Search Results for: epithelioid

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    Surgery May Offer Survival Advantage for Rare Mesothelioma Subtypes

    ByAlex Strauss

    People with the most dangerous subtypes of malignant pleural mesothelioma may live longer if they undergo surgery. In an article in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, University of Arizona researchers say cancer-directed surgery can lengthen survival in people with sarcomatoid and biphasic mesothelioma, two of the hardest cancers to treat. Multiple studies have suggested that there is a survival benefit from surgery in people with epithelioid mesothelioma, the most common subtype. But, the evidence is much more scanty for people with either sarcomatoid or biphasic mesothelioma, both of which are associated with a worse mesothelioma prognosis  and shorter overall survival. Now, the Tucson-based research team says surgery aimed at removing the cancer (rather than just alleviating symptoms) can help these mesothelioma…

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    Short Term Mesothelioma Survival Better with Conservative Surgery

    ByAlex Strauss

    Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have added their voices to the ongoing debate over the best type of surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma. After a meta-analysis of 30-day mortality among 500 mesothelioma patients, the group has come down on the side of pleurectomy decortication (PD), the more conservative — and less risky — of the two major types of mesothelioma surgery. Mesothelioma Surgery: EPP vs. P/D Pleural mesothelioma, also referred to as asbestos cancer, is notoriously difficult to treat. Successful mesothelioma treatment usually involves a combination of therapies, such as Alimta (pemetrexed), radiotherapy, and curative surgery in patients who are healthy enough to undergo it. (Surgery is currently only recommended for patients with epithelioid mesothelioma,…

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    New Study Points to Benefits of IMRT for Mesothelioma Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    There is more evidence that mesothelioma patients who have lung sparing surgery can live longer if it’s followed up with highly targeted radiation therapy. In the first study to come out of Israel on the subject, a team of oncologists, pulmonologists, radiation oncologists, and thoracic surgeons at Rabin Medicine Center in Petah Tikva say intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is safe and effective for slowing down the growth of pleural mesothelioma tumors. The Challenge of Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma The irregularity of malignant mesothelioma tumors makes them difficult to treat with standard external beam radiotherapy without damaging healthy tissue and causing serious side effects. This is particularly problematic in patients who still have both lungs, either because they were not good…

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    Mesothelioma Tumors Thrive in Low Oxygen Environment

    ByAlex Strauss

    South Korean researchers have uncovered a clue that might help explain why mesothelioma tumors are so aggressive — and what can be done to counter that aggression. The new study centers on hypoxia, a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues. It is a hallmark of many types of solid tumors and it turns out that malignant mesothelioma tumors are no exception. Patients with these hypoxic tumors tend to worsen quickly, be less responsive to treatment, and end up with poor outcomes. The Effect of Oxygen on Malignant Mesothelioma Scientists in the Laboratory of Clinical Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University are trying to better understand how hypoxia effects human malignant mesothelioma cells and exactly what…

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    Lung Fluid Tests May Lead to Earlier Mesothelioma Diagnosis

    ByAlex Strauss

    Using the free-floating cancer cells present in lung-fluid to diagnose malignant mesothelioma may lead to earlier detection and better outcomes. That is the conclusion of cancer researchers at Stockholm’s Karolinska University Hospital. The team’s goal was to evaluate the established criteria for cytopathological diagnosis of mesothelioma, i.e. diagnosis using cells found in fluid (effusions) instead of cells from a tissue biopsy. In a newly published article in the Archives of Pathological and Laboratory Medicine, the researchers observe, “Despite the difficulties in recognizing malignant cells present in those early effusions, they are often the first available biologic material for diagnosis.” Diagnosing Pleural  Mesothelioma Malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare but fast-growing cancer associated with asbestos exposure, is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Diagnosis…

  • Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Multi-Drug HIPEC Combo Leads to Better Outcomes

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new French study suggests that peritoneal mesothelioma patients who undergo CRS/HIPEC treatment  have better outcomes when two chemotherapeutic agents are used instead of just one. The introduction of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) in combination with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has dramatically improved the prognosis for patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare form of the asbestos cancer that occurs in the abdomen. But a team of researchers from cancer hospitals across France wanted to know if outcomes are better with some HIPEC drugs than they are with others. Their results seem to show a clear mesothelioma survival advantage to platinum-based regimens (those including cisplatin) that include at least one other agent. Treating a Rare Type of Mesothelioma During CRS, surgeons remove…

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    What Type of Mesothelioma Do I Have? CT May Be Able to Tell

    ByAlex Strauss

    Researchers from one of the country’s top cancer centers say it may be possible to tell what subtype of pleural mesothelioma a person has by using computed tomography (CT). Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive lung-related cancer for which patients and their doctors must develop a treatment plan quickly to get ahead of the disease. The challenge is that, not only is mesothelioma highly resistant to standard cancer treatment, but different subtypes of mesothelioma are often managed with different drugs and therapies. The new study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York suggests that CT may offer an accurate and non-invasive way to classify mesothelioma patients which could speed the treatment planning process and lead to longer mesothelioma survival….

  • HIPEC and Mesothelioma

    ByMichael Horwin

    What is HIPEC? HIPEC stands for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. “Intraperitoneal” means that the treatment is placed inside the abdominal cavity. “Hyperthermic chemotherapy” means that the chemotherapy is heated to a temperature greater than normal body temperature. It is a procedure used to treat mesothelioma where heated and concentrated chemotherapy is placed directly in the surgical cavity during surgery. Paul Kraus was diagnosed in 1997 before HIPEC was widely available. Although Paul has survived more than 20 years with peritoneal mesothelioma, he did not have HIPEC. In his book, he explains other healing methods used by mesothelioma patients who may use HIPEC. Dramatic Mesothelioma Survival Improvement With HIPEC Since the introduction of HIPEC, the median survival of peritoneal mesothelioma patients has…

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    PET Beats CT in Study of Mesothelioma Staging Tools

    ByAlex Strauss

    When it comes to accurately assessing the extent of an individual case of malignant pleural mesothelioma, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) may be more effective than Computed Tomography (CT). A combination of the two is even better. That conclusion comes from researchers at the University of Toronto who analyzed the cases of more than 100 mesothelioma patients being considered for multimodality therapy at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. Researchers compared the accuracy of PET and CT separately and together to determine how effective each was at identifying 1) the extent to which mesothelioma had spread to the lymph nodes (N stage) and 2) the number and location of metastatic mesothelioma tumors (M stage). Both N and M staging are used…

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    Simple Blood Test Detects Mesothelioma Progression

    ByAlex Strauss

    Malignant mesothelioma patients may not need multiple CT scans to tell whether their cancer has progressed in the months after  chemotherapy treatment. UK researchers say a simple blood test to check their levels of the protein mesothelin costs less, requires fewer hospital visits, and is 96 percent accurate in most mesothelioma patients.   Measuring Mesothelioma Progression The study was conducted by scientists at the University of Bristol who recruited 41 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma to participate for at least a year after the end of their treatment. The mesothelioma patients included in the study had received either chemotherapy or best supportive care. At the end of chemotherapy (or from baseline in the patients receiving best supportive care), patients had…