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Study Demonstrates Radiology’s Role in Predicting Whether Mesothelioma is Operable
For patients with pleural mesothelioma, removal of their tumors can make a significant difference in survival time, but not everybody is a surgical candidate. Some malignant masses are inoperable (or unresectable), but that’s often not known without taking the patient to surgery and seeing what’s hidden in the pleural cavity. This is a significant challenge,
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UCLA Vaccine May Provide New Target for Mesothelioma Treatment
Research has shown that KRAS pathway alterations are frequently found in malignant pleural mesothelioma cells, and particularly in epithelioid subtypes. This discovery led cancer scientists to identify the mutation as a potential target for future treatments. A promising experimental cancer vaccine developed at UCLA is one of the first to be developed.
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Facing Mesothelioma Risk from Legacy Asbestos, Philadelphia Takes on a $30 Million Abatement Project
Few think of schools as mesothelioma risks, but the average age of U.S. school buildings is 49 years old. Roughly 38% were built before 1970 and 28% before 1950, when asbestos was commonly used in construction. In 2023, asbestos began falling from the walls and ceilings of Philadelphia’s 115-year-old Frankford High, leading to the building’s
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Federal Court Approves $50 Million Mesothelioma Settlement Plan for Talc Company
A federal court recently approved an asbestos talc bankruptcy plan that will provide mesothelioma victims, ovarian cancer victims, and their families with access to compensation from a $50 million trust fund. The proposed plan had been submitted by cosmetics supplier Presperse and its parent company, Sumitomo Corporation. The plan addresses hundreds of lawsuits filed by
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Court Orders Mesothelioma Victim’s J&J Lawsuit to Continue
In an unusual turn of events, a Louisiana court hearing a motion to dismiss allowed one count of a mesothelioma victim’s claim against Johnson & Johnson to continue, despite the victim not opposing the company’s motion to dismiss the charge.
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Asbestos Ship Sparks Controversy and Mesothelioma Concerns in Split, Croatia
The link between asbestos and mesothelioma has been well established for years and has led many countries — including Croatia — to ban the material. So, it’s no surprise that when a 50-year-old asbestos-contaminated Italian ferry arrived in Split, Croatia, it caused public outrage. The Moby Drea contains an estimated 350 tons of asbestos, and when
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Avon Bankruptcy Plan Addresses Mesothelioma Talc Injury Claims
Last year, the iconic beauty brand Avon Products filed for bankruptcy protection after facing hundreds of lawsuits linking its talc products to mesothelioma and other cancers. This week, the judge overseeing the case indicated that the company’s Chapter 11 plan needs to address insurance carriers’ concerns before it can be approved.
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Mesothelioma Research Targets a Key Enzyme
Mesothelioma is a rare and deadly asbestos-related cancer that affects the lining of the lungs. Notoriously resistant to traditional protocols and always considered fatal, it has long presented a challenge to researchers. Recently, Swiss scientists identified a promising new target for treatment — an enzyme called LDHB (lactate dehydrogenase B), which plays a crucial role
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Louisiana Court of Appeals Upholds District Court’s Asbestos Lung Cancer Decision
When Louisiana native Sue Perry died of lung cancer in 2020, her family successfully filed suit against Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), blaming take-home exposure to asbestos at their worksite for her illness and death. After the bench trial, the district court entered a Final Judgment and awarded the family $2.7 million, plus $850,000 to Mr.
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Scientists Discover Critical Weakness in Drug-Altered Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is an extremely challenging form of cancer. The rare, asbestos-related disease only has a 10% five-year survival rate, but a new study published by researchers from The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in Nanjing, China, has offered a promising new treatment approach.
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New Hampshire Nursing Assistant Blames Mesothelioma on Talc-Containing Products
After a lifetime of using talcum powder products on herself and her children and using the product in her work as a nursing assistant, New Hampshire resident Stephanie Pelley was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. She has filed a personal injury lawsuit against Vi-Jon, LLC, the Missouri-based company whose asbestos-containing talc she blames for her fatal
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In Indonesia, a Powerful Asbestos Lobby Battles Mesothelioma Prevention
Asbestos has been used in construction and industrial settings for centuries, but once the link between exposure to the mineral and mesothelioma was established, countries around the world banned its use. Lobbyists for the asbestos industry have successfully blocked bans in other countries, including the United States, and now Indonesia is seeing its efforts being
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Breakthrough Mesothelioma Treatment Being Tested in Global Clinical Trial
The drug company AstraZeneca is currently conducting a global study testing a new treatment for patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma. The study, called the “eVOLVE-Meso” Phase III clinical trial, is comparing the impact of its drug Volrustomig (MEDI5752) in combination with standard chemotherapy against either standard chemotherapy or treatment with the immunotherapy combination of ipilimumab
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New York Woman Seeks Justice After Sister’s Mesothelioma Death
Jury selection will start tomorrow in a case filed by a New York woman on behalf of her sister, Anna Bishop, who died of mesothelioma in January 2023. Linda Weaver’s lawsuit against Vanderbilt Minerals LLC accuses the company, which operated talc mines close to where Anna lived for most of her life, of negligence in
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Report Reveals Continuing Mesothelioma Deaths Among British Veterans
A news report published in a popular British publication reveals that asbestos killed nine times more military veterans than the Taliban did during the Afghanistan war, and that over nine years, the country’s Ministry of Defense paid a total of £112.5million (roughly $150 million) to 803 terminally ill veterans suffering from mesothelioma. The report adds
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FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation to VT3989 for Mesothelioma Treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to VT3989, a novel approach for the treatment of mesothelioma that blocks a process critical to cells growing and dividing. According to a news release from the drug’s manufacturer, Vivace Therapeutics, this experimental treatment represents a promising new approach for patients currently facing
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Appeals Court Rejects Ford’s Argument in Mesothelioma Case, Lets $3.3 Million Verdict Stand
Joseph Skrzynski filed his mesothelioma lawsuit against Ford Motor Company (FMC) after he was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma at the age of 65. After the company’s unsuccessful attempt at having the case dismissed, a New York jury found Ford guilty of negligence and awarded the victim and his wife, Deborah $3.3 million in damages. After
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Boston Jury Awards Mesothelioma Victim and Wife Record $42.6 Million
A Boston jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay Massachusetts residents, Paul Lovell and his wife Kathryn, over $42.6 million in what is believed to be the largest mesothelioma award in the state’s history. The couple had accused the cosmetic giant of negligently allowing asbestos to contaminate its popular baby powder product and of
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Study Examines Role of Immunotherapy and Surgery for Mesothelioma
An analysis in the journal Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology examines different outcomes between patients with non-small cell lung cancer and mesothelioma, with a particular focus on the use of immunotherapy and surgery in both diseases. The authors note that tumor microenvironment, cellular mutations, histological subtypes, and predictive biomarkers all play a role, and stress the need for
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Hunter’s Mesothelioma Death Leads to $9 Million Verdict Against DuPont
After Illinois resident Eugene Schoepke was diagnosed with mesothelioma, he traced his asbestos exposure to the shotgun shells he’d used while hunting. After he died in March 2022, his family filed suit against the former DuPont Corporation and its subsidiaries responsible for the bullets. This week, a Delaware jury awarded his family $9 million in
