Chemotherapy During Mesothelioma Surgery: Is it Dangerous?
| | | | | | | |

Chemotherapy During Mesothelioma Surgery: Is it Dangerous?

ByAlex Strauss

A new study finds that chemotherapy during mesothelioma surgery does not raise the risk for complications. That could be good news for pleural mesothelioma patients who want to keep cancer at bay as long as possible. A group of Indian doctors compared the cases of thoracic cancer patients who had surgery with or without intraoperative chemotherapy. Only one of the “surgery + chemotherapy” patients developed a serious complication. Patients in this group also lived longer than those who did not receive intraoperative chemotherapy. When Do Doctors Use Chemotherapy During Mesothelioma Surgery? The two primary types of mesothelioma surgery are extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) or lung-sparing pleurectomy/decortication (P/D). Patients often have chemotherapy prior to surgery to shrink their mesothelioma tumor. Many have…

Conservative Surgery Leads to Better Mesothelioma Survival After Recurrence
| | | |

Conservative Surgery Leads to Better Mesothelioma Survival After Recurrence

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma survival after recurrence may be better with lung-preserving P/D surgery than with more radical EPP. Japanese researchers recently analyzed the cases of 44 mesothelioma patients who underwent either EPP or P/D. It took about the same amount of time for mesothelioma tumors to start growing again, no matter what type of surgery the patient had. The difference was in survival. Both overall survival and mesothelioma survival after recurrence were longer in the P/D patients. EPP vs. P/D: The Ongoing Debate Mesothelioma surgeons around the world are still divided about which type of mesothelioma surgery is best. On one hand, extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) removes more diseased tissue, including a lung. Some say this improves the odds of long term mesothelioma…

Staging of Mesothelioma Could Change with Discovery of New Lymph Nodes
| | |

Staging of Mesothelioma Could Change with Discovery of New Lymph Nodes

ByAlex Strauss

A recent discovery at the University of Maryland could dramatically change how doctors handle the staging of malignant pleural mesothelioma. More accurate staging could lead to better mesothelioma treatment outcomes and longer survival. More than three quarters of people diagnosed with mesothelioma have the pleural variety. Pleural mesothelioma is the deadliest form of asbestos cancer. Most patients do not live longer than 18 months, even with aggressive treatment. Cancer staging is the process doctors use to determine how advanced the cancer is. Staging of mesothelioma is important because it directly impacts treatment decisions. But staging of mesothelioma – just like diagnosis and treatment – can be difficult. Lymph Nodes May Help in Staging of Mesothelioma The discovery was made by…

Researchers Name Six Top Mesothelioma Survival Factors
| | | | |

Researchers Name Six Top Mesothelioma Survival Factors

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have named what they say are the top six mesothelioma survival factors. According to their new study, patients with one or more of these factors tend to have better mesothelioma treatment outcomes and live longer. Malignant mesothelioma – also called asbestos cancer – is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. It starts on internal membranes and spreads quickly. There is no cure and the disease is very hard to slow down. Many mesothelioma patients die within 12 to 18 months. But there are cases of much longer mesothelioma survival. Some patients have even lived for decades after mesothelioma treatment. The Pittsburgh researchers wanted to find the mesothelioma survival factors shared by the longest…

Combination Therapy with Mesothelioma Surgery Leads to Longer Survival
| | | | |

Combination Therapy with Mesothelioma Surgery Leads to Longer Survival

ByAlex Strauss

A new study finds almost a quarter of people who had combination therapy with mesothelioma surgery were still alive five years later. The study was published in the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Researchers at University Hospitals KU Leuven in Belgium studied nearly 200 mesothelioma patients from 2003 to 2014. Many people do not live beyond about 18 months after a mesothelioma diagnosis. But the Belgian team says, for the right patients, there is a way to improve the odds. They say combination therapy with radical mesothelioma surgery offers a 1 in 4 chance of surviving for 5 years or more. Two Types of Mesothelioma Surgery There are two major schools of thought about mesothelioma surgery. Some surgeons say it…

Survival After Mesothelioma Surgery Could Rise with Immunotherapy Spray
| | | | |

Survival After Mesothelioma Surgery Could Rise with Immunotherapy Spray

ByAlex Strauss

A spray-on immune booster may one day improve survival after mesothelioma surgery. UCLA scientists tested the biodegradable spray gel in mice with advanced melanoma. They found that it stopped cancer recurrence after surgery in about half of the lab animals tested. “Around 90 percent of people with cancerous tumors end up dying because of tumor recurrence or metastasis,” says lead investigator Zhen Gu. “Being able to develop something that helps lower this risk for this to occur and has low toxicity is especially gratifying.” Gu is a professor of bioengineering and a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center where the spray was developed. Survival After Mesothelioma Surgery Survival after mesothelioma surgery or any other kind of cancer operation…

Radiation May Help Mesothelioma Immunotherapy Treatment Work Better
| | | | |

Radiation May Help Mesothelioma Immunotherapy Treatment Work Better

ByAlex Strauss

Hypofractionated radiation for mesothelioma could change how doctors treat this rare cancer.  Researchers in Toronto, Canada have been testing hypofractionated radiation in mesothelioma surgery patients. They have used it to shrink tumors before lung-removing EPP surgery. Hypofractionated radiation is faster than than standard radiation. It may also cause fewer side effects. Now, doctors want to know what else this type of radiation might be good for. They plan to test how well hypofractionated radiation works with less radical mesothelioma surgery. There is also evidence that hypofractionated radiation may strengthen mesothelioma immunotherapy treatment. Radiation Before Mesothelioma Surgery Doctors at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto ran a clinical trial called SMART. SMART stands for Surgery for Mesothelioma After Radiation Therapy….

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma
| |

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival
| |

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

If one cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC procedure for mesothelioma is good, subsequent treatments may be even better. That is the central message of research conducted at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. The study’s aim was to assess overall survival among peritoneal mesothelioma patients who had not just one, but two or more rounds of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) after cytoreductive surgery. The cytoreduction/HIPEC approach has become popular for peritoneal mesothelioma, a treatment-resistant cancer of abdominal membranes caused by asbestos. Cytoreductive surgery involves removing as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible from the abdomen. Because the shape and spreading pattern of mesothelioma tumors make complete cytoreduction difficult, the surgery is often followed by a rinse with a heated solution…

Value of Mesothelioma Surgery Challenged for Healthy Patients
| |

Value of Mesothelioma Surgery Challenged for Healthy Patients

ByAlex Strauss

New research conducted in Italy and presented at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia suggests that mesothelioma surgery – no matter what kind – may not offer a survival advantage over medical management for the healthiest of patients. Mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive malignancy that is highly resistant to standard cancer treatments. The two types of mesothelioma surgery considered to be options for people with resectable cancer are pleurectomy decortication (P/D) or extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). While EPP is more radical than P/D because it involves removing a lung, both carry a heavy risk of complications and, according to the Italian researchers, may not be of value for certain patients. The study reviewed data from 1,365…