Mesothelioma Incidence in the US: The Good News and the Bad News
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Mesothelioma Incidence in the US: The Good News and the Bad News

ByAlex Strauss

A new study on mesothelioma incidence in the US contains some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the incidence of the asbestos cancer is finally dropping in the US, after years of growth. The bad news is that, if you live in the Northern part of the US, you are more likely to be exposed to the toxin and your mesothelioma risk is higher. The Good News About Mesothelioma Incidence in the US Asbestos is the primary cause of mesothelioma around the globe and in the US. Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that is resistant to fire and corrosion. It was mined at several sites in the US and used in thousands of consumer products…

Asbestos in Mesothelioma Development: No Amount is Safe
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Asbestos in Mesothelioma Development: No Amount is Safe

ByAlex Strauss

A new study contains some sobering news about the role of asbestos in mesothelioma development. Public health officials in Italy analyzed the medical records of people who died of pleural mesothelioma in the Broni, Italy area. Broni was the site of an asbestos cement plant from 1932 until 1993. They discovered that even some people who did not work with asbestos had a high risk of dying from this rare cancer. In fact, their risk for mesothelioma was higher even though their asbestos exposure was smaller. It suggests that no amount of asbestos exposure is “safe” — especially for people who are extra sensitive because of their genetics. Small Amounts of Asbestos in Mesothelioma Development Scientists began to suspect the…

Mesothelioma Risk Among Navy Veterans is Focus of New Report
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Mesothelioma Risk Among Navy Veterans is Focus of New Report

ByAlex Strauss

A new study offers a sobering reminder of the mesothelioma risk among Navy veterans. Researchers at Vanderbilt University compared mesothelioma deaths among 114,000 veterans. These veterans were involved in nuclear testing during the Cold War. They referred to these service members as “atomic veterans”. Between 1945 and 1962, the US conducted 230 above-ground nuclear tests. Some of the tests took place in the Nevada desert while others were in the Pacific ocean. In a new study in the International Journal of Radiation Biology, researchers found a high mesothelioma risk among Navy veterans. They determined that it was much higher than it was in the other atomic veterans studied. Assessing Mesothelioma Risk in Atomic Veterans More than 250,000 military personnel took part…

Could Other Gene Mutations Be Behind Mesothelioma?
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Could Other Gene Mutations Be Behind Mesothelioma?

ByAlex Strauss

A mutation of the BAP1 gene may not be the only reason mesothelioma can sometimes run in families. A more complex genetic picture may also help explain why some asbestos-exposed workers get the disease and some do not. Exposure to asbestos is the number one cause of malignant mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer that starts on the membranes that surround internal organs. But only a tiny percentage of people exposed to asbestos – many of whom were construction workers, asbestos plant employees, or veterans – ever contract mesothelioma. Past studies have explained the disparity, in part, by showing that a mutation on the BAP1 gene appears to make some people more susceptible to the damaging effects of asbestos. But a new…

Mesothelioma Awareness Day Gets a Boost from Social Media
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Mesothelioma Awareness Day Gets a Boost from Social Media

ByAlex Strauss

    Victims of mesothelioma and their families are being invited to make their voices and their stories heard on social media in advance of the 11th annual Mesothelioma Awareness Day on September 26th. The invitation is being extended by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an organization committed to ending the scourge of asbestos diseases like mesothelioma through education, advocacy and community. Founded in 2004, ADAO protects the rights of mesothelioma victims and others with asbestos diseases and works with public health organizations to prevent asbestos exposure. They have long called for the US Congress to enact an asbestos ban. “Currently in the United States, we are witnessing one of the most crucial moments in Toxic Chemical reform and…

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Rates Higher in Italy’s Asbestos-Producing Regions
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Peritoneal Mesothelioma Rates Higher in Italy’s Asbestos-Producing Regions

ByAlex Strauss

Some Italian workers are paying a high price for Italy’s former position as the top European producer of asbestos. According to a new study in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, both men and women who lived and worked in areas of heavy asbestos production are far more likely than their peers elsewhere in the country to contract peritoneal mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma is the rarer form of a very rare cancer. While the more common pleural mesothelioma occurs in the membranes around the lungs, peritoneal mesothelioma starts on the membrane that surrounds abdominal organs. Like all forms of mesothelioma, it is asbestos-related, hard to treat, aggressive, and usually lethal. To get an idea how prevalent peritoneal mesothelioma is in Italy…

Beyond Mesothelioma: Asbestos Linked to Digestive Cancers
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Beyond Mesothelioma: Asbestos Linked to Digestive Cancers

ByAlex Strauss

Scientists have long known that mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer that affects the membrane around organs, is not the only cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Numerous studies have also found a link between asbestos and lung cancer. Now, a new study conducted in France and published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests that, in addition to mesothelioma, asbestos-exposed workers also face a significantly higher risk of digestive cancers, including cancers of the esophagus, liver, colon and rectum. The study focused on a group of 2024 workers who worked in an asbestos plant in France between 1978 and 2009. Not surprisingly, people in the study faced a higher incidence of mesothelioma, a cancer that is extremely rare in the general public. But…

Emerging Therapies Target Mesothelioma in New Ways
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Emerging Therapies Target Mesothelioma in New Ways

ByAlex Strauss

Targeted therapies may be the future of mesothelioma treatment. That word comes from a team of some of the world’s top mesothelioma researchers at the University of Hawaii and New York University. The group has just published a review detailing what is known about how mesothelioma develops – also called “pathogenesis” – and how that growing knowledge may help scientists develop more effective treatments. “Novel treatments are needed, as current treatment modalities may improve the quality of life, but have shown modest effects in improving overall survival,” writes Dr. Michele Carbone, corresponding author on the review and a top name in mesothelioma research. Dr. Harvey Pass, chief of the division of thoracic surgery at New York University’s Langone Medical Center…

Characteristics of Mesothelioma in Younger Patients
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Characteristics of Mesothelioma in Younger Patients

ByAlex Strauss

A new report finds that mesothelioma has different characteristics in younger people than it does in the more typical older patients. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and hard-to-treat cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos. It can take decades to develop and, as a result, is usually thought of as a disease of older people. The vast majority of patients are over 70. However, as a new report in Oncotarget points out, there is a subset of mesothelioma patients under 40 years old. In these patients, mesothelioma can act very differently – and require a different treatment approach – than it does in the older population. The new study relied on data from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), a national…

Mesothelioma Not the Only Cancer Threat for Shipbreakers
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Mesothelioma Not the Only Cancer Threat for Shipbreakers

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is not the only cancer whose incidence is elevated in workers exposed to asbestos. A new Taiwanese study of shipbreakers finds that these workers are more susceptible to a wide range of cancers and should be regularly monitored for signs of disease. Shipbreaking is the process of dismantling old ships for salvage or scrap. Before the link between asbestos and mesothelioma was establish, shipbreaking workers around the world were routinely exposed to asbestos in a variety of ship parts. Asbestos was prized for its resistance to heat, fire and corrosion and was commonly used by shipbuilders to insulate boilers and pipes and fireproof areas from the mess halls to the sleeping quarters. Although several studies have linked shipbreaking with…