Researchers Name Six Top Mesothelioma Survival Factors
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…

Mesothelioma Surgery May Have Added Benefit
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Mesothelioma Surgery May Have Added Benefit

ByAlex Strauss

Cancer researchers at Wake Forest University have found another benefit to the cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) combination used to treat peritoneal mesothelioma and other abdominal cancers: the control of fluid buildup. Fluid accumulation in the abdomen because of peritoneal mesothelioma or another type of cancer is known as ascites. Left untreated, ascites can cause bloating, discomfort, disfiguration, and shortness of breath when it interferes with the movement of the diaphragm. While patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the peritoneal surface, can have this fluid drained off, it often reaccumulates. But the new Wake Forest research suggests that CRS/HIPEC may offer a more permanent solution. Fifteen percent of the cancer patients in the study had…

P/D for Mesothelioma: Are the Studies Accurate?
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P/D for Mesothelioma: Are the Studies Accurate?

ByAlex Strauss

A new analysis of pleurectomy/decortication suggests that the most radical form of the surgery produces the best results for mesothelioma patients, but also carries the greatest risk. Pleurectomy/decortication or P/D involves the removal of the pleural lining where malignant mesothelioma grows. Removing all or part of the lining frees up the lungs to expand again, relieving life-limited mesothelioma symptoms such as shortness of breath. But, as the Australian researchers found in their mesothelioma analysis, the varying degrees of P/D can make it difficult to accurately compare the method to the more extensive lung-removing surgery or even to get an accurate picture of P/D outcomes. Extended or ‘radical’ P/D involves removing the entire pleural lining, while partial P/D involves removing only part…

Mesothelioma Study Cites Risks & Benefits of Second Surgery
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Mesothelioma Study Cites Risks & Benefits of Second Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Peritoneal mesothelioma patients who have cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and heated chemotherapy can sometimes benefit from a second surgery, but it may be harder the second time around. Researchers in France have recently published their findings in a study of patients with mesothelioma and other peritoneal cancers who experienced recurrence after  cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Peritoneal mesothelioma is an asbestos-related malignancy that spreads across the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdomen. For patients who are healthy enough to undergo it, cytoreductive surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible, followed by a solution of heated chemotherapy drugs, has been shown to improve survival. But the French team wanted to examine the possible options for people…