malignant pleural mesothelioma

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    New Approach to Decrease Mesothelioma Symptom

    ByAlex Strauss

    Draining off excess lung fluid with an indwelling catheter may be a better way to deal with this mesothelioma symptom than surgery, according to a new study. Pleural effusion, a build-up of fluid between the two layers of the lining around the lungs, is a common side effect of several cancers, including malignant pleural mesothelioma. Approximately half of all patients with metastatic cancer develop pleural effusion, which can have a dramatic impact on quality of life by inhibiting a person’s ability to breathe freely. Many mesothelioma patients also experience chest pain and fatigue as a result of pleural effusion. If untreated, pleural effusion can lead to pneumonia or lung collapse. Some mesothelioma patients with pleural effusion are treated with pleurodesis,…

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    New Prognostic Factor in Peritoneal Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of mesothelioma that attacks the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds internal organs. The outlook for this rare malignancy, which affects fewer than 500 Americans annually, has been improved by the treatment combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). The combination has produced 5-year overall survival rates ranging from 29% to 63%. But not all peritoneal mesothelioma patients are good candidates for CRS/HIPEC. The challenge, for clinicians, is identifying which patients are likely to benefit from the procedure (or even be cured) and which are not. In an effort to help answer that question, French researchers recently tested the prognostic value of the glucose transporter protein GLUT1 as well as…

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    Mesothelioma Report Suggests Clinical Trials Better Than Surgery

    ByAlex Strauss

    Doctors in the Department of Respiratory medicine at York Teaching Hospital in the UK are taking a hard stance against the surgical treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. In a recent article in the journal Thorax, the group contends that the research surrounding mesothelioma surgery is largely flawed and that the majority of mesothelioma patients would be better served if their doctors suggested alternatives. “Belief that the modest survival times reported after radical surgery, whether alone or as part of multimodal therapy, are longer than they would have been without surgery relies on data from highly selected, uncontrolled, retrospectively analyzed case series,” they write. They point out that the only randomized study, the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) trial showed no measurable…

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    Mesothelioma Surgeons Report New Biopsy Technique

    ByAlex Strauss

    A team of surgeons in Maryland have demonstrated how using a standard biopsy tool in a new way could improve the biopsy process for certain mesothelioma patients. An aggressive cancer of the pleural lining around the lungs, malignant pleural mesothelioma usually requires a tissue biopsy to make a definitive diagnosis. Often this is done using a rigid tool called a thoracoscope inserted into the chest wall while the patient is under general anesthesia. However, mesothelioma doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center detail the case of a 79-year-old suspected mesothelioma patient whose biopsy was done in a minimally-invasive way, under conscious sedation, thanks to the novel use of a standard tool. Although the patient had several of the common signs…

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    New Detection System for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A team of biotech scientists in New York have developed an electrochemical process they say can help clinicians detect mesothelioma cells in blood serum. The system works by detecting a protein (HAPLN1) known to be expressed at high levels in the blood serum of people with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Detecting mesothelioma as early as possible is of critical importance because mesothelioma is such a difficult cancer to treat. Associated with asbestos exposure, mesothelioma starts on the membrane around the lungs, heart, or abdomen. It typically grows quickly and does not respond to conventional treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Biomarkers like the HAPLN1 protein may be value if they can help clinicians distinguish mesothelioma from other conditions with similar symptoms. The scientists…

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    New Drug Combo May Fight Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new study finds that the combination of a naturally occurring protein and a drug used to treat multiple myeloma may offer a promising new approach to treating mesothelioma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining caused by asbestos exposure, is known to be difficult to treat using standard cancer therapies. The newly-tested combination of TNFalpha-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) and the cancer drug bortezomib appears to kill mesothelioma cells by triggering “robust apoptosis” (programmed cell death). Both compounds have been studied on their own for their cancer-killing properties. The protein TRAIL is a part of the immune system secreted by most normal tissue cells. It triggers apoptosis in tumor cells by binding to what are called ‘death receptors’ in…

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    Drop in Lung Volume Predicts Poor Mesothelioma Outcome

    ByAlex Strauss

    Decreases in lung volume may be an indicator of treatment response for patients with mesothelioma. Researchers in the U.S. and Australia reached that conclusion after studying the cases of 61 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma and 216 CT scans taken of them during the course of their standard chemotherapy treatment. Lung volume is a measurement of the amount of air the lung processes (inhales, exhales and holds on to) during the course of a normal breath. People with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer that starts on the lining around the lungs, typically experience a drop in lung volume as the pleural tumor grows and constricts or even invades one of their lungs. The new study measured changes in each mesothelioma patient’s…

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    Sharp Rise in Mesothelin May Signal Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Another study has confirmed that the biomarker mesothelin may be a valuable warning sign ofmesothelioma in asbestos-exposed workers. In fact, it may rise sharply in the months preceding the onset of symptoms. Medical researchers have long known that exposure to the mineral asbestos dramatically increases the risk of developing malignant pleural mesothelioma. But doctors have struggled to find a way to identify which asbestos-exposed people are at highest risk. It is a significant problem because, as the authors of a new German study on the subject observe, “In patients developing malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) or lung cancer, using effective tumour markers is the quickest way to ensure early diagnosis and improve survival time.” But which biomarkers to focus on and how…

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    Green Tea Component Fights Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Another study appears to confirm the idea that a compound found in green tea may be a powerful tool for combatting malignant pleural mesothelioma. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a potent antioxidant found in abundance in green (though, not black) tea. It has long been thought to help fight cancer and other diseases by reducing the so-called free radicals produced during oxidative stress. Now, a new study conducted in Japan and published in Cancer Cell International finds that EGCG triggered cell death in five different human mesothelioma cell lines by doing just the opposite. “We found that EGCG induced apoptosis (cell death) in all five mesothelioma cell lines in a dose-dependent manner,” write the authors in a summary of their findings. “We further…

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    New Prognostic Tools Could Improve Mesothelioma Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    A pair of cancer researchers from Rome say treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma could be improved if more clinicians considered the newest prognostic tools in their treatment planning. Pleural mesothelioma is a malignancy of the membranes that encase the lungs. It is caused by exposure to the mineral asbestos and is highly resistant to conventional cancer therapies. Many mesothelioma patients do not survive longer than 12 months from the onset of their symptoms. But Tommaso Mineo, MD, and Vincenzo Ambrogi, PhD, of the Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at Policlinico Tor Vergata University say newly discovered biomarkers and other tumor factors could lead to more tailored treatment and, potentially, better outcomes. “Therapy is currently guided by gross tumor characteristics and patient…