A New Mesothelioma Risk Score for Patients with Pre-Treated Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
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A New Mesothelioma Risk Score for Patients with Pre-Treated Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

ByHolly Zink

There has been some encouraging news for patients with pre-treated malignant pleural mesothelioma. A new mesothelioma risk score has been developed for pre-treated mesothelioma patients. The new score is predictive of patient outcomes and it informs a better treatment strategy for second-line treatment. Results come from an international team of oncologists from Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Greece, and Spain. The Pre-Treated Mesothelioma Patient The young (65 years or younger) mesothelioma patients who have received treatment once before are often called “pre-treated.” Clinicians often have more personalized data available for these patients. But there are many different factors that affect the clinician’s treatment strategy. The best treatment for pre-treated mesothelioma patients is still up for debate. Many clinicians use a…

Characteristics of Mesothelioma in Younger Patients
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Characteristics of Mesothelioma in Younger Patients

ByAlex Strauss

A new report finds that mesothelioma has different characteristics in younger people than it does in the more typical older patients. Mesothelioma is an aggressive and hard-to-treat cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos. It can take decades to develop and, as a result, is usually thought of as a disease of older people. The vast majority of patients are over 70. However, as a new report in Oncotarget points out, there is a subset of mesothelioma patients under 40 years old. In these patients, mesothelioma can act very differently – and require a different treatment approach – than it does in the older population. The new study relied on data from Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), a national…

The Mesothelioma Threat in Nevada’s Soil
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The Mesothelioma Threat in Nevada’s Soil

ByAlex Strauss

Environmental asbestos may be to blame for higher-than-expected numbers of mesothelioma cases among younger people and women in Nevada. That conclusion comes from a newly-published report from top cancer researchers. Malignant mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by the mineral asbestos and affects the membrane that surrounds the lungs, heart, or abdominal organs. Although it is extremely rare, it is also highly lethal.  Since the regulation of asbestos in industries like construction and manufacturing in the 1970s, most mesothelioma cases now occur in older men who were exposed on the job decades ago. But the story is different in Nevada. Whereas occupational asbestos exposure typically causes mesothelioma at a rate four to eight times greater in men than in women, mortality…

Brief, Indirect Exposure Leads to Mesothelioma in Young Woman
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Brief, Indirect Exposure Leads to Mesothelioma in Young Woman

ByAlex Strauss

A new report contains some disturbing news about just how little asbestos exposure it may take to cause malignant mesothelioma. Radiologists in New Delhi, India have published details of a case of mesothelioma in a young woman who experienced only very limited asbestos exposure as a child. According to the article in the Journal of Clinical Imaging Science, the young woman was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma after complaining of chest pain and breathlessness. X-rays and CT scans revealed that, not only was she suffering from the asbestos cancer, but that it had also spread to her liver and lungs. A biopsy of one of the tumors confirmed the diagnosis. In addition to being much younger than most mesothelioma patients,…