New Test May Help Doctors Choose the Best Mesothelioma Surgery
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New Test May Help Doctors Choose the Best Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

A new predictive model may make it easier for cancer doctors to choose the best mesothelioma surgery for each pleural mesothelioma patient.  There are two major surgical approaches for pleural mesothelioma. One involves removal of a lung and the other does not.  Right now, the choice about which surgery to have is based on patient demographics, symptoms, and lab values. Which surgery is most common at the institution may also play a role. Many surgeons have strong opinions about which is the best mesothelioma surgery.   But Harvard researchers say the new predictive model they tested is a better way to stratify mesothelioma patients. Their study suggests that this approach may lead to better treatment outcomes and more accurate clinical trials. …

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Prognosis: Searching for New Factors
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Peritoneal Mesothelioma Prognosis: Searching for New Factors

ByAlex Strauss

An international research study including patients from 11 countries may help reveal new and better ways to predict peritoneal mesothelioma prognosis.  Right now, doctors use three primary criteria to determine peritoneal mesothelioma prognosis. Those are how much cancer was in the abdomen at the time of surgery, how complete the surgery was, and the tumor grade.  But about 70 percent of people treated for peritoneal cancers like mesothelioma have recurrent disease. The goal of the new study is to find more prognostic factors. Knowing these factors could help doctors make better choices about which patients are most likely to benefit from cytoreductive surgery (CRS).  The CRS/HIPEC Procedure for Mesothelioma Peritoneal mesothelioma occurs on the lining of the abdomen. Peritoneal mesothelioma…

Concerning CT Findings and Mesothelioma Prognosis
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Concerning CT Findings and Mesothelioma Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

One of the nation’s top mesothelioma doctors says concerning CT findings may be one of the best ways to predict peritoneal mesothelioma outcomes.  Dr. Paul Sugarbaker is with MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. His newly published study compares 11 different concerning CT findings with outcomes in 100 mesothelioma patients.  Sugarbaker and his team found that the prognostic value of these 11 CT features is on a par with peritoneal cancer index (PCI) and cytoreduction (CC) score. It means that CT findings could become even more important for mesothelioma treatment planning.  CT Scans Reveal Information About Peritoneal Mesothelioma Peritoneal mesothelioma occurs on the lining around the abdomen. It is an aggressive and hard-to-treat cancer caused by exposure to asbestos….

Age and Smoking Less Important Than Other Factors for Mesothelioma Outcomes
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Age and Smoking Less Important Than Other Factors for Mesothelioma Outcomes

ByAlex Strauss

A newly published study suggests that a mesothelioma patient’s age and smoking history is less important to prognosis than certain biomarkers or what treatment they choose. The study comes from scientists at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City.  They performed a retrospective analysis of 136 patients with pleural mesothelioma. The goal was to see which factors played the biggest role in outcomes. Age and smoking were among seven factors evaluated. It turns out they were not the most important ones.  Who Gets Pleural Mesothelioma? Malignant mesothelioma is the cancer most closely associated with asbestos exposure. Most people who get it have lived or worked around asbestos. Mesothelioma can take decades to develop. Most patients are over 65. …

Predicting Mesothelioma Survival with Routine Clinical Tests
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Predicting Mesothelioma Survival with Routine Clinical Tests

ByAlex Strauss

UK researchers say predicting mesothelioma survival does not have to be complicated. Their new study shows routine doctor’s office tests may be just as accurate as more complex metrics. The study appears in the new issue of the BMJ Open Respiratory Research journal. It involved 100 patients with malignant mesothelioma over a four-year period.  The team compared treatment outcomes among these patients with their results on basic health tests. More often than not, these tests correctly predicted their prognosis. The researchers say simplifying the process of predicting mesothelioma survival could help doctors and patients make better treatment decisions.  Prognostic Indicators in Asbestos Cancer Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an uncommon but lethal form of membrane cancer. Patients who get it usually…

