Mesothelioma is an aggressive asbestos-related cancer that currently has no cure, but researchers in the United Kingdom say that a groundbreaking clinical trial is using proton beam therapy to increase two-year survival rates from 30% to 50%. To date, the results are offering what’s being called “realistic hope” to patients.
Mesothelioma Treatment Trial Targets Precise Radiation Without Organ Damage
There are many reasons why mesothelioma is so challenging to treat, including the fact that standard radiotherapy is unsafe because radiation can harm vital organs like the heart. The mesothelioma trial being led by Dr. Crispin Hiley of University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the University College London is using proton beam therapy to direct high-dose radiation precisely at affected areas. The trial is designed to follow 148 patients from 23 NHS centers across England and Wales, with participants receiving daily proton beam therapy Monday through Friday for five weeks.
This approach has the potential to revolutionize mesothelioma treatment. In explaining the treatment, Dr. Hiley emphasized that the goal is not just to help people live longer but to live better. “Mesothelioma is one of the most challenging cancers to treat,” Dr. Hiley explained. The disease, which is primarily caused by asbestos fiber inhalation, affects approximately 2,700 patients in the United Kingdom each year.
Mesothelioma Epidemic Devastates Families in North East England
Ray Turnbull is one of those already enrolled in the proton therapy mesothelioma trial. Hailing from Washington, England, he has lost four family members to the disease, including his wife Jean, who died in 2009 at age 62 after childhood exposure to asbestos resembling “the white cliffs of Dover” near the Turner & Newall factory. His mother died at 72 in 1979, and his brother and uncle also succumbed to the mesothelioma disease, all having worked at the asbestos product manufacturing facility. He knows 20 people who died from mesothelioma and recalled apprentices having “snowball fights” with asbestos and two women who died after inhaling particles while washing their husbands’ contaminated work clothes.
According to Dr. Helen Turnbull (no relation to Ray), consultant clinical oncologist at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, the North East of England has the UK’s highest mesothelioma death rate, largely due to shipbuilding. Over 70,000 people have died across Britain from mesothelioma since the 1980s, with more than 5,000 deaths recorded across the North East alone.
Peter Littlefield, 83, became one of the first trial participants. His doctors told him neither chemotherapy nor standard radiotherapy was suitable for him because his mesothelioma was too close to his heart. Getting into the trial was “really unbelievable,” with the chance of living longer meaning “everything. Life is the most precious thing,” Littlefield said about the opportunity. “You can’t buy it.”
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, innovations in treatment offer the hope of longer survival. For information on resources available to you, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
