mesothelioma

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    ‘Breast Cancer Gene’ May Impact Mesothelioma Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    A gene most often associated with breast cancer may also play a vital role in the effectiveness of mesothelioma treatment. BRCA1 has been shown to be closely linked to the risk of breast cancer and a number of other malignancies. But a new study out of Ireland suggests that there may also be a connection between BRCA1 expression and sensitivity to vinorelbine, an antimitotic chemotherapy drug, in mesothelioma tumors. Classified as a plant alkaloid, vinorelbine attacks tumor cells by interfering with their ability to properly divide the chromosomes in their nuclei (mitosis). To test the connection between BRCA1 and vinorelbine sensitivity in mesothelioma, the researchers tested 144 mesothelioma tissue specimens for their level of BRCA1 expression.  They found that 38.9% of…

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    New Asbestos Test May Help Protect Against Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Although it is known to cause mesothelioma and a host of other diseases, asbestos is still in use in workplaces around the world. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as many as 1.3 million Americans are exposed to significant amounts of asbestos in the workplace. Historically, those who mine the raw material are at greatest risk for mesothelioma, along with those who work in construction or in manufacturing asbestos-containing products. Inhaled fibers can cause irritation and inflammation that can trigger mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases even decades after exposure. Because higher concentrations of airborne asbestos increase the health risk, workplace monitoring of airborne asbestos is required to help protect workers from mesothelioma and other diseases.  Phase contrast microscopy…

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    Actor’s Death Highlights Mesothelioma Risk in Australia

    ByAlex Strauss

    An Australian film actor best known in the U.S. for playing opposite Mel Gibson in Gallipoli has died ofmesothelioma.  Harold Hopkins died in a Sydney hospital where he was receiving hospice care.  He was 67 years old. Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the thin tissue around internal organs.  It is often considered an occupational disease, since many people come into contact with the asbestos that causes it while working in various industrial settings.  Although actors are not typically thought to be at high risk for mesothelioma, Hopkins reportedly encountered asbestos long before his acting career began.  According to Australia’s Daily Telegraph, he was exposed to asbestos as early as the 1960’s while working his first job after high school…

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    Canada Halts Mining of Mesothelioma-Causing Asbestos

    ByAlex Strauss

    A country that was once the world’s top producer of mesothelioma-causing asbestos has stopped production for the first time in 130 years. Mining of the controversial mineral has come to a halt at Canada’s two remaining asbestos mines because of money and logistical problems. Health officials around the world have been highly critical of Canada’s asbestos industry and its exportation policies because of the clear link between asbestos and deadly mesothelioma.  Mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the tissue encasing the lungs and lining of the abdomen, is on the rise worldwide, especially in third-world countries where asbestos is still used as a cheap additive to building materials.  Many of these countries are top importers of Canadian asbestos. Canada once dominated…

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    Mesothelioma or Lung Cancer? Pleural Fluid May Tell

    ByAlex Strauss

    One of the biggest challenges in treating malignant pleural mesothelioma is making a definitive diagnosis. Mesothelioma is a cancer that occurs in the membranous tissue encasing the lungs and other organs. It is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. Although mesothelioma is not technically a lung cancer, many of its most common symptoms, such as shortness of breath and coughing, are similar to lung cancer and other lung diseases. Like mesothelioma, many of these diseases cause a buildup of fluid around the lungs known as pleural effusion.  But there are subtle differences in the biochemical composition of that fluid from one disease to the next. A team of medical researchers in Japan is testing a new method for detecting and using…

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    Genes Key to Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Response

    ByMatt Clarke

    Research being performed in Eastern Europe may eventually help doctors around the world predict which mesothelioma patients will respond best to a particular type of chemotherapy. Mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer triggered by exposure to asbestos.  It is often treated with multiple modalities, including chemotherapy.  As more is understood about the impact of genetics on medication response, chemotherapy for cancers like mesothelioma is moving away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to a more tailored approach based on individual cellular characteristics. Now, a team of biochemists in Slovenia are studying genetically-linked responses to the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine, a nucleoside analog that some studies have found to be a promising alternative to the more conventional cisplatin-pemetrexed combination for mesothelioma.  In a phase II trial involving 78 mesothelioma…

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    New Approach to Predict Mesothelioma Drug Response

    ByAlex Strauss

    In the ongoing worldwide effort to find better treatments for mesothelioma cancer, a group of Italian doctors believe they have a better way of determining which patients will respond to a cancer medication called Gefitinib. A cell protein called Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in the cells of certain types of cancers, including mesothelioma.  EGFR overexpression can cause uncontrolled cell replication and faster tumor growth.  As an effective EGRF inhibitor, Gefitinib can sometimes help stop that uncontrolled growth.   But the treatment doesn’t work as well in all patients. In a study published in the Public Library of Science, the Italian researchers say the presence of estrogen and estrogen receptors may help determine which mesothelioma patients need Gefitinib most. …

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    New Blood Test May Help Diagnose Mesothelioma Earlier

    ByAlex Strauss

    Investigators in California are evaluating new technology that could eventually help diagnose mesothelioma with a simple blood test. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.  It strikes about 2,500 people in the U.S. each year.  But its rarity – and its tendency to mimic other lung-related diseases – can make mesothelioma hard to diagnose.  In recent years, some mesothelioma centers have begun evaluating the DNA composition of suspected mesothelioma cells using a test called a DNA array. Now, a group of researchers in California reports that a different type of evaluation – one that looks for abnormal sugars (glycans) in blood serum – may offer another diagnostic option for mesothelioma.  Anti-glycan antibodies are produced by the immune system…

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    Later Exposure Lowers Mesothelioma Risk

    ByAlex Strauss

    The later in life a person is exposed to asbestos, the less likely they are to develop mesothelioma, regardless of how long the exposure is.  That is the conclusion of a large population-based control study in France aimed at calculating the risk of mesothelioma among workers based on the time and duration of their asbestos exposure. Asbestos is the only known cause of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer in the tissue around the lungs. Asbestos was once a common component of building materials and insulation in France, just as it was in the rest of Europe and the U.S. Most people who develop mesothelioma have been exposed to asbestos at work or at home at multiple times in their lives. For the new…

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    New Compound Proves Effective Against Mesothelioma in Mice

    ByAlex Strauss

    Japanese researchers believe they have found a powerful new compound to fight the aggressive cancer –malignant pleural mesothelioma. The team at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tokyo have had success using a novel therapeutic compound called JBIR-23 in mice. JBIR-23 is a natural compound first derived from the bacteria Streptomyces sp. AK-AB27 in 2008.  In laboratory test tube studies, its unique chemical structure appears to have a cytotoxic effect on mesothelioma cells and promote apoptosis (cell death). When the compound was tested on mice with mesothelioma, the effect was the same.  JBIR-23 appears to prevent the further growth of the tumor, without loss of weight or other observable side effects. The news is promising in light…