HITHOC Treatment Deemed Safe for Some Pleural Mesothelioma Patients
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HITHOC Treatment Deemed Safe for Some Pleural Mesothelioma Patients

ByAlex Strauss

German doctors testing the HITHOC treatment for pleural mesothelioma say it is a “safe therapeutic option”. The key to success is careful patient selection. Pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer linked to asbestos. Tumors grow on the membrane that surrounds the lungs. Doctors have not yet found a cure for mesothelioma.  HITHOC treatment involves rinsing heated chemotherapy drugs through the chest after mesothelioma surgery. The new study suggests that this advanced approach may help certain mesothelioma patients live longer.  Understanding Pleural Mesothelioma Tumors To understand how HITHOC treatment works, it is important to understand how and where mesothelioma tumors grow.  Pleural mesothelioma tumors start on the lining around the lungs called the pleura. As tumors grow, the pleura thickens and…

PIPAC May Make More Patients Candidates for Mesothelioma Surgery
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PIPAC May Make More Patients Candidates for Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers in France have come up with a way to turn some people with inoperable peritoneal mesothelioma into good candidates for mesothelioma surgery.  They are using a new technique to spray chemotherapy drugs directly onto peritoneal tumors in order to shrink them.  In some cases, the technique shrunk mesothelioma tumors enough that they could be surgically removed with the CRS/HIPEC procedure.  What Makes a Good Candidate for Mesothelioma Surgery A number of factors influence whether patients are good candidates for mesothelioma surgery. Patients have to be in otherwise reasonably good health so that their body can handle the surgery. It is also critical that their mesothelioma not be so widespread in their abdomen that it would be impossible for surgeons…

Mesothelioma Survival Rates Have Remained Flat for Decades
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Mesothelioma Survival Rates Have Remained Flat for Decades

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma survival rates have stayed steady for decades, even though treatments are improving. According to more than 25 years worth of data from the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank, people with malignant mesothelioma live a median of 15 months. That number has changed little since 1990. Charting Mesothelioma Patients Over Time Researchers from several major US cancer centers compiled the new report. The goal was to chart mesothelioma survival rates over time and identify factors that impact them. The group evaluated mesothelioma survival rates from 888 cases of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in the NMVB. The NMVB houses information on more than 1400 mesothelioma cases diagnosed between 1990 and 2017. Overall mesothelioma survival rates stayed right around 15 months. But there…

Adjuvant Radiotherapy Most Effective for Pleural Mesothelioma in Early Stages
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Adjuvant Radiotherapy Most Effective for Pleural Mesothelioma in Early Stages

ByAlex Strauss

New research shows adjuvant radiotherapy is most likely to help pleural mesothelioma patients in the early stages of the disease. By the time mesothelioma is at Stage III or Stage IV, adjuvant radiotherapy is unlikely to improve survival. Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas conducted the study on more than 2,500 pleural mesothelioma patients. Their results appear in the most recent issue of the Journal of Thoracic Disease. The study could help mesothelioma patients and doctors make more informed choices about their care. Defining the Stages of Pleural Mesothelioma The four stages of mesothelioma relate to the severity of the cancer and how far it has spread. In Stage I mesothelioma, the tumor is confined to the pleural…

Mesothelioma Quality of Life Improves After Surgery
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Mesothelioma Quality of Life Improves After Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

New research confirms that surgery followed by HIPEC improves mesothelioma quality of life for people with peritoneal disease. Every mesothelioma surgery carries risks and can cause serious side effects. These problems often have a negative impact on mesothelioma quality of life in the short term. But researchers at Wake Forest University say cytoreductive surgery followed by intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) boosts life quality for most mesothelioma patients over time. Evolving Management of Peritoneal Mesothelioma Malignant mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer with a very low cure rate. Peritoneal mesothelioma accounts for about a fifth of all mesothelioma cases. With peritoneal mesothelioma, tumors start on the membrane that surrounds the abdominal organs and can spread to other parts of the body. Fatigue, pain,…

Post-Surgery Mesothelioma Treatment: Key to Survival for Elderly Patients?
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Post-Surgery Mesothelioma Treatment: Key to Survival for Elderly Patients?

