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Mesothelioma Treatment, Clinical Trials Impacted by COVID-19
All around the country people’s lives have been turned upside down by COVID-19, but perhaps none so much as those who were already dealing with the unthinkable — a mesothelioma diagnosis. Where the rest of us are rightly concerned about jobs lost or put on hold, separation from family members and friends, and the availability of
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Spanish Mesothelioma Study Shows Improved Progression Free Survival
For those diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, an additional few months of feeling good and being able to maintain a normal quality of life is a great gift, and that is what researchers from Madrid’s 12 de Octubre University Hospital are seeing from their testing of a new first-line treatment called ONCOS-102. According to principal investigator Luis
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Philadelphia School Teacher’s Mesothelioma Captures City’s Attention
Malignant mesothelioma diagnoses rarely command headlines in local newspapers, and especially not in the paper for the sixth-most populous city in the country. But that is exactly what is happening in the city of Philadelphia, where the Philadelphia Inquirer is closely following the case of Lea DiRusso.
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Could Tiny Corkscrew Robots Hold the Key to Killing Mesothelioma Cells?
In the battle against malignant mesothelioma, one of the biggest frustrations endured by both physicians and patients is the fact that the disease has proven so resistant to traditional treatments. Even the only chemotherapy treatment to receive FDA approval for treatment of the asbestos-related disease provides only marginal results, delivering harmful side effects with only
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Study Reveals that Asbestos’ Deadly Reach Extends Beyond Mesothelioma
Mention an asbestos-related disease and malignant mesothelioma is likely the first that comes to mind. But according to a recent study conducted by researchers from Finland and Australia, the carcinogenic material is likely to blame for many other types of cancer, and particularly for lung cancer in those who smoke.
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Conflicting Asbestos Testimony Leads Judge to Allow Mesothelioma Case to Proceed
Mesothelioma lawsuits are all about getting justice. A person who has been diagnosed with the rare and fatal form of cancer – or sometimes their surviving loved ones – is seeking compensation for the loss that they have suffered as a result of a company exposing them to the carcinogenic material that caused their illness
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COVID-19 Impact on Mesothelioma Patients
According to a preliminary study, fear of the coronavirus is keeping patients diagnosed with mesothelioma and other cancers away from healthcare services, and that is likely to result in an increase in their death rates in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Based on current statistics, the study’s authors anticipate almost 34,000 excess cancer
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Canine Mesothelioma Detections Now Being Applied to Coronavirus
Over the last few years there has been considerable optimism at the possibility that dogs could be trained to detect malignant mesothelioma and other cancers from the exhaled breath of patients suspected of having those diseases. The research has been based on identifying volatile organic compounds that are consistently found in mesothelioma patients’ breath, and
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Researchers Identify Workaround for Chemotherapy Resistance in Mesothelioma Patients
Patients diagnosed with cancer can generally anticipate effective, survival-enhancing treatment with chemotherapy, but for patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma that familiar protocol may prove ineffective. That’s because the rare and fatal form of cancer has proven particularly resistant to chemotherapy. But now a group of researchers from Duke University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Mesothelioma Victim Blames Lab Equipment for Terminal Illness
Malignant mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, and that exposure can come from a wide range of sources. Victims have identified products ranging from brake linings and boiler insulation to artificial snow and baby powder. Last month the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania heard testimony in the case of a
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Researchers’ Work May Lead to Better Mesothelioma Treatments
Though malignant mesothelioma is a unique form of cancer that has proven resistant to standard treatment protocols, there has been evidence that innovative approaches such as immunotherapy and gene therapy may be effective. Unfortunately, those protocols are both expensive and time consuming. Now a group of researchers led by a team from UCLA has reported
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New Study Links Talc to Malignant Mesothelioma
In the midst of an avalanche of lawsuits filed by malignant mesothelioma victims against companies selling and manufacturing talc-based products, consumer giants like Johnson & Johnson, Avon and Colgate Palmolive have argued that their talc has no asbestos contamination and that talc does not cause the rare and fatal disease. But a recent study conducted
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What Mesothelioma Patients Need to Know About Depression
The idea that being diagnosed with a terminal illness like malignant mesothelioma would make a person feel depressed hardly comes as a surprise, but there is a significant difference between feeling down and dejected and being clinically depressed. While feeling sad, angry or grieving the loss of your future is a healthy response to any kind
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Johnson & Johnson Seeks New Trial Following $750 Million Mesothelioma Verdict
Last February, a New Jersey jury handed down a resounding verdict in a multi-plaintiff malignant mesothelioma lawsuit. It decided that Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder had been responsible for the victims’ illness, and that the company should pay a punishing $750 million in punitive damages. This week the consumer giant argued that the verdict should
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Mesothelioma Victim Claims His Illness Came From Asbestos in Ceramics Studio Talc
A man diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma has filed a mesothelioma lawsuit against the seller of talc products used in his wife’s ceramics studio. Stanley Peterson’s claim against Vanderbilt Mineral, LLC has been making its way through the New York City Asbestos Litigation courts, and has finally been freed to move forward after Justice of
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Japanese Study Gives Artificial Intelligence High Marks for Understanding Mesothelioma and Other Cancers
In the quest to help physicians understand and anticipate mesothelioma, one of the most important factors is being able to forecast when the rare form of cancer will return. Though there are many protocols that have successfully stopped the growth of the cancerous tumors, predicting its return gives patients more of a fighting chance and
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Combined Immunotherapy Study Shows Significant Survival Benefit in Malignant Mesothelioma
Immunotherapy represents the newest weapon in the fight against malignant mesothelioma, and a recently completed phase III clinical trial has given researchers significant reason for optimism. According to a press release issued by Bristol Myers Squibb, a combination of Nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) provided significantly improved overall survival over chemotherapy in patients whose tumors
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Clinical Trial of Anti-Inflammatory Treatment Provided Extended Survival for Pleural Mesothelioma Patient
Most patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma are treated using a multi-modality approach that includes some combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. Whether their goals are curative or palliative, these are the tools that are most frequently used. But a recently-published case study of a 64-year-old patient who chose to follow a different path
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Mesothelioma Lawsuit Against Talc Companies Raises International Questions
A recent ruling in a talc mesothelioma lawsuit has raised important questions about who is responsible when an American company’s product affects people who buy it overseas. The case was filed by an English woman who was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma after years of exposure to products manufactured and sold by The Estee Lauder Companies,
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Researchers Identify New Characteristics for Long-Term Mesothelioma Prognosis
Though malignant pleural mesothelioma is a fatal condition, some patients fare far better than others and are able to survive for extended periods of time, with some living longer than five years after diagnosis. A group of researchers from the University of Helsinki set out to determine what histopathologic factors of these patients’ tumors might
