mesothelioma patients

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    Vatalanib Not Effective as a ‘Single Agent’ for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    There has been a setback for doctors hoping the drug vatalanib would be a viable alternative to chemotherapy for mesothelioma patients. Scientists with the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), a research team based at the University of California, have ruled out further study on the medication as a single agent (administered by itself) after a phase II trial found no significant survival benefit among mesothelioma patients. Vatalanib is an oral medicine classified as an anti-angiogenesis drug, designed to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels necessary to ‘feed’ a growing tumor. Although vatalanib has shown promise in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and has been compared to Avastin (bevacizumab), another anti-angiogenesis drug being tested for mesothelioma, the…

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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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    Light Treatment for Mesothelioma May Get Special Status

    ByAlex Strauss

    A cutting edge treatment that uses light to kill cancer cells could soon be more widely available for mesothelioma patients. The makers of Photofrin (porfimer sodium), a drug used in photodynamic therapy, have filed for Orphan Drug designation with the FDA. An ‘orphan drug’ is classified as one developed to treat a disease affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans. Although orphan drugs must meet the same FDA standards as other drugs for safety and efficacy, their special classification can help move them to market sooner by offering tax incentives and relaxing some of the testing requirements, such as a the number of patients needed for clinical trials. Orphan drug designation for Photofrin could offer another treatment option for mesothelioma patients. Caused…

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    Order May Impact Mesothelioma Drug Availability

    ByAlex Strauss

    Mesothelioma patients on certain types of chemotherapy drugs may have easier access to their treatment in the wake of an executive order from President Obama. The President is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “take action” to combat shortages of certain critical medications. On the list of drugs in dwindling supply is the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, one of the most commonly-used drugs to treat mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly form of cancer triggered by asbestos exposure that affects an estimated 2,500 Americans each year. Cisplatin, in combination with pemetrexed (Alimta) is the FDA approved first line treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. At a news conference in Washington last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen…

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    Cell Proteins May Predict Mesothelioma Prognosis

    ByAlex Strauss

    A cell protein devoted to regulating water transport and another related to DNA replication could be important keys to improved mesothelioma prognosis. The American Cancer Society has released the results of a study on the relationship between a protein known as Aquaporin 1 (AQP1), which regulates water movement through the cell membrane, and treatment effectiveness for patients with mesothelioma.  At the same time, an international research team has also found a correlation between mesothelioma prognosis and the expression of the protein TIF-2. Both of these new studies represent a relatively new approach to the treatment of mesothelioma, one focused on manipulating the complex inner workings of cells.  The Australian research teams that conducted the multi-center AQP1 study examined the AQP1 levels…

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    Possible Second-Line Mesothelioma Treatment Fails

    ByAlex Strauss

    There has been some disappointing news for mesothelioma patients who fail to respond to first-line chemotherapy treatment. A major Phase III clinical study of a potentially promising second-line drug treatment showed no effect on survival. Mesothelioma researchers had high hopes for vorinostat (brand name Zolinza), a histone deacetylase inhibitor that alters gene expression and protein activity inside cells. Earlier studies found that a small number of mesothelioma patients treated with the drug had stable disease that lasted for 13 months. But in the current study – one of the largest mesothelioma trials of its kind – vorinostat offered no statistically significant survival advantage. The study involved 660 mesothelioma patients from 92 sites. The median age was 65. Patients were given…

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    Rare Form of Mesothelioma Appears after Multimodal Treatment

    ByAlex Strauss

    Advanced mesothelioma treatment approaches like multimodal therapy may not only prolong survival in some patients; they may also cause fundamental changes in the way the disease presents itself. Pleural mesothelioma is a malignancy of the thin lining that encases the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos. Typically, the prognosis is poor. But a multinational study in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology finds that more efficient chemotherapy protocols and aggressive management strategies are resulting in more longer-living patients. The researchers single out the powerful trimodal combination of induction chemotherapy, extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery, and adjuvant high-dose hemithoracic radiation for its impact on survival. Although this therapy combination may hold mesothelioma at bay in some cases, it usually returns eventually. The…

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    Mesothelioma Responds Best to Multi-Modality Treatment, Expert Says

    ByAlex Strauss

    Patients with mesothelioma have a better chance of survival when they are treated with multiple treatment modalities rather than chemotherapy alone. That is the advice of renowned mesothelioma expert Dr. Robert Cameron of UCLA. Dr. Cameron is a cardiothoracic surgeon and surgical oncologist who pioneered the lung-sparing surgical technique for mesothelioma known as pleurectomy/decortication and has treated mesothelioma patients for more than 20 years. In an article for the Pacific Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s website, he cautions patients and oncologists against relying too heavily on Alimta/cisplatin, the only FDA-approved chemotherapy combination approved for mesothelioma. “Lost in the hype [over Alimta/cisplatin] is the fact that the FDA’s approval is limited to use with patients who are not eligible for surgery,”…

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    Mesothelioma on the Rise in Aussie Women

    ByAlex Strauss

    An Australian news service is reporting a spike in the number of women contracting mesothelioma and they are blaming the growing popularity of do-it-yourself home renovation. According to The Mercury.com, the number of Tasmanian female mesothelioma patients is up sharply in recent years.  The website quotes the president of Australia’s Asbestos Diseases Foundation, Barry Robson, as saying the new state-by-state government mesothelioma statistics due out soon could prove to be “stark reading”. “But we have already seen an increase in the number of women affected by asbestos-related conditions over the past decade or so and that is increasing,” Robson told the news source. In Australia, as well as elsewhere in the world, asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma have affected far more…

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    Physicians “Missing Opportunity” with Mesothelioma Patients

    ByAlex Strauss

    Even while they are working diligently to diagnose and treat mesothelioma, too many doctors may be missing a vital opportunity to help mesothelioma patients in another important way. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and researchers at Stanford University found that only a tiny percentage of mesothelioma patients received counseling from their doctor’s office on the cause of their mesothelioma and the possibility of taking legal action. This, despite that fact that almost all cases of mesothelioma, a virulent cancer of the mesothelial tissue around organs, are known to be caused by occupational asbestos exposure. To conduct the retrospective study, researchers reviewed the charts of 16 patients who had been newly diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma during…