Study Supports CRS/HIPEC for Peritoneal Mesothelioma
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Study Supports CRS/HIPEC for Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Another study supports the safety of a new treatment approach for peritoneal mesothelioma that combines cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC). The study finds the procedure safe, even when it is performed by surgeons who are new to the technique. HIPEC is a secondary treatment for mesothelioma and other cancers used in combination with open surgery. It involves bathing the open body cavity with a mixture of heated chemotherapy medicines. The drugs are designed to attack mesothelioma and other cancer cells left behind after cytoreductive surgery and to prevent new cancer cells from forming. The heat is believed to help the drugs more easily penetrate into tissue. Cancer researchers at the University of Arizona, which has recently begun using CRS/HIPEC,…

Mesothelioma Study: Quality of Life “Acceptable” with Pneumonectomy
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Mesothelioma Study: Quality of Life “Acceptable” with Pneumonectomy

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients who undergo lung removal surgery (pneumonectomy) can still enjoy an acceptable quality of life, in spite of the risks associated with the surgery. That is the conclusion of a seven-year Italian study on patients who had pneumonectomy for either lung cancer or mesothelioma between January 2003 and March 2010.  A Total of 71 patients were enrolled in the study. Twenty-six of them had their right lung removed while 31 had left-sided pneumonectomy. Eleven patients had more extensive pneumonectomies that also involved removal of structures other than the lung, such as parts of the trachea, diaphragm or lung lining. At one-year, 93% of the mesothelioma and lung cancer patients who had undergone pneumonectomies were still alive, although all had begun…

Pleurodesis May Impact Mesothelioma Scan Results
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Pleurodesis May Impact Mesothelioma Scan Results

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients who undergo a procedure called talc pleurodesis (TP) for excess lung fluid may be harder to monitor with FDG-PET/CT scans afterward. Talc pleurodesis is a procedure used to manage pleura effusions, the build-up of fluid around the lungs that causes many of the most uncomfortable symptoms of malignant pleural mesothelioma. As a mesothelioma tumor spreads across the pleural lining, the body often produces fluid in response.  As this fluid fills up the pleural cavity between the mesothelial lining and the lungs it can cause pain and make it hard for the mesothelioma patient to breath. Draining the fluid and filling the space with medical-grade talc is one way to deal with the problem. But a new study suggests that…

“Encouraging” Mesothelioma Approach Combines Surgery and Light
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“Encouraging” Mesothelioma Approach Combines Surgery and Light

ByAlex Strauss

A mesothelioma treatment approach that includes light-activated chemicals and a lung-sparing surgery is being called “safe” and “encouraging” by some of the nation’s top mesothelioma researchers. Radical pleurectomy and decortication (P/D) involves the removal of the thickened pleural membrane around the lungs and separation of the pleura from the chest wall. The goal is to allow the lung to expand more easily.  Because it is less likely to remove all of the mesothelioma cells than the more extensive approach known as Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP), some doctors have only considered P/D for patients who would not tolerate lung removal. The debate among the world’s mesothelioma experts continues. But at the University of Pennsylvania, doctors are achieving notable success in treating mesothelioma with a…

New Studies Question Radical Mesothelioma Surgery
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New Studies Question Radical Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Calling it “a harmful procedure” a team of Italian surgeons is recommending against a controversial and radical type of surgery for early-stage mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but virulent cancer that starts in the membrane that encases the lungs or other organs. As mesothelioma spreads, it can metastasize into the lungs and other parts of the chest cavity. Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) is an extensive surgery that involves not only removal of the cancerous pleural lining, but also the lung closest to it, the membranes around other organs, and all or part of the diaphragm. It carries a high risk of complication and death, prompting many of the world’s top mesothelioma experts to reject it completely. In the latest study of…

New Mouse Model for Mesothelioma Drug Testing
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New Mouse Model for Mesothelioma Drug Testing

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma is among the most challenging cancers to treat. Increasingly, doctors are taking a multi-modal approach to treatment including surgery and some combination of adjuvant therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation or other, newer modalities. But it has always been difficult to test the effectiveness of these mesothelioma therapies in the lab since they depend on the test subject having had surgery first. Now, a group of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have come up with a more reliable way to conduct these tests. By grafting human malignant mesothelioma cells into the peritoneal cavities of laboratory mice, the researchers were able to simulate mesothelioma. The mesothelioma cells were allowed to take hold for 14 days, after which time…

German Mesothelioma Study Has Surprising Result
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German Mesothelioma Study Has Surprising Result

ByAlex Strauss

More invasive surgery doesn’t necessarily improve survival in patients with pleural mesothelioma. A less invasive approach is just as safe and effective, and it helps patients stay healthy enough to undergo additional chemotherapy and radiation treatments, according to a study published online September 16 in the journal, Lung Cancer. Because individual treatments have not had much success against mesothelioma, triple therapy including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation has emerged as the treatment of choice. Surgeons can choose from several different types of procedures, including extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) or pleurectomy/decortication (P/D). However, no official guidelines exist to help them make the decision. “There aren’t prospective, randomized trials comparing different surgical options,” explains Servet Bölükbas, MD, PhD, a surgeon at Dr. Horst Schmidt…

Mesothelioma Triple Therapy Found Safe and Effective
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Mesothelioma Triple Therapy Found Safe and Effective

ByAlex Strauss

An aggressive treatment strategy that begins with chemotherapy, followed by surgery, and then radiation is a safe and effective option for many mesothelioma patients, according to a recent study in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Mesothelioma traditionally hasn’t responded well to just one treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation). In the early 1990s, Dr. David Sugarbaker of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston reported on the use of combining therapies. When he treated mesothelioma patients with extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP—surgery to remove the diseased lung, as well as the diaphragm and the membrane covering the heart and lung), followed by chemotherapy and radiation, the results were promising. Researchers at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, Washington, tried to replicate this triple-treatment…

Mesothelioma Survival Improved by Adding Heated Chemotherapy to Surgery
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Mesothelioma Survival Improved by Adding Heated Chemotherapy to Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Delivering a high dose of heated chemotherapy directly into the chest and abdomen during mesothelioma surgery improves patients’ survival without compromising their safety, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. The researchers say their results provide real evidence that adding chemotherapy or other drugs to surgery could improve the outcome for mesothelioma patients, particularly those with early-stage cancers. “The exciting thing about this is that a new platform for therapy has been established,” says lead author David J. Sugarbaker, MD, Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Any potentially effective therapy is good news to mesothelioma researchers, because this cancer has traditionally been…

Mesothelioma Treatment Research
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Mesothelioma Treatment Research

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma treatment today is basically made up three options: surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. More targeted therapies that address the biological factors triggering mesothelioma growth might be a much more precise and effective way to combat this difficult-to-treat cancer, according to a recent article in Connective Tissue Research. Mesothelioma is so challenging to treat because it is often diagnosed at a late stage, and because it can take many biological forms. Current mesothelioma treatments were originally designed for other types of cancers, without considering factors that may be specific to mesothelioma. That may be why many patients only partially respond to treatment, and the average survival is just 12 months after diagnosis. The key to prolonging the lives of mesothelioma patients…