Predicting Survival in Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
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Predicting Survival in Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

ByHolly Zink

Researchers found a new way of predicting survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients. The prognostic model takes information from the health record to predict survival. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The new prognostic model can help doctors decide on the best treatment plan. This is important for newly-diagnosed patients. And it will have a big impact on their prognosis and quality of life. Many factors can affect a malignant mesothelioma prognosis. Some relate to the patient’s overall health and disease stage or type. While others have to do with the type of treatment the patient undergoes. Several prognostic models have been developed for mesothelioma. These all include information from the patient’s record. And…

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…

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…

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. …