A Step Forward in Treating Pleural Mesothelioma: The Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib Combination
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A Step Forward in Treating Pleural Mesothelioma: The Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib Combination

ByHolly Zink

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that has been challenging to treat effectively. However, recent breakthroughs in medical research are shedding new light on potential treatment options. Researchers investigated the potential of a combination therapy involving pembrolizumab and lenvatinib. Their findings were promising, with over 50% of patients experiencing tumor shrinkage. While this marks an important step forward, challenges such as side effects need to be carefully addressed in future research. Uncovering Hope for Pleural Mesothelioma Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs. It’s linked to exposure to a harmful substance called asbestos. Asbestos used to be used a lot in construction and other industries. Finding good treatments…

New Mesothelioma Tool for Better Treatment and Prognosis
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New Mesothelioma Tool for Better Treatment and Prognosis

ByHolly Zink

Researchers from China have come up with a tool to check prognosis in mesothelioma patients depending on where the cancer is located. Mesothelioma develops in the lining that covers many of the internal organs in you body. It is caused by exposure to asbestos. There are different types of mesothelioma depending on where it develops. Pleural mesothelioma grows in the lining of your lungs and chest wall. Peritoneal mesothelioma grows in the lining of your abdomen. Mesothelioma can also occur in the testis or around the heart. The location where mesothelioma grows can have a big impact on diagnosis. It also affects how well you respond to treatment. When it takes longer to make an accurate diagnosis, the disease has…

Prognostic Factors Forecast the Future for Women with Mesothelioma
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Prognostic Factors Forecast the Future for Women with Mesothelioma

ByHolly Zink

A new study in the World Journal of Surgical Oncology examines mesothelioma prognostic factors. Prognostic factors are measurable traits that can be used to estimate the chance of recovery. They can also measure the chance of mesothelioma recurring or coming back. In other words, prognostic factors can help predict the course of the disease and the future outcome. Prognostic factors are available at the time of diagnosis. They can include patient characteristics such as age, ethnicity, sex, or smoking status. And they also include disease characteristics such as disease stage or type. For mesothelioma, they may even involve the amount of asbestos exposure. The key to prognostic factors is that they must be measurable. Clinicians need a number, or a…

A New Prognostic Signature Discovered for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
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A New Prognostic Signature Discovered for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

ByHolly Zink

Immune-related genes play an important role in malignant pleural mesothelioma prognosis. They can affect the tumor immune microenvironment and affect tumor prognosis. Immune-related genes can be used to predict the course of a disease or patient outcomes. These genes are often called a genetic prognostic signature. Chinese surgeons recently discovered a prognostic signature for malignant pleural mesothelioma patients. Constructing a Prognostic Signature with 5 Immune-Related Genes Genes play an important role in the development and progression of cancers like mesothelioma. The Chinese researchers started by searching for other studies on mesothelioma prognosis and genes. Researchers used data from the Cancer Genome Atlas to construct the prediction signature. Patients were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups. They also used this data…

Step Counts for Cancer Prognosis: Could it Work for Mesothelioma?
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Step Counts for Cancer Prognosis: Could it Work for Mesothelioma?

ByAlex Strauss

Cancer researchers in New York are exploring the concept of using step counts for cancer prognosis. If further studies back it up, the technique might help predict outcomes for people with mesothelioma. The new study involved people with non-small cell lung cancer. The patients wore commercial fitness trackers so doctors could see how much they walked.  The researchers compared step levels with treatment outcomes. They concluded that there is value to using step counts for cancer prognosis. It may even be more effective than some more traditional methods for predicting survival. Cancer Prognosis and Chemoradiotherapy Mesothelioma survival usually depends on how well patients respond to standard treatments. Healthier, more active cancer patients tend to have better outcomes.  Chemotherapy and radiation…

Protein Marker Linked to Prognosis in Peritoneal Mesothelioma
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Protein Marker Linked to Prognosis in Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A cellular marker that helps tell cancer cells to replicate may be used to predict treatment outcomes in people with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. That conclusion comes from a group of researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales. The researchers tested tissue samples from 42 mesothelioma patients for the presence of Ki67, a protein associated with cell proliferation. According to the authors, Ki67 has been widely used as a prognostic indicator in other types of cancer, but has not been tested in mesothelioma. The researchers divided the tissue samples into two groups based on their level of Ki67 expression. Those with a Ki67 expression of less than 25% were put in the low category and all samples above that were…

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Survival May Depend on Cancer Location

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Survival May Depend on Cancer Location

ByAlex Strauss

Doctors in Greece believe they have found a more effective way to predict prognosis and perhaps extend the lives of people with peritoneal mesothelioma and other cancers affecting the peritoneum. It is based around a system than maps the location of cancer within the abdomen. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of one of the rarest cancers. Caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure, peritoneal mesothelioma starts on the lining that surrounds the abdominal organs. A combination treatment of surgery followed by a wash of heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) through the abdomen is considered the gold standard therapy. Now, surgical oncologist John Spiliotis of the Metaxa Cancer Hospital in Piraeus, Greece along with colleagues in Greece and the US say the location…

Mesothelioma Prognosis: Some Markers More Useful than Others
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Mesothelioma Prognosis: Some Markers More Useful than Others

ByAlex Strauss

Deciding which treatments to try and determining whether they are working are two of the biggest challenges for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  But a team of researchers in the UK is trying to make the process a little easier. They have identified three markers the say can help doctors predict prognosis in mesothelioma patients and monitor their response to treatment. The South West Area Mesothelioma and Pemetrexed trial, based in the Southwestern part of England, recruited 73 pleural mesothelioma patients between 2008 and 2011. Fifty-eight of the patients elected to undergo chemotherapy with pemetrexed (Alimta) for their mesothelioma and 15 opted only for best supportive care, without chemotherapy. Before treatment began, the researchers used PET-CT to test each patient’s baseline…

Response to Talc Treatment May Predict Mesothelioma Prognosis
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Response to Talc Treatment May Predict Mesothelioma Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

How well a mesothelioma patient’s lungs respond to a procedure designed to eliminate excess lung fluid may be a better predictor of survival than the stage or subtype of their cancer. A group of pathologists and thoracic surgeons in Italy came to that conclusion after evaluating the cases of 172 mesothelioma patients who underwent a procedure called talc pleurodesis or talc poudrage. Talc pleurodesis is designed to prevent a buildup of lung fluid that is common in mesothelioma patients and causes unpleasant symptoms like shortness of breath. After the lung fluid (also called pleural effusion) is drained, the space between the two pleural layers is filled with talc. The talc acts as a chemical irritant causing inflammation and fibrosis which…

Enzyme May Help Doctors Determine Mesothelioma Prognosis
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Enzyme May Help Doctors Determine Mesothelioma Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

Cancer researchers in New York say they have found a new way to help determine prognosis for people with malignant pleural mesothelioma. In a report in the Annals of Surgical Oncology, a team of doctors from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center say patients whose cancer cells tested positive for an enzyme called CD10 had more aggressive mesothelioma and shorter survival times. Right now, stage (a measure of how far cancer has spread in the body) and type are the primary prognostic factors for mesothelioma. People with more advanced cancer or non-epithelioid mesothelioma tend to have poorer outcomes than people with epithelioid or early-stage mesothelioma. By offering another reliable prognostic factor, the new study suggests that CD10 can help make the process more effective, which may improve…