PET Supports Mesothelioma Diagnosis and Prognosis
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PET Supports Mesothelioma Diagnosis and Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that highlights metabolic activity in the body.  PET scanning detects gamma rays emitted by a tracer that is delivered into the body via a biologically active molecule, typically FDG, a form of glucose. FDG PET is one of the imaging tests sometimes used to help diagnose and monitor mesothelioma cancer on the pleural membrane around the lungs. Now, nuclear medicine specialists in Milan say FDG PET may be even more valuable than clinicians realize for predicting outcomes – especially in mesothelioma patients who are responsive to chemotherapy. The study involved 131 mesothelioma patients, most of whom were men, with a median age of 66. Study subjects were treated for mesothelioma…

Protein Biomarkers in Mesothelioma Diagnosis, Prognosis and Treatment
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Protein Biomarkers in Mesothelioma Diagnosis, Prognosis and Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

Three separate teams of international researchers have confirmed that proteins found in the blood can reveal some vital information for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of pleural mesothelioma. These new studies on mesothelioma biomarkers indicate that all three of the studied proteins have value, but for different reasons. The most recent study comes from researchers in the Czech Republic who found that serum mesothelin, a protein overexpressed in several types of cancer, is valuable to measure the severity of mesothelioma in people who have already been diagnosed, but is unlikely to help doctors find the disease earlier. Doctors in the Department of Respiratory Medicine in Palacky University Olomouc followed 239 asbestos-exposed workers for nearly 20 years. They found that mesothelin…

Inflammatory Markers May Predict Mesothelioma Prognosis
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Inflammatory Markers May Predict Mesothelioma Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers say they have identified several signs of inflammation in patients with malignant mesothelioma that might be used to predict how patients will respond to treatment. Doctors from the Department of Chest Diseases at Dicle University collected data on 155 patients at the time of their mesothelioma diagnosis and compared it to their survival. The information collected included the extent of each patient’s exposure to asbestos, the histological subtype of their mesothelioma, and other laboratory measures. The mean survival time for all mesothelioma patients in the study was 13.9 months. When the researchers considered one potential prognostic factor at a time, they found that being 60 years old or over and having a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of 3 or more…

New Prognostic Factor in Peritoneal Mesothelioma
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New Prognostic Factor in Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of mesothelioma that attacks the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds internal organs. The outlook for this rare malignancy, which affects fewer than 500 Americans annually, has been improved by the treatment combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). The combination has produced 5-year overall survival rates ranging from 29% to 63%. But not all peritoneal mesothelioma patients are good candidates for CRS/HIPEC. The challenge, for clinicians, is identifying which patients are likely to benefit from the procedure (or even be cured) and which are not. In an effort to help answer that question, French researchers recently tested the prognostic value of the glucose transporter protein GLUT1 as well as…

FDG PET-CT Results Could Lead to Improved Mesothelioma Treatment
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FDG PET-CT Results Could Lead to Improved Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

In a recent study, researchers say a better understanding of certain diagnostic criteria could result in more targeted treatments for malignant mesothelioma. In a recent published report, doctors from the medical school at Dicle University in Diyarbakir, Turkey measured the relationship between PET-CT scan results and survival in 177 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The patients were diagnosed between April 2007 and April 2011. They had a mean age of 55.4 and most (56%) were male. Patients in the study all had FDG PET-CT scans before beginning their mesothelioma treatment. FDG PET-CT scanning is a powerful imaging tool for mesothelioma and other cancers that combines a radioactive tracer with a combination of positron emission tomography and computed tomography scanning.  Because…

NUMB Gene May Suppress Mesothelioma
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NUMB Gene May Suppress Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers at Shandong University in China have pinpointed the connection between low levels of the protein NUMB and a poor mesothelioma prognosis. NUMB is known to act as an anticancer protein in part by binding to the tumor suppressor p53 and preventing its breakdown. Low levels of the NUMB protein have been linked to several types of cancer. In the latest study, published in Oncology Reports, researchers measured the expression of NUMB in 39 tissue samples of epithelioid mesothelioma. The results were compared using immunohistochemistry (protein testing) to 22 normal pleural tissues. NUMB was found to be significantly lower in the mesothelioma cells and the tissue samples with the lowest expression of NUMB were associated with the poorest prognosis. At the…

Study Lists Factors That Impact Mesothelioma Prognosis
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Study Lists Factors That Impact Mesothelioma Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

Predicting survival in mesothelioma patients does not have to be complicated. A new Parisian study suggests that simple-to-measure factors such as patient age and the histological subtype of the mesothelioma can be highly accurate prognostic indicators. The study followed 170 patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma between 2000 and 2010 at Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris. Patients in the study were all treated non-surgically. For each patient, a list of parameters was recorded including age, gender, tobacco use, asbestos exposure, type and duration of symptoms, BMI, C-reactive protein levels and white blood cell and platelet counts.  Inflammation of the pleura (pachypleuritis) was also noted, along with the type of diagnostic surgical procedure, histological subtype, the way in which pleurodesis was performed (for…

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…

Mesothelioma Prognosis Accuracy Improves with PET/CT ‘Delayed Phase’
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Mesothelioma Prognosis Accuracy Improves with PET/CT ‘Delayed Phase’

ByAlex Strauss

More research has confirmed the value of FDG-PET/CT technology for predicting treatment response in mesothelioma – especially when the scan is conducted in two phases. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that produces three-dimensional images of functional processes in the body.  When the molecule FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose, a type of sugar) is used as the tracer, PET allows doctors to ‘see’ metabolic processes as they are happening.  Because metabolism is often higher in cancer cells, FDG-PET has proven to be a useful tool for diagnosing mesothelioma, the asbestos-linked cancer.   When FDG-PET is combined with computed tomography (CT), another powerful imaging test, the resulting images contain even more potentially crucial diagnostic, staging and prognostic information for mesothelioma. Now, a study conducted in Japan…

Cell Proteins May Predict Mesothelioma Prognosis
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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…