Treatment Combination for Younger Pre-Treated Mesothelioma Patients

Treatment Combination for Younger Pre-Treated Mesothelioma Patients

There are many systemic therapies recommended for mesothelioma patients. Different therapies may work best for different patient populations. Different therapies may work better for older versus younger patients. Or, patients who have received treatment before. An international team of clinicians published a new study on this topic. They found a treatment strategy that works best for younger pre-treated patients. The Young (65 years or younger) and Pre-Treated Patient Mesothelioma patients who have received treatment once before, are often called “pre-treated.” Clinicians often have more personalized data available for these patients. This affects the clinician’s treatment strategy. A new study compared the data from nine different mesothelioma clinical trials. These clinical trials spanned standard and experimental treatment options. The results are…

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

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…

Mesothelioma Can Strike Younger Patients Without Known Risks
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Mesothelioma Can Strike Younger Patients Without Known Risks

Mesothelioma is a cancer that typically affects middle-aged or older men who were exposed to asbestos on the job. But even younger patients with no known history of asbestos exposure may develop mesothelioma, and should be evaluated if they have signs of the disease, according to a recent review in the West Virginia Medical Journal. Even when mesothelioma is properly diagnosed, treatment options remain limited and the prognosis is usually grim, the authors say. The review presented the case of a 38-year-old, otherwise healthy woman who developed shortness of breath and chest pain, which worsened over time. Pathology tests revealed cancerous cells that are typical of mesothelioma, even though the woman had no apparent risks for the disease. “The family denied…