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Study Reveals Weakness of Video-Assisted Pleural Biopsy for Mesothelioma Diagnosis
When a patient is suspected of having malignant pleural mesothelioma, speed is of the essence. The physician’s goal is to confirm the diagnosis as quickly as possible so that they can devise the most effective treatment protocol for the patient’s specific condition. One of the most frequently-used tools in staging this rare and fatal form
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NYC Pollution Control Engineer’s Mesothelioma Lawsuit Survives Boiler Company’s Objections
When New York City pollution control engineer Thomas L. Eckrich was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, he was initially uncertain as to how he could have contracted the disease, as his job did not involve him working with asbestos or any asbestos-contaminated products. It was only after careful review of his work environment that he realized
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Study Reveals Significant Benefit for Mesothelioma Patients from Novel Chemotherapy Treatment
This year’s Society of Interventional Radiology’s Annual Scientific Meeting may have had to be held virtually, but the information delivered for mesothelioma patients was very real and very significant. Speaking to the group about their novel treatment for advanced mesothelioma, Bela Kis, M.D., PhD of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa revealed an extended survival
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Japanese High Court Blames Mesothelioma and Other Asbestos-Related Diseases on Mishandling of Asbestos
Workers in the United States are not alone in having been negligently exposed to asbestos and falling victim to malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a global problem, and though America has a reputation for being overly litigious, courts around the world are starting to follow the same path of ordering asbestos companies to pay significant damage
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EPA Science Advisory Committee Critical of Asbestos Draft
It is well known that exposure to asbestos causes malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and asbestos-related lung cancer. But the deadly material is also responsible for a host of other illnesses, and the EPA’s failure to address both these illnesses and many possible sources of occupational exposure to asbestos is being roundly criticized by its own internal
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Italian Study Reveals Multiple Benefits to Team Approach to Mesothelioma
It is an unfortunate truth that in the United States and around the world, patients with malignant mesothelioma do not all receive the same level of care. There have been multiple studies documenting the differences and their causes. Some have to do with patients’ age or proximity to state-of-the-art cancer centers. Some have to do
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Study’s Findings on Neuropathy May Benefit Mesothelioma Patients
Patients with malignant mesothelioma suffer innumerable discomforts and adverse effects from both the disease itself and the treatments physicians use to prolong their lives. Among the most painful of these is neuropathy. Now researchers from Georgia Tech believe that they’ve arrived at a better understanding of what causes neuropathy, and hope that it will yield an effective
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Researchers Report Success in Controlling Stubborn Mesothelioma Tumors
For more than two years, researchers from the renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York have been studying whether the cancer drug Tazemotostat could inhibit the growth of malignant mesothelioma tumors. At the 2020 ASCO Annual Meeting, they presented data showing that it successfully inactivated the effect of the BAP1 gene mutation and
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Japanese Study Reveals Vital Data Regarding Common Mesothelioma Surgery
Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma go through a rigorous staging and assessment protocol once their cancer has been diagnosed. The goal is to determine how advanced their cancer is, what their overall health status is and where the tumors are so that the best possible treatment plan can be put in place. One of the
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NJ Supreme Court Places Mesothelioma Liability for Replacement Parts on Original Manufacturers
For years, manufacturers of automobiles and other pieces of equipment requiring replacement parts have denied their responsibility for malignant mesothelioma caused by asbestos in replacement parts for their equipment. They have pointed to the parts manufacturers and tried to wash their hands of responsibility despite the fact that their equipment required those parts to continue
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Court Denies Crane’s Motion to Dismiss Maritime Laws in Mesothelioma Claim
There’s little question that Navy veteran Herbert H. Mullinex’s malignant mesothelioma comes from exposure to asbestos during his service. He worked on several ships doing shipbuilding and repair. In suing John Crane, Inc., he did so under both federal and maritime law. Though the company has not argued that their product was not responsible, they
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ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program Continues to Reveal Progress in Mesothelioma Treatment
This year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology’s meeting had to be held virtually in light of the global pandemic, but that has in no way interfered with the revelations of remarkable progress in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Among the presentations was news that Italian researchers have significantly improved survival among mesothelioma patients by treating
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Mesothelioma Advocates Criticize EPA Delays on Asbestos
Mesothelioma advocates are criticizing EPA decisions as the agency announces another delay in its evaluation of asbestos and its potential for harm. Blaming the challenges created by the global pandemic, EPA chief Andrew Wheeler informed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that it would not be able to meet the statutory deadline of June
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Mesothelioma Physicians Concerned by Report of Increased COVID-19 Mortality
A study analyzing characteristics of patients with thoracic cancers like malignant mesothelioma who developed COVID-19 revealed that patients who had received chemotherapy within three months of their diagnosis with the virus had a significantly increased risk of death. The information was presented ahead of the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology Virtual Scientific Program, and
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Turkish Research Supports Use of New Radiation Therapeutics for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
In the hierarchy of treatments used for malignant mesothelioma, radiation therapy has frequently been ranked the lowest: though it can help to provide symptom relief, it has not generally been credited for extended survival or progression free survival. Now a study out of Turkey has introduced statistics that show the use of innovative targeted therapies
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ONCOS-102 Plus Chemotherapy Extends Mesothelioma Progression-Free Survival
Though people diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma are told at the outset that their condition is both incurable and fatal, that does nothing to stop them from pinning their hopes on innovative medical treatments. Some of those hopes may be fulfilled, as a recent test of a genetically modified virus has proven capable of infecting
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Scientists Call Mesothelioma Survival Following Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy Combination “Remarkable”
The results are in from a phase II study that tested a combination of standard chemotherapy with a new immunotherapy drug on patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, and the results have been described as “remarkable.” The immunotherapy drug is durvalumab (brand name Infinzi) and it was developed by Medimmune/AstraZeneca. The results will be presented at
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What Malignant Mesothelioma and COVID-19 Have in Common
If you have a known exposure to asbestos, whether from the workplace, exposure to a family member who worked with the substance, or some other source, you have long been aware of your risk for malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other asbestos-related diseases. As if those fears were not stressful enough, those same individuals are now
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Facing Thousands of Mesothelioma Lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson Talc Provider Strikes Settlement Deal
While multi-million-dollar mesothelioma lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder have been capturing headlines, litigation against the company’s talc provider Imerys led the smaller organization to file for bankruptcy last year. This week they announced that they will be selling their North American operations and using the assets to settle more than 14,000 lawsuits against
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Facing Thousands of Mesothelioma and Ovarian Cancer Lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson Announces End to Talc Baby Powder Sales
In the face of thousands of lawsuits accusing their product of causing malignant mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, Johnson & Johnson has announced that they will no longer sell their talc-based baby powder product in the United States or Canada. The product has long been one of the world’s most recognizable and trusted consumer products.
