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Asia | International | Mesothelioma | New Drugs | New Studies | Research | Treatments | Updates

Japanese Doctors Test Potential New Target for Mesothelioma Therapy
ByAlex Strauss November 28, 2014March 24, 2019

. Mesothelioma is a fast-growing and currently incurable cancer that occurs most often in people who have been exposed to the mineral asbestos. It grows on the linings around the lungs or other organs making surgery and targeted radiotherapy especially difficult. Current chemotherapy drugs typically do not improve survival by more than a few months and researchers around the world continue to search for a way to attack mesothelioma at the cellular level. Now, a new study out of Japan suggests that ganglioside GM2, a surface glycolipid that is overexpressed in a number of cancer types including multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma, and mesothelioma, may offer a way to do that. Glycolipids provide energy and serve as markers for cellular recognition. Oncologists…

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Asbestos | Occupations | Prevention | Statistics | Updates

Dusty Job May Raise the Risk of Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss November 28, 2014March 21, 2019

A new study on drywall sanding finds that people who do it – from specialists to do-it-yourselfers – could be exposed to asbestos fibers in excess of current safe limits. Until the mid-1970s, the compound used to seal up the joints between wall boards contained chrysotile asbestos, a mineral designed to increase strength and durability and to minimize fire risk. However, many people are now suffering the effects of earlier exposures and others are still being exposed by working in older buildings. In an effort to quantify the risks, researchers with ENVIRON International Corporation in Chicago collected information about drywall dust exposures by surveying experienced contractors, visiting job sites, and reviewing other studies on the subject. They then applied mathematical…

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Australia | Chemotherapy | International | Mesothelioma | Statistics | Treatments | Updates

Chemotherapy May be Underutilized for Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss November 17, 2014March 21, 2019

Doctors from the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute and Sydney Medical School reached their conclusions by comparing data on mesothelioma patients and their tumor characteristics with evidence-based mesothelioma treatment guidelines. They used special “decision analysis software” to calculate what they say is the optimal utilization rate for chemotherapy in mesothelioma. “Chemotherapy is recommended at least once during the disease trajectory in 65% of malignant pleural mesothelioma patients,” writes author Stephen Chuan-Hao Kao. According to Dr. Kao and his colleagues, that optimal rate is relatively close to what is being done for mesothelioma patients in Canada where 61% of patients got chemotherapy between 2003 and 2005 and in Australia where the rate was 54% between 2007 and 2009. Unfortunately, the Australian study…

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Asbestos | Compensation | Europe | International | Occupations | Updates

Report Finds Mesothelioma “Grossly Under-Recognized” in Spain
ByAlex Strauss October 26, 2014March 26, 2019

The newly-published study, was conducted by the Ministry of Health in Madrid and the Department of History of Science at the University of Granada. According to the report, although asbestos-related occupational cancers like mesothelioma were added to the Spanish list of occupational diseases in 1978, “there are no full accounts of compensated cases since their inclusion”. The goal of the study was to analyze the number of asbestos-related cancers that had been recognized as stemming from patients’ occupations. The researchers analyzed the incidence of mesothelioma by year, economic activity, and occupation and compared the mortality rates of mesothelioma and work-related lung cancer to rates in the rest of Europe. The study found that, between 1978 and 2011, 164 asbestos-related occupational…

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Australia | Immune Systems | Immunotherapy | International | Mesothelioma | Research | Treatments | Updates

Immunotherapy “Cocktail” Destroys Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab Mice
ByAlex Strauss September 28, 2014March 24, 2019

There is some exciting news on the mesothelioma research front from The University of Western Australia. Researchers there have successfully cured mesothelioma in mice using immunotherapy. Australia’s long history with asbestos has given it the distinction of having one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. It is also the location of some of the most cutting-edge mesothelioma research. The latest study, conducted by the School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UWA and published in the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research, suggests that a “cocktail” of drugs to simulate the immune system can eradicate mesothelioma tumors. The researchers used a timed triple immunotherapy (TTI) protocol of three antibodies designed to “turn off” the production of specific proteins associated…

