Low Dose Aspirin Could Increase Mesothelioma Risk
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Low Dose Aspirin Could Increase Mesothelioma Risk

ByAlex Strauss

If you are at risk for malignant mesothelioma, you may want to think twice about taking low dose aspirin on a regular basis.  A new study suggests that low dose aspirin could speed up the growth and spread of cancer cells in older people.  The study appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It involved more than 19,000 people in Australia and the US.  Low Dose Aspirin and Mesothelioma Many older people take small daily doses of aspirin to reduce their risk for heart attack. Aspirin reduces inflammation and the blood’s ability to clot. This makes it less likely to form the blockages that cause heart attacks and strokes.  But mounting evidence suggests that taking low dose aspirin…

Anti-Inflammatory Treatment for Mesothelioma Shows Long-Term Benefit
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Anti-Inflammatory Treatment for Mesothelioma Shows Long-Term Benefit

ByAlex Strauss

Doctors in London are reporting a case of long-term mesothelioma survival with anti-inflammatory treatment for mesothelioma. The 64-year-old pleural mesothelioma patient had been a heating engineer. When he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, he elected not to have standard cancer treatments.  His doctors advised him to start on a regimen of aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs. On just the anti-inflammatory treatment for mesothelioma, the man was still alive four years after his diagnosis.  Mesothelioma and Inflammation Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the membrane around the lungs. It is most common in people who have worked or lived around asbestos.  When asbestos fibers get into the lungs, they stay there permanently. Studies suggest that the inflammation caused by these…

Should Mesothelioma Patients Take Aspirin for Cancer Survival?
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Should Mesothelioma Patients Take Aspirin for Cancer Survival?

ByAlex Strauss

There is new evidence supporting the use of low-dose aspirin for cancer survival.  The evidence comes from two new retrospective studies. The first involved patients with head and neck cancer. The second focused on patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC is similar to mesothelioma in many ways.  Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that is often fatal within a year of diagnosis. Based on the new findings, some mesothelioma patients may consider talking to their doctors about aspirin for cancer survival Anti-Inflammatories and Cancer Treatment Anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin can cut the risk for heart disease and heart attack. But research led by the Roswell Park Cancer Center shows they may have similar benefits for people with cancers…

Aspirin Slows Mesothelioma Growth by Fighting Inflammation
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Aspirin Slows Mesothelioma Growth by Fighting Inflammation

ByAlex Strauss

A group of the world’s top mesothelioma researchers say aspirin may have a role to play in fighting malignant pleural mesothelioma. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid or ASA) is an that is known to help reduce the incidence and spread of certain inflammation-related cancers. Mesothelioma, a cancer that starts on the membrane around the lungs and tends to grow and spread quickly, is caused by an inflammatory response to asbestos fibers. That response is related to an inflammatory molecule called high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Researchers at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, along with colleagues at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in New York and two Italian hospitals theorized that a drug that fights inflammation might fight mesothelioma, too. Using mice infected with…

NSAIDS Temporarily Stave Off Mesothelioma in Mice
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NSAIDS Temporarily Stave Off Mesothelioma in Mice

ByAlex Strauss

Aspirin and COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex will not keep mesothelioma from developing, but they may slow it down a little. That is the conclusion of a team of Australian scientists studying the effects of these drugs on mice and asbestos-exposed people. Both COX-2 inhibitors (pain relievers which act on a specific enzyme responsible for inflammation) and NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like aspirin have been associated with a lower incidence of cancer. In addition, because mesothelioma is known to be triggered, in part, by chronic inflammation caused by asbestos fibers, researchers at the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases and the School of Public Health at the University of Western Australia theorized that these drugs might be used to prevent mesothelioma….

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…