life for mesothelioma patients were measured with patient surveys.

Activity and Nutrition Impact Quality of Life for Mesothelioma Patients

Among the mesothelioma patients studied, fifty-four percent had the beginnings of muscle loss (pre-sarcopenia). Thirty-eight percent of the patients were malnourished. Both of these problems had an impact on quality of life for mesothelioma patients.

“Percent of time spent in light activity/day was lower in participants with pre-sarcopenia compared with non-sarcopenic participants,” writes Emily Jeffery, MD, lead author on the study. “Participants with malnutrition had poorer HRQoL [health-related quality of life] than well-nourished participants.”

Cancer experts recommend a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and lean proteins to maintain nutritional status during mesothelioma treatment. The primary drug used to treat mesothelioma is an anti-folate. Most patients will be given extra folic acid to reduce side effects.

Although both cancer and its treatment can sap energy, activity is essential for maintaining quality of life for mesothelioma patients.

A 2018 Australian study suggests that mesothelioma patients should aim for at least two-and-a-half hours of moderate intensity aerobic exercise each week.

In the US, the American Cancer Society says exercise can reduce treatment-associated nausea and prevent isolation.

Sources:

Jeffrey, E, et al, “Body composition and nutritional status in malignant pleural mesothelioma: implications for activity levels and quality of life”, March 18, 2019, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Epub ahead in print, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-019-0418-9

Cormie, P, et al, “Clinical Oncology Society of Australia position statement on exercise in cancer care”, May 7, 2018, The Medical Journal of Australia, Epub ahead of print, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29719196

Similar Posts

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland
|

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

ByAlex Strauss

A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma
|

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab
|

Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab

ByAlex Strauss

A virus that causes leukemia in gibbon apes may have the power to help fight malignant mesothelioma in people. Gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) has been tested for years as a viral vector, a carrier of therapeutic genetic information, in the treatment of various human illnesses, including cancer. A new study in Japan compared GALV with a leukemia virus derived from mice to see which carrier communicated most efficiently with mesothelioma cells. While both types of viruses replicated in most of the mesothelioma cell lines tested, the mouse-derived virus was not effective in a mesothelioma cell line called ACC-MESO-1. In this cell line, only the GALV spread efficiently both in culture and in mice that had been given human mesothelioma…

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…

Chemical in Wine May Improve Mesothelioma Treatment
|

Chemical in Wine May Improve Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

There’s new evidence that a compound found in red wine may help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Last year, a team of Korean researchers released the world’s first study on the mesothelioma-fighting power of resveratrol, a natural phenol derived from the skin of red grapes and found in red wine and grape juice. Now, the same team says resveratrol also appears to enhance the chemosensitivity of malignant mesothelioma cells. Study author Yoon-Jin Lee and colleagues discovered  a synergistic cancer-fighting effect in mesothelioma cells treated with both resveratrol and clofarabine, a prescription drug often used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Together, resveratrol and clofarabine “induced a strong cytotoxic effect” by influencing levels of the tumor suppressor,…

Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades
| |

Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades

ByAlex Strauss

New research in Spain suggests that mesothelioma deaths will continue in the country until the “last surviving member” of the group of people exposed to occupational asbestos succumbs to the disease. Like many countries, Spain used asbestos heavily in the first half of the 20th century, especially in construction, where the mineral was prized for its durability, low cost, and resistance to fire and corrosion.  Asbestos was banned in Spain in 2002. Observing that more than 2.5 million metric tons of asbestos were imported into Spain from 1906 to 2002, researchers say deaths from mesothelioma have risen steadily. Between 1976 and 1980, a total of 491 Spanish people died of mesothelioma. By the 5-year period from 2006 to 2010, that…