Predicting Mesothelioma Outcomes with Blood Tests
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Predicting Mesothelioma Outcomes with Blood Tests

ByAlex Strauss

Two separate teams of Japanese researchers are delving into the possibilities of blood serum indicators that could help predict outcomes in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Pleural mesothelioma, a cancer that starts on the lining around the lungs, is the most common form of the disease. It occurs most often in people who have inadvertently inhaled asbestos dust. Mesothelioma is highly resistant to conventional treatments. It is also difficult to predict which patients are likely to do well with standard therapies and which are not, which is referred to as prognosis. But researchers worldwide are continually searching for new ways to diagnose and predict the prognosis of patients with…

Nanotechnology for Treatment of Mesothelioma Fluid
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Nanotechnology for Treatment of Mesothelioma Fluid

ByAlex Strauss

A new article on diagnostic advances predicts some good news for mesothelioma patients and their doctors. Mesothelioma is an aggressive malignancy that most often occurs in the membrane around the lungs (pleura) but can also arise in the abdominal wall or around the heart. It is known to be caused by exposure to asbestos, but its long latency period and vague early symptoms can make it difficult to diagnose until in its later stages. At that point, mesothelioma is also less survivable. A pair of Spanish doctors, however, predicts that nanotechnology holds some good news for both diagnosing and treating the symptoms of mesothelioma. Nanotechnology in medicine involves the use of extremely tiny particles to deliver therapeutics and glean information at the…

Drop in Lung Volume Predicts Poor Mesothelioma Outcome
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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…

Better Quality of Life from Lung-Sparing Mesothelioma Surgery
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Better Quality of Life from Lung-Sparing Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients who undergo pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) may enjoy a better quality of life afterward than those who have extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). That is the message of a new study published in the Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals. Pleural mesothelioma arises most often in the thin lining that surrounds the lungs. Because of its close proximity to the lungs, it is not uncommon for pleural mesothelioma to eventually spread to the lung itself, reducing its function. Eventually, the diseased mesothelium also thickens and stiffens, preventing the lungs from expanding adequately with each breath. Pleurectomy/decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy are the two major types of surgical treatments for mesothelioma. There is great disagreement within the medical community as to which one is better for…

Green Tea Component Fights Mesothelioma
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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…

New Prognostic Tools Could Improve Mesothelioma Treatment
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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…

For Some Patients Chemo Cuts Mesothelioma Survival
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For Some Patients Chemo Cuts Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

Asbestos disease researchers in Australia say chemotherapy at the end of life may be doing some mesothelioma patients more harm than good. The team from the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute in Rhodes, Australia analyzed the cases of 147 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients who had received compensation from the government’s Dust Diseases Board. The focus of the study was to determine the association between a variety of factors such as age, gender, geographic location, disease stage, histological subtype, length of first-line chemotherapy, and the use of chemotherapy in the last month of their lives. Among the mesothelioma patients studied, most (77%) received more than one treatment modality while 56% received only one. Chemotherapy, which continues to be the most popular first-line treatment…

Studies Highlight Global Mesothelioma and Asbestos Problem
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Studies Highlight Global Mesothelioma and Asbestos Problem

ByAlex Strauss

Two new reports highlight the fact that mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases are global issues. Reporting in a recent issue of Global Health Action, scientists from South Africa’s National Institute for Occupational Health and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg say the country is facing an epidemic of environmentally-linked asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma because of abandoned asbestos mines. The same report also found that many of these mesothelioma patients are not receiving any compensation for their injuries. South Africa was once a top exporter of asbestos, which was used for thousands of industrial applications, including insulation, construction materials, asbestos cement, and friction products like brake and clutch pads. Although all of South Africa’s asbestos mines are now closed because of the…

Doctors Test New Intra-Pleural Mesothelioma Drug
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Doctors Test New Intra-Pleural Mesothelioma Drug

ByAlex Strauss

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have treated the first patient in a new trial that could offer hope to people with malignant mesothelioma and one of its most common complications. The trial is a dose-escalation test of a new drug called GL-ONC1, a genetically modified vaccinia virus produced by the California biopharmaceutical company Genelux Corporation. GL-ONC1 is designed to be both therapeutic – actually treating the cancer – and diagnostic (via green fluorescent proteins) in people with mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer who have a buildup of lung fluid called malignant pleural effusion. In the new mesothelioma trial, which is sponsored by Memorial Sloan Kettering in collaboration with Genelux, GL-ONC1 will be administered in a single…

Localized Mesothelioma May Provide Longer Survival
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Localized Mesothelioma May Provide Longer Survival

ByAlex Strauss

Patients with a rare, localized form of pleural mesothelioma may have a better survival outlook than patients with the more common, diffuse variety. That conclusion comes from a team of thoracic surgeons at Cambridge University. Their goal was to determine what, if any, difference in survival could be expected between people with localized malignant mesothelioma (LMM) of the pleura and those with standard pleural mesothelioma. Most pleural mesothelioma patients have a type of cancer that tends to spread quickly in a sheet across the thin membrane that surrounds the lungs. While patients with LMM have identical mesothelioma cells, from a histological perspective, the growth pattern exhibited by these cells is distinctly different. Instead of spreading across the mesothelium, LMM presents as…