Mesothelioma Risk Among Navy Veterans is Focus of New Report
| | |

Mesothelioma Risk Among Navy Veterans is Focus of New Report

ByAlex Strauss

A new study offers a sobering reminder of the mesothelioma risk among Navy veterans. Researchers at Vanderbilt University compared mesothelioma deaths among 114,000 veterans. These veterans were involved in nuclear testing during the Cold War. They referred to these service members as “atomic veterans”. Between 1945 and 1962, the US conducted 230 above-ground nuclear tests. Some of the tests took place in the Nevada desert while others were in the Pacific ocean. In a new study in the International Journal of Radiation Biology, researchers found a high mesothelioma risk among Navy veterans. They determined that it was much higher than it was in the other atomic veterans studied. Assessing Mesothelioma Risk in Atomic Veterans More than 250,000 military personnel took part…

Trimodal Mesothelioma Treatment May Not Be Worth the Risk
| | | | | | | | |

Trimodal Mesothelioma Treatment May Not Be Worth the Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Japanese researchers say trimodality treatment for mesothelioma that includes chemotherapy, extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), and post-surgical radiation may not be beneficial enough to justify the risk. Pleural mesothelioma is one of the most difficult cancers to treat because it grows quickly and is resistant to most conventional therapies. Most mesothelioma patients have to have a combination of treatments. The question for researchers is, which treatment combination will provide the best mesothelioma survival outcomes. Trimodality Treatment for Mesothelioma In the newest study on trimodality treatment for mesothelioma, the Japanese team enrolled newly-diagnosed pleural mesothelioma patients who had not yet had any treatment. Study participants were given a chemotherapy combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin to shrink their mesothelioma tumors. This was followed by EPP…

Characteristics of Mesothelioma in Younger Patients
| | | |

Characteristics of Mesothelioma in Younger Patients

ByAlex Strauss

A new report finds that mesothelioma has different characteristics in younger people than it does in the more typical older patients. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and hard-to-treat cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos. It can take decades to develop and, as a result, is usually thought of as a disease of older people. The vast majority of patients are over 70. However, as a new report in Oncotarget points out, there is a subset of mesothelioma patients under 40 years old. In these patients, mesothelioma can act very differently – and require a different treatment approach – than it does in the older population. The new study relied on data from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), a national…

Mesothelioma Not the Only Cancer Threat for Shipbreakers
| | | | | | |

Mesothelioma Not the Only Cancer Threat for Shipbreakers

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is not the only cancer whose incidence is elevated in workers exposed to asbestos. A new Taiwanese study of shipbreakers finds that these workers are more susceptible to a wide range of cancers and should be regularly monitored for signs of disease. Shipbreaking is the process of dismantling old ships for salvage or scrap. Before the link between asbestos and mesothelioma was establish, shipbreaking workers around the world were routinely exposed to asbestos in a variety of ship parts. Asbestos was prized for its resistance to heat, fire and corrosion and was commonly used by shipbuilders to insulate boilers and pipes and fireproof areas from the mess halls to the sleeping quarters. Although several studies have linked shipbreaking with…

Scientific Evidence That Asbestos Bans Prevent Mesothelioma
| | | | | |

Scientific Evidence That Asbestos Bans Prevent Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

There is some hopeful news on the mesothelioma front this week. A new study conducted in Sweden suggests asbestos bans are doing what they are designed to do – reduce the incidence of mesothelioma. As in many other countries, including the US, asbestos was used in Sweden for decades in multiple industries. Until about the 1960s, workers around the world were largely unprotected from this deadly toxin because the link between asbestos and mesothelioma had not yet been clearly established. After scientific evidence was released showing a direct correlation between asbestos and mesothelioma, many countries, including Sweden instituted bans on the use or importation of asbestos. Health experts have attempted to model what the outcomes of those bans would be….

Study Finds Peritoneal Mesothelioma More Common in Textile Workers
| | | | | | |

Study Finds Peritoneal Mesothelioma More Common in Textile Workers

ByAlex Strauss

A new report out of Asia finds that one of the rarest types of mesothelioma is “over-represented” in a group of female textile workers exposed to chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile is one of six fibrous minerals that are classified as asbestos. Known as white asbestos, chrysotile is the most common type, accounting for about 95 of the asbestos used in industry. Chrysotile fibers are strong and can be made into thread and woven into cloth for flame retardant blankets and insulators. Like all types of asbestos, it is resistant to heat and flame. Although chrysotile was heavily used in textile workshops in Southeast China, no clear link had been drawn between workshop use of chrysotile and development of mesothelioma until now. In…

New Study Helps Explain How Asbestos Leads to Mesothelioma
| | | | | | |

New Study Helps Explain How Asbestos Leads to Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

New research suggests that tiny proteins called cytokines may be to blame for much of the destruction caused by asbestos in the body. Asbestos is the top cause worldwide of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare but difficult-to-treat cancer that often kills patients within a year of diagnosis. When they are inhaled, asbestos fibers lodge in the lugs triggering irritation and inflammation that eventually causes cells to become malignant. But the exact mechanism that moves cells from irritation to mesothelioma is still poorly understood. Now, researchers in Brazil have uncovered another piece of the puzzle that may help explain how mesothelioma develops. According to a new published report, they have isolated two small signaling proteins called cytokines that appear to be…

The Link Between Pleural Plaques and Mesothelioma
| | | | |

The Link Between Pleural Plaques and Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Fibrous thickening of the lung lining known as pleural plaques are a good indicator of asbestos exposure but they don’t necessarily mean that a person will development mesothelioma. That is the finding of a risk analysis released by a Princeton, New Jersey-based consulting firm. The firm studied the medical literature on pleural plaques to better understand the relationship between this common asbestos exposure side effect and the development of mesothelioma, the most deadly disease associated with asbestos. Pleural plaques typically develop two or three decades after asbestos exposure. They can grow on either the outer (parietal) pleura or the inner (visceral) pleura. While they can make breathing uncomfortable as they calcify over time, pleural plaques are not cancerous and have…

Does Asbestos Type Impact Mesothelioma Development?
| | | | |

Does Asbestos Type Impact Mesothelioma Development?

ByAlex Strauss

Another study appears to confirm what scientists have long believed – that crocidolite may be the most dangerous form of the deadly toxin, asbestos. All types of asbestos have been linked to mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other serious illnesses. But scientists in Poland recently found the largest number of mesothelioma cases in plants where crocidolite had ever been used. Crocidolite, or blue asbestos, is not as heat resistant as other types of asbestos, which made it less popular for commercial products like insulation, gaskets and seals. Instead, crocidolite was most often used to make asbestos cement products. These products were used around the world for decades and thousands of workers who helped make them have paid the price by contracting malignant…

Nuclear Workers Face Higher Mesothelioma Risk
| | | | |

Nuclear Workers Face Higher Mesothelioma Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Pleural mesothelioma is most often associated with asbestos exposure, but a new study suggests that nuclear workers may also be at higher risk for the cancer because of long-term, low-level radiation. A new National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study pooled a group of 119,195 US nuclear workers. The workers were employed at one of four Department of Energy nuclear weapons facilities or at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. They were followed from the start of their radiation work, between 1944 and 1952, though 2005. Their risk of death from mesothelioma and other cancers was then compared to that of the general population. “For most outcomes, mortality was below expectation compared to the general population, but mesothelioma and pleural…