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Biological Therapy | Multi-Modality Therapy | Prognosis | Research | Treatments | Updates

New Treatments Have Improved Outcomes for Peritoneal Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss September 18, 2014March 26, 2019

The newest studies on peritoneal mesothelioma indicate that the outlook for people with this rare asbestos-linked cancer are better than ever. A recent article in the World Journal of Gastroenterology detailed the progress that has been made – and continues to be made – in the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma in the last decade. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a type of mesothelioma that occurs on the peritoneum, the lining around the abdominal organs. It accounts for less than a third of mesothelioma cases. In the new article, surgeons with Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine and the Massey Cancer Center in Richmond report that the increasing use of cytoreductive surgery combined with a rinse of heated chemotherapy drugs has significantly improved…

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Asia | Biomarkers | Diagnosis | Genetics | International | Mesothelioma | Research | Updates

Study Finds Genes May Influence Site of Mesothelioma Tumors
ByAlex Strauss September 16, 2014March 26, 2019

An analysis of chromosomal abnormalities in people with malignant mesothelioma finds that genes may play a significant role in determining where mesothelioma develops in the body. Mesothelioma is an aggressive malignancy primarily associated with exposure to asbestos dust. It’s most common site is on the pleura, the membrane that surrounds the lungs. The second most common site for mesothelioma tumors – accounting for about 30% of cases – is the peritoneal membrane that lines the abdomen. A number of studies in recent years have suggested that, like many other types of cancer, mesothelioma also has a genetic component and people with certain kinds of abnormalities may be more prone to develop it. Now, a new study conducted by Japanese pathologists…

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Asbestos | Glocal | International | Occupations | Prevention | Updates

Brief, Indirect Exposure Leads to Mesothelioma in Young Woman
ByAlex Strauss August 29, 2014March 20, 2019

A new report contains some disturbing news about just how little asbestos exposure it may take to cause malignant mesothelioma. Radiologists in New Delhi, India have published details of a case of mesothelioma in a young woman who experienced only very limited asbestos exposure as a child. According to the article in the Journal of Clinical Imaging Science, the young woman was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma after complaining of chest pain and breathlessness. X-rays and CT scans revealed that, not only was she suffering from the asbestos cancer, but that it had also spread to her liver and lungs. A biopsy of one of the tumors confirmed the diagnosis. In addition to being much younger than most mesothelioma patients,…

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Australia | International | New Drugs | Treatments | Updates

Cholesterol Drugs Ineffective Against Mesothelioma
ByAlex Strauss August 6, 2014March 21, 2019

A new study from the University of Western Australia has dealt a blow to the idea that the anti-cancer properties of statin drugs could help fight malignant pleural mesothelioma. Statins are a group of drugs that are typically used to lower high cholesterol and treat heart disease by blocking a substance the body needs to make cholesterol. Statins have been found to induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in mesothelioma cells and epidemiological evidence has suggested that people on statins have a lower incidence of cancer. Based on these facts, researchers at Australia’s National Center for Asbestos Related Diseases hypothesized that statin drugs might be used to slow the progression of mesothelioma in patients who have it, and possibly even prevent mesothelioma development…

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Asbestos | Europe | International | Statistics | Updates

Man-Made Fiber May Compound Mesothelioma Risk from Asbestos
ByAlex Strauss July 20, 2014March 25, 2019

Workers exposed to both asbestos and another insulation material called refractory ceramic fiber (RCF) are more than 4 times as likely to develop malignant pleural mesothelioma as are workers who were only exposed to asbestos. That is the conclusion of a new study from a team of French scientists at the University of Bordeaux. Asbestos, a fibrous mineral used in insulation and building materials, has been known for decades to increase the risk of mesothelioma. RCF is a manmade aluminum-silicate-based material that is also used for insulation, particularly in high-heat industrial applications. Although some animal studies on RCF have suggested that the material might also cause cancer, a 2012 study in Inhalation Toxicology found no increase in lung cancer or…

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