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Despite Medical Innovations, Mesothelioma Outcomes Remain Steady
In spite of constant research, remarkable discoveries, and high hopes, survival outcomes for those diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma have remained steady for the last thirty years. That’s the conclusion of a retrospective study conducted by oncology researchers at Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre in Canada.
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FDA Grants Fast Track Designation to IK-930 for Treatment of Malignant Mesothelioma
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer that has proven extremely difficult to treat, but innovative scientists are constantly identifying new protocols, including those that target genetic alterations. IK-930, a novel oncology approach from Ikena Oncology, has just received Fast Track designation that will allow the company an expedited review of their
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CT’s Prognostic Value Compares Favorably to Other Trusted Tools
Physicians treating patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma have long relied on CT scans to help with diagnosis and with assessing disease progression. Now a team of researchers from MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. has published a study showing that CT technology can also be used to predict patient outcomes.
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Mesothelioma Victim’s Family Gets Win from Iowa Supreme Court
It’s been a long legal battle for the family of mesothelioma victim Charles Beverage, but this week they finally got a big win from the Iowa Supreme Court. In a split decision, the justices overturned a previous decision against them, ruling that a new Iowa law does not protect employers from being sued over damage
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Brake Company’s Argument that Victim “Should Have Known” Fails in Mesothelioma Case
Malignant mesothelioma is known to be caused by exposure to asbestos, but because people afflicted with the disease aren’t sickened until decades after their exposure, it often takes years to correctly identify all of those responsible. In a recent case, a company that was not initially specifically named in a mesothelioma claim tried to have
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Fears of Mesothelioma Create Conflict for EU Renovation Wave
The European Union has an ambitious plan to renovate 220 million buildings within thirty years in order to achieve climate neutrality, but in-place asbestos in those buildings has raised fears of mesothelioma. Those concerns have created conflict between labor unions and the construction industry.
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Canadian Mesothelioma Researchers Express Optimism for Triple Modality Therapy
Multi-modality treatment approaches have long been viewed as offering the best outcomes for patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. But a recent study conducted at Canada’s Toronto General Hospital’s Research Institute has suggested that shifting the therapies used might provide even better results.
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Study Reveals Overlooked Side Effect Afflicting Some Mesothelioma Patients
Pleurodesis is one of many procedures that patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma can expect to undergo. This minor surgery drains fluid that builds up in the space between the pleural lining and the lung, making it easier for patients to breathe. But a new study out of Canada has revealed that the procedure can
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Multiple Exposures to GE Products Blamed for Man’s Mesothelioma
Malignant mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, a substance that was widely used in manufacturing, construction, and insulation up until the mid-1970s, when its carcinogenic nature was confirmed. Many of those diagnosed with the rare and fatal form of cancer experienced multiple episodes of exposure as a result of their occupations or because they
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Cancer Care Inequities May Impact Minorities with Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is just one form of cancer in which racial inequities can impact the availability of top-of-the-line treatment. Racial, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities in telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic was a focus of concern at last week’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, as well as of a separate report
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Study Reveals Occupations at Highest Risk for Mesothelioma and Asbestosis
While the United States Environmental Protection Agency inches closer to imposing a hoped-for ban of asbestos, an occupational risk report out of Canada has revealed exactly which jobs in that country put workers at the greatest risk for malignant mesothelioma and asbestosis. Canada imposed its own ban on the carcinogenic material in 2018.
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Judge Rejects Asbestos Companies’ Claim that Mesothelioma Victim Assumed Risk
Laura Walls lost her husband Robie to malignant mesothelioma in October of 2020, just 13 months after his diagnosis with the rare asbestos-related disease. Before his death the couple filed claims against multiple asbestos companies whose products he worked with during his 42-year career as a tractor-trailer fleet mechanic. Though the companies argued that Mr.
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Phase I Study of Immunotherapy Combination Reveals Antitumor Effect in Advanced Mesothelioma
A Phase I study of a novel therapy has yielded an encouraging anti-tumor effect and extended survival for patients with late state malignant pleural mesothelioma. Patients who had received and progressed with, or were refractory to, frontline pemetrexed-based therapy were dosed with a combination of SELLAS Life Sciences’ galinpepimut-S (GPS) and the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab.
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Can Improvements in Gut Biome Boost Mesothelioma Patients’ Response to Immunotherapy?
New research revealed at the 2022 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting suggests that making improvements to the gut biomes of mesothelioma patients may boost their response to immunotherapy. Two studies out of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center were specific to patients with glioblastoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and
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Improvements in HIPEC Procedure Mean Better Outcomes for Mesothelioma Patients
While malignant mesothelioma is always considered a terminal condition, there have been some significant breakthroughs in treatment over the years, particularly for those diagnosed with the peritoneal type of the disease. Among the most notable is the introduction of the CRS/HIPEC, or cytoreductive surgery/heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy treatment. A recent study confirms that the procedure has
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Asbestos Bankruptcy Plan Overwhelmingly Approved by Mesothelioma Victims
Owens-Illinois is a glass company that has already paid mesothelioma victims and others affected by their asbestos-contaminated products approximately $5 billion in compensation. Last month the company received approval from a Delaware bankruptcy court to move forward with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan that sets aside $610 million for thousands of asbestos claimants that remain.
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Study Confirms Prognostic Value of PET/CT in Pleural Mesothelioma
Diagnosis is just the beginning of a long road for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Once their condition is confirmed they submit to a variety of tests that help their healthcare team identify the best treatment available, as well as to provide them with a realistic sense of how long they are likely to survive.
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California Court Considers Use of Mesothelioma Victim’s Genetic Material
For decades, the risk of malignant mesothelioma posed by exposure to asbestos didn’t stop companies from manufacturing and selling products contaminated with the carcinogen. That has led to negligence lawsuits being filed and multi-million-dollar jury verdicts awarding compensation to victims. In response to these lawsuits, asbestos companies have turned to novel defenses, the latest of
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California Mesothelioma Trial Ends with $43 Million Award
Last week, a 64-year-old California woman diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma was awarded $43 million in compensatory damages by a Los Angeles County jury. Deanne Warren and her husband Craig blamed Algoma Hardwoods Inc. for her fatal condition, accusing the company of negligence related to asbestos in its fireproof doors.
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Japanese Researchers Create Novel Delivery Approach for Targeted Mesothelioma Treatment
In the last several years, targeted therapies have shown great promise in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma, but the rare, asbestos-related form of cancer continues to claim lives. In an attempt to find a more effective method of delivering these state-of-the-art drugs, researchers from the Hyogo College of Medicine have developed a minimally invasive,