High PD-L1 Levels Could Be Bad News for Mesothelioma Surgery Candidates
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High PD-L1 Levels Could Be Bad News for Mesothelioma Surgery Candidates

ByAlex Strauss

Yet another new study has found a link between PD-L1 levels and mesothelioma survival – this time in people slated to have surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma.  PD-L1 stands for programmed cell death ligand 1. It is a protein expressed by some cancer cells that helps them avoid immune system attack.  Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are the latest to show that higher PD-L1 levels may lead to a worse mesothelioma prognosis. Their study focused specifically on mesothelioma surgery candidates.  The results were published recently in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.  PD-L1 Levels and Mesothelioma Prognosis Even healthy people express some amount of PD-L1. Its job is to suppress the part of the immune system that attacks foreign tissues….

Age is a Factor in Mesothelioma Survival After Surgery
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Age is a Factor in Mesothelioma Survival After Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Age appears to be one of the biggest predictors of mesothelioma survival after surgery. This holds true no matter which kind of surgery a patient has.  A new study from the University of Pennsylvania compared the outcomes of more than 2,000 mesothelioma surgery patients. They compared them by surgical type. They also compared their survival with that of people who did not have surgery. Mesothelioma survival after surgery was consistently longer for younger patients. The risk of death within a few months went up a little bit with each year of age. The news could help patients and doctors make better treatment decisions. Surgical Procedures for Mesothelioma Operating on mesothelioma patients is controversial. Mesothelioma tumors are irregularly shaped and difficult to…

Liquid Biopsy for Early Stage Mesothelioma Diagnosis
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Liquid Biopsy for Early Stage Mesothelioma Diagnosis

ByAlex Strauss

Canadian researchers are exploring a liquid biopsy test that could lead to early diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. The test is based on mesothelial precursor cells (MPC). The researchers say these cells – in combination with mesothelin and some kinds of stem cells – “could be implicated” in the development of mesothelioma.  A liquid biopsy detects cells in blood instead of tissue. The University of Toronto scientists think MPC in blood may be a new mesothelioma biomarker. If it proves to be true, this kind of biopsy might be able to identify mesothelioma patients even before they have symptoms. How Liquid Biopsy Works Patients with suspected mesothelioma may have many tests. Imaging scans and blood tests can help tell if a…

The Peritoneal Cancer Index in Mesothelioma Prognosis
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The Peritoneal Cancer Index in Mesothelioma Prognosis

ByAlex Strauss

The peritoneal cancer index is a valuable prognostic tool and should be considered in mesothelioma treatment planning. That is the word from a group of Finnish cancer researchers. They analyzed twelve years of data on peritoneal mesothelioma in their country. Mesothelioma patients with a higher peritoneal cancer index had a worse prognosis than those with a lower PCI. The group says cancer doctors ought to be including the PCI in their decision-making for people with peritoneal mesothelioma. What is the Peritoneal Cancer Index? Peritoneal mesothelioma makes up about a fifth of all mesothelioma cases. It grows on the peritoneum, a membrane that surrounds the abdominal organs. As cancer spreads, tumors can show up in other areas inside the peritoneal cavity. …

The Best Biomarkers for Mesothelioma Diagnosis, Prognosis, & Monitoring
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The Best Biomarkers for Mesothelioma Diagnosis, Prognosis, & Monitoring

ByAlex Strauss

What are the best biomarkers for mesothelioma? The answer is still Soluble Mesothelin-Related Proteins (SMRPs). That is the conclusion of a major review of medical literature by some of the world’s top mesothelioma experts. Dr. Harvey Pass of New York University’s Langone Medical Center and Dr. Michele Carbone of the University of Hawaii are among the authors on the new report.  They analyzed 20 years of research on the best biomarkers for mesothelioma. Several were valuable for mesothelioma prognosis. But SMRPs once again came out the winner for mesothelioma prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring.  How Do Biomarkers Work? A biomarker is any substance produced by the body that can act as a biological signpost. Proteins usually make the best biomarkers…