Mesothelioma Claims Another American Actor
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Mesothelioma Claims Another American Actor

ByAlex Strauss

Another American actor has died of malignant mesothelioma. Veteran character actor Ed Lauter, who worked with such prominent names as Clint Eastwood, George C. Scott, Burt Reynolds and Tom Cruise, died this week in Los Angeles. According to the Associated Press, one of Lauter’s most notable roles was that of a prison guard in the 1974 Burt Reynolds film “The Longest Yard”. He also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Family Plot”, “Born on the Fourth of July” with Tom Cruise, and most recently played a butler in the 2011 Oscar-winning film “The Artist”. Lauter’s television appearances included “The Office”, “ER”, “Murder She Wrote” and “The Rockford Files”. Although little is being said about the origin of Lauter’s mesothelioma, an aggressive…

Last Man Sentenced in Asbestos Dumping Scheme
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Last Man Sentenced in Asbestos Dumping Scheme

ByAlex Strauss

The U.S. Justice Department has announced that a New Jersey man will spend 15 months in prison for his part in a scheme to illegally dump thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated construction debris – putting others at risk for mesothelioma. He was the last person to be sentenced in the conspiracy. Asbestos is the cause of mesothelioma, a difficult to treat and aggressive cancer.  At the height of its popularity from the 1940s to the early 1970s, asbestos was common in building products ranging from floor and ceiling tiles to joint compound, concrete and shingles. It is still present in tens of thousands of older homes and buildings today. In an effort to protect workers and the public from mesothelioma…

Mesothelioma Case Shows Danger of Accidental Asbestos Exposure
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Mesothelioma Case Shows Danger of Accidental Asbestos Exposure

ByAlex Strauss

A mesothelioma case in Birmingham, England is a dramatic illustration of the very real danger of hidden asbestos. The widow of a physician who died of mesothelioma last year at the age of 51 claims her husband was exposed to asbestos just walking to and from his medical classes. Monisha Coelho believes that exposed asbestos insulation in the underground hallways that connect the University of Birmingham to buildings on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital campus triggered Dr. Ian Pardoe’s mesothelioma. In an article in the Birmingham Mail, Coelho explained how her husband decided how and where the deadly exposure had occurred. “Ian thought long and hard about where he might have come into contact with asbestos,” Coelho told the paper. “He…

Aspirin Derivative No Match for Mesothelioma
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Aspirin Derivative No Match for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

It may work wonders for aches and pains but apparently the ‘wonder drug’ is no match for the asbestos-linked cancer, malignant mesothelioma. A number of previous studies have suggested a benefit from aspirin for some types of cancer. But Italian scientists testing the aspirin derivative [2-acetoxy-(2-propynyl) benzoate] hexacarbonyldicobalt (Co-ASS) and its analogue hexacarbonyl [μ-(2-ethylphenyl) methanol] dicobalt (Co-EPM) against malignant pleural mesothelioma cells found that both molecules function better as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) agents than as anti-tumor drugs. The researchers tested Co-ASS and Co-EPM against mesothelioma cells of both the more common epithelioid and rarer sarcomatoid types. The most encouraging results were seen with the sarcomatoid cells. Against this cell type, Co-ASS was found to be more potent than either Co-EPM or…

Human Trials Planned for Promising New Mesothelioma Drug
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Human Trials Planned for Promising New Mesothelioma Drug

ByAlex Strauss

The Australian Asbestos Diseases Research Institute says it is ready to begin human trials on what its lead researcher calls the first significant advance in mesothelioma treatment in a decade. More than three years in development, TargomiRs utilizes a unique ‘minicell’ delivery system to insert a synthetic form of missing genetic material into mesothelioma cells. Like a number of other types of cancer, mesothelioma cells are missing a family of microRNAs critical to regulating the cellular life cycle. TargomiRs restores these microRNAs. In mice with human-derived mesothelioma, TargomiRs produced a “remarkable inhibition of tumour growth”, according to the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute. “The last significant development in the treatment of mesothelioma occurred ten years ago,” ADRI director Nico van Zandwijk…

New Mesothelioma Treatment Targets Growth Factors
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New Mesothelioma Treatment Targets Growth Factors

ByAlex Strauss

On the brink of a predicted “third wave” of mesothelioma cases in Australia, Australian scientists are testing a new kind of treatment that combines drugs and gene therapy. Australia has long had one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma, the most deadly of asbestos-linked diseases. Historically, mesothelioma cases occurred first among people who worked with asbestos in Australia’s mines. Later, new cases developed among people in industrial jobs like construction or shipbuilding. But, in recent years, there is growing concern about a third wave of mesothelioma cases among renovators, do-it-yourself homeowners and others with relatively low levels of exposure. In anticipation of this problem, scientists at Flinders University are working on a mesothelioma treatment that targets “key growth factors…

Volunteers Warned Against Mesothelioma Risk in OK
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Volunteers Warned Against Mesothelioma Risk in OK

ByAlex Strauss

As volunteers from across the country continue to head to tornado-ravaged Oklahoma for the cleanup effort, they are being warned about a potentially serious threat to their own health. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says damage to homes and buildings in Moore, Oklahoma has exposed a host of toxins including asbestos, the primary cause of malignant mesothelioma. Although asbestos has been phased out of most new construction materials, it can still be found in the insulation, caulk and joint compound, floor and ceiling tiles, and shingles of many older homes and buildings. According to the Huffington Post, many of the houses destroyed in Moore had been built in the 1960s and 1970s when asbestos use in construction was at its peak….

Wind and Weather Impacts Mesothelioma Rate
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Wind and Weather Impacts Mesothelioma Rate

ByAlex Strauss

People who live downwind from an industrial asbestos source are at much higher risk of developing pleural mesothelioma, according to a new study. Researchers in Barcelona, Spain analyzed 24 cases of pleural mesothelioma diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 near the town of Catalonia. For 90 years, this area of Barcelona was home to a fibrous cement factory where asbestos was used. Because asbestos dust is very light, it does not dissipate in the air quickly. When a person inadvertently inhales or ingests it, the tiny fibers lodge in the tissues and can cause health problems such as mesothelioma even decades later. Although the plant closed in 1997, the rate of mesothelioma in the region continues to be high. To test whether…

European Buildings May Be Safer by 2028
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European Buildings May Be Safer by 2028

ByAlex Strauss

A British politician says the country should stand behind a new European Parliament report calling for the removal of asbestos from all public buildings by 2028. Asbestos is the number one cause of mesothelioma and Britain has the highest mesothelioma rate in the world, with a death occurring about every five hours. An estimated 4,000 British people die of mesothelioma each year, a full 1,000 more than are typically seen in the U.S.  At greatest risk are the many people who have worked with or around asbestos in construction and various industrial jobs. But Britain’s high number of quickly-built, inexpensive, post-WWII era buildings – many of which are now crumbling – has also been blamed for the high mesothelioma rate. In…

Skin Growths May Point to Mesothelioma
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Skin Growths May Point to Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Could benign skin tumors be a warning sign for mesothelioma? One of the world’s leading authorities on mesothelioma says the same genetic mutation that predispose certain people to skin cancer may also put them at higher risk of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but serious cancer of the membranous tissue that surrounds and encases the lungs, heart and abdominal organs. Its primary cause is exposure to airborne asbestos. However, one of the great mysteries of this highly aggressive cancer is why it strikes some asbestos-exposed individuals and not others? Dr. Michele Carbone and colleagues at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, home to one of the world’s leading mesothelioma research programs, have been working on the problem for years….