New Blood Test May Detect Mesothelioma Earlier
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New Blood Test May Detect Mesothelioma Earlier

ByAlex Strauss

In the ongoing worldwide quest for an easier and more accurate way to diagnose malignant mesothelioma, one of the nation’s top mesothelioma research teams claims to have found a ‘promising’ new method. The blood test, developed by SomaLogic, Inc. and tested at New York’s Lagone Medical Center, detects the presence and quantity of 19 different proteins (biomarkers) that can be secreted by tumor cells in the early stages of mesothelioma. In National Cancer Institute-funded studies on the new test, researchers used 90 blood samples from patients who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and 80 samples from people who had been exposed to asbestos but did not have a mesothelioma diagnosis.  The SomaLogic test accurately detected 15 out of 19 cases…

Genes May be Targets for Mesothelioma Treatment
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Genes May be Targets for Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

The same genes that can help predict which mesothelioma patients will do well after surgery, might also be good targets for gene therapy to combat the disease. That’s the conclusion of one of the nation’s top mesothelioma experts, Dr. David Sugarbaker, and his colleagues at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. After publishing research showing that certain genes can affect patients’ post-surgical prognosis, the team looked further into the genes themselves and how they relate to mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is highly resistant to standard treatments. Gene therapy, which harnesses and uses the body’s own nature defense system, is being studied as a promising alternative. Starting with lung tissue from both healthy patients and those with malignant pleural mesothelioma, the researchers used…

New Marker Could Improve Mesothelioma Diagnosis
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New Marker Could Improve Mesothelioma Diagnosis

ByAlex Strauss

There has been another potential breakthrough in the ongoing worldwide effort to find an effective way to diagnose mesothelioma earlier. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer of the mesothelium.  As with all cancers, early detection can greatly improve the odds of survival.  But because the early symptoms can be mild or mimic other lung diseases, mesothelioma is often not definitively diagnosed until its later stages, when treatment may be less effective. Now, a team of Austrian doctors has identified a cellular protein that they say may be a promising diagnostic marker for mesothelioma. Elevated levels of serum integrin-linked kinase, a protein associated with multiple cellular functions, have already been found in cases of ovarian cancer.  To test its presence in mesothelioma…

New Treatments Offer Hope for Mesothelioma
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New Treatments Offer Hope for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A new published review of standard and investigational treatments for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) offers some hopeful news for mesothelioma patients. The article, published in Current Oncology Reports, analyzes an array of mesothelioma treatments, from new and existing chemotherapy drugs and new radiotherapy techniques to advances in immunotherapy and gene therapy. Chemotherapy The authors note that, although the chemotherapy combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed continues to be the preferred first-line treatment for mesothelioma, the newer combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin has also proven effective, especially in combination with the surgical procedure called extrapleural pneumonectomy and thoracic radiation. Other studies have also confirmed the value of the gemcitabine/cisplatin combination in Phase 2 clinical trials for inoperable mesothelioma. Radiation On the radiotherapy…

Lung Tissue Fibers Can Help Identify Mesothelioma
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Lung Tissue Fibers Can Help Identify Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of German researchers says examination of lung tissue for minute fibers of asbestos can be a valuable way to identify asbestos-related lung diseases like mesothelioma – especially when it has been many years since the exposure. Asbestos inhalation is the number one cause of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a fast-growing and deadly cancer that starts in the thin tissue that encases the lungs.  But, because it can take 20 to 40 years for mesothelioma to develop, it is not always easy to link a patient’s lung problems to their asbestos exposure.  Patients may have forgotten the exposure, or may not even be aware of it, as is sometimes the case with people who have had secondhand exposure to asbestos. In such…

VATS Preventive Radiation Not Recommended for Mesothelioma
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VATS Preventive Radiation Not Recommended for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients who have thoracoscopic surgery should not necessarily have radiation to keep their cancer from spreading at the surgical site. That’s the conclusion of researchers in Oxford, England who recently published an article on the practice of prophylactic irradiation therapy (PIT) for mesothelioma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma, a serious asbestos-linked lung cancer, is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat. Because blood and imaging tests are often inconclusive, for a definitive diagnosis many patients have to undergo surgery to remove mesothelioma tumor cells for examination under a microscope. With the use of a thoracoscope, a camera for viewing inside the chest cavity, this procedure can often be done through small puncture wounds instead of the large open incision it used to…

New Biomarker May Help Diagnose Mesothelioma
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New Biomarker May Help Diagnose Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Scientists in Japan believe that a protein found in the blood serum of rheumatoid arthritis patients may help doctors diagnose malignant pleural mesothelioma earlier. Every year in the U.S., as many as 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma, a fast-growing asbestos-linked cancer that often causes few symptoms until in its later stages, when treatment options may be limited. Because earlier detection can increase the odds of survival, researchers around the world are searching for methods to detect mesothelioma sooner.  Much of that research has centered on substances, known as biomarkers, that are overproduced by tumor cells and can be detected in blood serum. The latest biomarker found to be elevated in mesothelioma cells is serum thioredoxin-1 (TRX), a biomarker for rheumatoid…

Computer Evaluation May Help Guide Mesothelioma Treatment
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Computer Evaluation May Help Guide Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

A computer program designed to help doctors analyze tumors in three dimensions could be a valuable tool for guiding treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a virulent cancer that attacks the membrane surrounding the lungs.  Because it is highly resistant to conventional treatments, an effective method for evaluating the efficacy of a given treatment is vital.  Diagnostic scans that can measure the volume of the tumor over three dimensions are an improvement over measures that only examine two dimensions. Currently, doctors often use a one- or two-dimensional linear method to examine and measure mesothelioma tumors for treatment response.  But a team from the radiology department at the University of Chicago calls that method “insufficient” for mesothelioma and has…

Faulty DNA Repair Genes May Raise Mesothelioma Risk
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Faulty DNA Repair Genes May Raise Mesothelioma Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Not everyone who is exposed to asbestos has the same risk of developing mesothelioma.  Now, new research supports the idea that some people’s genetic inability to repair DNA damage at the cellular level may raise their risk of mesothelioma. When asbestos dust is inhaled, tiny fibers can lodge in the lungs and stay there for decades, causing irritation and inflammation that have been linked to a range of illnesses, including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. But scientists have not been able to come up with a specific genetic explanation for why different people exposed to the same amount of asbestos dust do not contract these diseases at the same rate. Now, a group of Italian researchers believe they may have found…

Surgery, Tumor Grade Have High Impact on Mesothelioma Survival
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Surgery, Tumor Grade Have High Impact on Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

A population based analysis of people with malignant pleural mesothelioma suggests that tumor grade and surgery have the greatest impact on overall survival. The study conducted by researchers in the department of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester in New York analyzed the medical records of 9,701 mesothelioma patients from 1973 to 2006.   Their goal was to examine the variables that affect the overall survival in people with mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Of the 9,701 patients followed, 55 percent were still alive six months after diagnosis.  Thirty-three percent survived for a year and another 5 percent were still living five years after their mesothelioma diagnosis.  Younger patients, women, those with the most common (epithelioid) type of…