One of the keys to solving the mystery of mesothelioma is research. We write about emerging treatments and clinical trials to give patients and family members more awareness of medical options to consider.
Treatment options for malignant mesothelioma may soon include customized gene therapy, according to thoracic surgeon and scientist Dr. Prasad Adusumilli at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Gene therapy involves a laboratory reprogramming of a patient’s own T cells, which are a type of white blood cell, to recognize and destroy the cancer….
An estimated 38,400 people around the world will die this year from mesothelioma cancer, according to a report recently published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. The estimation by the international peer-reviewed journal included 230 countries. Data used for the study came from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Mortality Database and extrapolated information based on gender-…
Pleural mesothelioma patients who undergo aggressive multimodal treatment live almost twice as long after diagnosis than those who do not, according to a recent extensive study. Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas found a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation extended survival time significantly, regardless of disease histology or cancer stage. “We recommend…
Cancer patients who opt for alternative therapy instead of conventional medicine significantly decrease their chances of survival, according to researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Although the popularity of alternative medicine continues to grow, a recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found survival rates significantly reduced for those who use…
A new report from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) shows between 20 and 30 percent of malignant mesothelioma patients do not receive any cancer treatment. The study, “Patterns of care and survival among patients with malignant mesothelioma in the United States,” published August 10 in the journal Lung Cancer, aimed to describe the patterns of…
The latest studies have shown, and most thoracic oncologists agree, that lung-sparing pleurectomy/decortication is a better surgical option for mesothelioma patients today than the more aggressive extrapleural pneumonectomy. Less is better. Quality of life becomes better, too. “In most instances, the pleurectomy/decortication is the operation of choice now,” thoracic surgeon Dr. Andrea Wolf at Mount…
Scientists in Italy have found a platinum-based drug that successfully lessens growth of the most aggressive type of mesothelioma cancer cells. Researchers at the University of Salento discovered the experimental drug Ptac2S was more effective in reducing the spread of sarcomatoid malignant pleural mesothelioma cells in mice compared to cisplatin — the most widely used…
Drug manufacturers announced disappointing ends recently to two different clinical trials involving pleural mesothelioma, dampening earlier enthusiasm over the promise of immunotherapy. Anetumab ravtansine, manufactured by Bayer, and tremelimumab, from drugmaker AstraZeneca, failed an effectiveness test as a stand-alone, second-line treatment for mesothelioma, according to both manufacturers. “Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a very difficult-to-treat tumor,…
A yellowish pigment common to parsley, celery, chamomile tea, oranges and grapefruit may be the latest treatment for mesothelioma cancer, a new study shows. While numerous studies have demonstrated the anti-cancer and antioxidant properties of apigenin (API), the natural pigment found in these plants and vegetables, researchers recently tested it against malignant mesothelioma cells. Doctors…
A drug used to treat bone disease and high blood calcium levels may carry benefits as part of a combination treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, a recent study concluded. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center conducted a pilot study testing the effects of zoledronic acid — a bisphosphonate, or bone…
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