Peritoneal Mesothelioma Study: Long-Term Survival is Possible
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Peritoneal Mesothelioma Study: Long-Term Survival is Possible

ByAlex Strauss

A new study out of Italy has some encouraging news for patients with the peritoneal form of malignant mesothelioma. The recent analysis of 108 peritoneal mesothelioma patients who underwent complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS) followed by a rinse of heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) found a 43.6% cure rate among long-term survivors. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of one of the rarest cancers. Triggered almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma affects about 2,500 Americans each year.  About a third of those patients are diagnosed with the peritoneal form of the disease, which occurs on the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs. During cytoreductive surgery, surgeons attempt to remove all traces of the mesothelioma tumor so that no cells…

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…

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…

New ‘Calculator’ May Help Guide Mesothelioma Treatment
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New ‘Calculator’ May Help Guide Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

An NIH study claims to have found a better way to predict treatment response and survival in peritoneal mesothelioma patients. The information could be used to individualize treatment planning and determine which patients are most likely to benefit from aggressive therapies. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that arises in the thin membrane that lines the walls of the abdomen. Like all forms of mesothelioma, it is highly aggressive, spreading across the membrane quickly and metastasizing to other parts of the body. It is usually caused by exposure to asbestos sometime in the patient’s past. Treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma usually consists of surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible (cytoreductive surgery) followed by a wash of heated…

Cancer Drug May Improve Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival
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Cancer Drug May Improve Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

The case of a German man who has lived more than 9 years with malignant mesothelioma is bringing attention to the drug that may have helped him defy the odds. Mesothelioma is an aggressive malignancy of the pleural, peritoneal or pericardial membranes. It is most closely associated with occupational or environmental exposure to the toxic mineral asbestos and has a median survival of just 12 months after diagnosis. But the 67-year-old former German asbestos worker who is the subject of a new published report has stable mesothelioma, almost a decade after his initial examination. Writing on the case in the medical journal Onco Targets and Therapy, doctors at the University of Essen say the patient was diagnosed with mesothelioma after a CT…

New Criteria May Help Doctors Predict Mesothelioma Survival
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New Criteria May Help Doctors Predict Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

A new study suggests that mesothelioma doctors may be at a disadvantage when it comes to accurately assessing how well patients are responding to treatment. To correct the problem, they are proposing changes in the standards by which mesothelioma tumors are measured. A team of medical researchers in the U.S. and Australia examined the accuracy of the standard image-based method for assessing tumor progression and treatment response in mesothelioma. What they found is that the standard method may be off by as much as 34% when it comes to evaluating response and as much as 30% when assessing disease progression. Currently, to decide what it means when a mesothelioma tumor grows or shrinks, doctors measure it using computed tomography (CT) scanning…

Drug Combo Fails to Improve Mesothelioma Survival
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Drug Combo Fails to Improve Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

Adding the VEGF-inhibitor bevacizumab to a popular chemotherapy combination for mesothelioma does not appear to prolong survival after all. Scientists at 11 of the nation’s top cancer centers have reached that conclusion after a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled test of the combination. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF) are signal proteins produced by cells that play an important role in the formation of blood vessels and in cell growth and division. Some VEGF-inhibitors have shown activity against malignant mesothelioma in preclinical models. Bevacizumab is a popular VEGF-inhibitor. The theory behind the multi-center clinical trial was that adding bevacizumab to the mesothelioma combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin would boost the effectiveness of the drugs and prolong survival. Mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by exposure to…

Orphan Drug Shows Survival Advantage in Mesothelioma
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Orphan Drug Shows Survival Advantage in Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Long-term follow-up on a second-line drug for mesothelioma confirms its potential for prolonging survival. NGR-hTNF is a vascular targeting agent that appears to be able to seek out tumor cells and disrupt their blood vessel formation. It is currently the only drug in Phase III clinical trials specifically for mesothelioma patients whose disease has returned after chemotherapy. Presenting at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the drug’s maker, Italy-based MolMed S.p.A., said three year follow-up on Phase II mesothelioma trial subjects demonstrated a definite survival advantage among those who received the drug. Because it combines a peptide (NGR) with a cytokine (TNF), the NGR-hTNF is classified as a peptide/cytokine complex.  In Phase II clinical trials, its…

Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival Possible with Tri-Modal Approach
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Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival Possible with Tri-Modal Approach

ByAlex Strauss

The case of a Peruvian woman treated for mesothelioma in Italy is more evidence that this rare cancer is not only increasingly treatable, but can even be survivable. Mesothelioma is an aggressive malignancy that spreads across the thin membranes that encase internal organs.  The most common type occurs in the pleura, the lining around the lungs. In most cases, the prognosis is poor; many patients are told they are unlikely to live out the year. But as treatment protocols improve, a growing number of mesothelioma patients are defying the odds and living much longer. A tri-modal approach including chemotherapy to shrink the mesothelioma, surgery to remove it, and radiotherapy to prevent its return has proven to be an effective strategy for…

Cell Protein Linked to Mesothelioma Survival
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Cell Protein Linked to Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

A protein imbedded in the outer wall of their cells appears to have an impact on survival for mesothelioma patients. That’s the conclusion of researchers with a French mesothelioma study panel known as MESOPATH.  After examining 157 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma, the group found that a protein called c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-MET) could be correlated with survival in more than 75% of them. C-MET is one of many regulatory proteins found both inside and on the outer membrane of cells.  It is responsible for helping direct critical cell functions such as growth, survival, migration and invasion. But it has also been found to be overexpressed and mutated in a variety of malignancies. When the MESOPATH researchers tested mesothelioma cell samples,…