Mesothelioma Influenced by Vitamin A?
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Mesothelioma Influenced by Vitamin A?

ByAlex Strauss

Vitamin A is a very important vitamin to maintaining health. We all know it is found in foods like carrots and is important in maintaining eyesight. Now, several independent research studies over the last three decades have suggested that vitamin A could possibly have an impact on managing and preventing mesothelioma. Vitamin A has many essential functions in the human body including: sustaining vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, cell differentiation and helping to maintain the immune system – the body’s defense against infection. Vitamin A comes from animal sources (such as liver and whole milk) and plant sources. Retinoids which are chemically related to vitamin A have been implicated as anti-carcinogenic. For example, according to an article published in…

Alimta Reportedly Caused Lung Injury
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Alimta Reportedly Caused Lung Injury

ByAlex Strauss

A Japanese medical journal recently reported a case of pemetrexed-induced acute lung injury in a patient with mesothelioma. In the U.S., Alimta is the brand name for pemetrexed. According to this report a 65-year-old man was admitted to the hospital after complaining of shortness of breath. Doctors ordered a chest x-ray which showed that the patient had excess fluid that had accumulated in the left pleural cavity, the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. A chest CT scan was ordered which revealed multiple pleural masses on the left side. A needle biopsy removed a specimen from one of the masses and pathology tests were performed on the sample. The diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma was subsequently made. The patient was…

James Hardie’s Mesothelioma and Asbestos Legacy Continues
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James Hardie’s Mesothelioma and Asbestos Legacy Continues

ByAlex Strauss

Most Americans have never heard of a company called James Hardie, but to many Australians this name conjures up an enormous death toll from asbestos. It has been alleged that this company is responsible for thousands of past and future Australian deaths from mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Founded in Melbourne Australia in 1888 by James Hardie the company produced asbestos related products such as building products, insulation, and brake linings. In March 1987 it stopped manufacturing the asbestos containing products but, it was already too late. Mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases have a long latency period from the time of asbestos exposure to disease diagnosis. Thousands of Australians who had worked for James Hardie or had come in…

Tea Tree Oil Stops Mesothelioma Cells in Model
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Tea Tree Oil Stops Mesothelioma Cells in Model

ByAlex Strauss

A recent study has suggested that tea tree oil can kill mouse mesothelioma cells in vitro. This indicates its potential usefulness in human mesothelioma, but more research is needed. Tea tree oil comes from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a tree in the myrtle family that is found in Australia. The tree oil has been traditionally used as a topical anti-fungal and antibiotic. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that the compound that is most likely responsible for the oil’s antiseptic properties is called “terpinen-4-ol.” In this study, researchers at the School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences at The University of Western Australia examined the in vitro anticancer activity of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil and terpinen-4-ol. They tested the substances…

Mesothelioma Patients Benefit From CT-PET Scan
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Mesothelioma Patients Benefit From CT-PET Scan

ByAlex Strauss

A combination computed tomography-positron emission tomography (CT-PET) scan is more accurate than either CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at staging mesothelioma, preventing many patients with late-stage cancer from having to undergo invasive surgery, according to a recent study in Clinical Lung Cancer. A common mesothelioma treatment for earlier stage disease combines chemotherapy, radiation, and extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP)—a surgery that removes the entire lung, heart lining (pericardium), and diaphragm. Though it is effective at removing cancer cells, EPP is major surgery. Approximately 5% of patients die from the surgery, and many more develop serious complications such as bleeding, respiratory failure, and blood clots. Because of these risks, it is important to determine which patients are the most appropriate candidates before…

139 Ways to Avoid Cancer
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139 Ways to Avoid Cancer

ByAlex Strauss

Here are 139 ways to help avoid getting cancer from a well documented carcinogen – asbestos.  Asbestos causes mesothelioma, other cancers and asbestosis.  Most of these asbestos caused diseases are considered incurable by mainstream doctors. What is Asbestos? Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral.  Because of its heat resistance and tensile strength it has been used in thousands of products.  As early as the 1930’s and 1940’s manufacturers of asbestos containing products discovered that this mineral could cause diseases including cancer.  Unfortunately, even armed with this knowledge, they did little to protect workers and consumers for the next several decades. No Asbestos Ban in the United States On July 12, 1989, after conducting a ten year study, spending millions of dollars,…

Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma
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Researchers Learn How Selenite Combats Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Sodium selenite, the most common water-soluble form of selenium, is an antioxidant and redox-modulating compound that can kill mesothelioma cells in cell cultures. Now researchers are discovering why it works. This could potentially lead to new treatments for mesothelioma. Investigators from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden previously discovered that selenite triggers the death of mesothelioma cells, particularly sarcomatoid cells, which are the least common but deadliest form of this cancer. In the current study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the investigators aimed to determine the pathways by which selenite kills mesothelioma cells, and why sarcomatoid cells seem to be most sensitive to selenite treatment. “Developing anticancer drugs is difficult,” explains Gustav Nilsonne,…

Future Mesothelioma Treatment
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Future Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

A combination of immunotherapy and traditional  may be more effective than either treatment alone against mesothelioma, according to a recent analysis published in the journal, Tissue Antigens. Mesothelioma is one of the most difficult cancers to treat, and the prognosis is often poor. Surgery and chemotherapy are the standard mesothelioma treatments, but even with these therapies many patients do not live more than a year after their diagnosis. A newer treatment option is immunotherapy, which enhances the immune system response to help the body attack cancer cells. Because mesothelioma engages the immune system, immunotherapy would appear to be a promising treatment strategy for this cancer. However, studies conducted so far on immunotherapy for mesothelioma have yielded disappointing results. Combining immunotherapy…

Mesothelioma and Early Lung Cancer Identified by Screening
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Mesothelioma and Early Lung Cancer Identified by Screening

ByAlex Strauss

Using computed tomography scans to screen former asbestos workers can detect both early and late-stage lung cancer and late-stage mesothelioma, according to a study in the May Journal of Thoracic Oncology. However, it’s still not clear whether screening for these cancers might improve patients’ prognoses. Exposure to asbestos fibers is a known risk factor for lung cancer and the cause of mesothelioma. Although asbestos is still not completely banned in the U.S., it was phased out of American industry to a large degree beginning in the 1970s.  However because asbestos-related diseases can take 20 to 40 years to emerge after people have been exposed, former asbestos workers and those exposed to products containing this carcinogen continue to be diagnosed with asbestos…

Mesothelioma and the Spread of Asbestos
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Mesothelioma and the Spread of Asbestos

ByAlex Strauss

Though it has been shut down for more than a decade, a mine in Libby, Montana is still raising health concerns for asbestos-contaminated ore it once shipped to hundreds of sites across the country. A report published in the June issue of Inhalation Toxicology finds that people living in several of the communities surrounding the ore processing sites may have a higher incidence of mesothelioma and other cancers. From the time it opened in the early1920s, the Libby mine processed vermiculite ore. Though it was useful for insulation, fireproofing materials, and lawn and garden products, the mineral contained a type of asbestos, which has been linked to an increased risk of various lung disorders, including asbestosis (scarring of lung tissue), mesothelioma, and lung cancer….