ByAlex Strauss

Ability to tolerate post-surgery mesothelioma treatment is one of the most important survival factors for elderly mesothelioma patients. That is according to a new article in the Annals of Surgical Oncology. The article says surgery alone will not help older mesothelioma patients live longer. It says they need post-surgery mesothelioma treatments like chemotherapy to get the survival benefits of surgery. But, as a recent mesothelioma study demonstrated, surgery can weaken some older patients. These patients may then be too fragile to have other treatments that could extend their lives. Few Older Patients Have Post-Surgery Mesothelioma Treatment As Surviving Mesothelioma recently reported, many mesothelioma patients over 80 get no treatment at all. In more than 60 percent of cases, mesothelioma doctors…

Many Elderly Mesothelioma Patients Get No Treatment
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Many Elderly Mesothelioma Patients Get No Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

The majority of elderly mesothelioma patients are observed rather than treated and this can have a negative impact on their survival. That is the finding of a new study published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology. The study included more than 4,500 mesothelioma patients. Less than a quarter of these patients received any treatment for their mesothelioma. As a result, most of these patients lived less than six months. Treatment Options for Elderly Mesothelioma Patients Exposure to asbestos causes pleural mesothelioma. It can take decades after exposure for mesothelioma symptoms to occur. The median age for a malignant pleural mesothelioma diagnosis is 72. The older a patient is at diagnosis, the more likely they are to have other health problems….

Needle Procedure Could Prevent Unneeded Surgery for Malignant Mesothelioma
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Needle Procedure Could Prevent Unneeded Surgery for Malignant Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A minimally invasive method for cancer staging could prevent unnecessary surgery for malignant mesothelioma. The method involves putting a needle into the chest behind the breast bone. This area is called the mediastinum. The mediastinum contains critical lymph nodes. The presence or absence of cancer cells in these nodes can help determine whether a patient needs surgery for malignant mesothelioma. Now, a group of Canadian doctors say an ultrasound-guided needle biopsy procedure can provide as much information as more invasive options with less risk and pain. Staging Helps Direct Surgery for Malignant Mesothelioma Most mesothelioma patients receive chemotherapy. If the patient is healthy enough and the cancer has not spread, the patient may also have surgery for malignant mesothelioma. Some…

New Tool Could Replace TNM for Predicting Pleural Mesothelioma Survival
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New Tool Could Replace TNM for Predicting Pleural Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

A new visual tool could offer a better way to predict pleural mesothelioma survival after surgery than the current TNM staging system. That is the message from cancer researchers at China’s Peking University. The group conducted a study using a large US government database of information on pleural mesothelioma survival and treatment. They used the data to create a visual representation of pleural mesothelioma survival called a nomogram. Testing of the nomogram showed it was more accurate at predicting survival in patients who have mesothelioma surgery than the tool doctors normally use. Pleural Mesothelioma Survival and TNM The most popular method for “staging” cancer is called the TNM staging system. TNM stands for tumor node metastasis. With TNM, the further…

Longer Mesothelioma Survival Possible with Long-Term Local Chemotherapy
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Longer Mesothelioma Survival Possible with Long-Term Local Chemotherapy

ByAlex Strauss

There is evidence that repeatedly rinsing the abdomen with medicine might lead to longer mesothelioma survival after surgery. A rinse of heated chemotherapy drugs during surgery has become standard of care for peritoneal mesothelioma. Unfortunately, mesothelioma usually comes back. But a top mesothelioma doctor says longer mesothelioma survival might be possible if patients got regular chemotherapy “rinses” through a catheter. Studies show the drugs may not even have to be heated to work. Longer Mesothelioma Survival After Surgery Peritoneal mesothelioma is a type of asbestos cancer. It starts on the lining around the abdomen and can spread to other parts of the body. About a fifth of mesothelioma patients have this type. Heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has led to longer…