-
Could Trojan Horse Nanoparticles Hold the Key to Stopping Malignant Mesothelioma?
Malignant mesothelioma is one of several types of cancer that have proven particularly resistant to traditional cancer treatments, presenting significant challenges to physicians and leading to tragically short life expectancies after diagnosis. But a group of researchers from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have devised a novel approach that may hold the key to
-
Italian Research Supports Neighborhood Lawsuits Against Asbestos Companies
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos. For years, victims of the disease have filed and won multi-million-dollar lawsuits against companies that placed profit over people’s health by including the carcinogenic material in their products despite its risks. Though most of those claims were filed
-
FDA Approves Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Novel Mesothelioma Treatment
The quest for a safe and effective treatment for malignant mesothelioma got a boost this month when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has accepted an application for a phase 1 clinical investigation of a new drug, ATA2271. The drug is ATA2271, a mesothelin targeting CAR T-cell therapy developed by Atara Biotherapeutics.
-
Combination of Mesothelioma Immunotherapy Treatments to Be Tested By EMA
Mesothelioma researchers in the United States have been encouraged by the results of studies exploring the effect of combining two immunotherapy treatments — Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilumumab) — on malignant pleural mesothelioma. Following preliminary results of this research, the European Medicines Agency has announced that they will be reviewing the research, and possibly approving
-
Turkish Experts Quantify the Cost of Losing Lives to Malignant Mesothelioma
Malignant mesothelioma is a tragic terminal disease that robs its victims of their golden years. The rare form of cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos and manifests symptoms decades after this exposure takes place. While most United States mesothelioma victims are exposed to the carcinogenic material in the workplace, in Turkey there is so
-
Louisiana Judge Rules That Previous Asbestos Settlements Don’t Rule Out Future Mesothelioma Lawsuits
Malignant mesothelioma is the deadliest disease caused by exposure to asbestos, but it is not the only one. People exposed to the carcinogenic material risk multiple asbestos-related illnesses, with most manifesting symptoms far earlier than mesothelioma. In a recent case heard in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana, survivors of a
-
National Cancer Institute Shows Drug Combo Can Shrink Mesothelioma Tumors
For clinical study results to be considered significant they need to involve large numbers of participants, but with a rare illness like malignant mesothelioma, research by necessity often involves smaller pools of patients. A recent National Cancer Institute study included just ten patients but is still receiving positive attention: It revealed that those receiving a
-
New Approach to Drug-Resistant Tumors Could Work for Mesothelioma Too
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Like many other solid tumors, it has proven to be particularly resistant to traditional treatment approaches. But an innovative dual-pronged attack being tested on the most common types of solid tumors may hold the key to improved outcomes.
-
FDA Approves Application for Phase 1 Study of Novel Mesothelioma Treatment
Though physicians treating malignant mesothelioma work hard to extend their patients’ survival and improve their quality of life, the treatments currently available have proven no match for the challenging, fatal form of cancer. Researchers are turning to next-generation treatments using state-of-the-art technology, and the latest of these, a T-cell immunotherapy treatment, just received FDA approval
-
As Mesothelioma Diagnoses Rise in 9/11 First Responders, Millions are Withheld from FDNY Health Program
On the 19th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the head of the FDNY 9/11 World Trade Center Health Program has revealed that nearly $4 million has been siphoned away from the program, which treats firefighters and medics suffering from 9/11 related illnesses like mesothelioma and other cancers. According
-
Mesothelioma Advocates Take Positive View of Lawsuit Against EPA
It has been decades since the Environmental Protection Agency first acknowledged that asbestos causes malignant mesothelioma and other illnesses, yet in all that time the agency has failed to ban its use. Advocates had hoped that would change under the authority granted to the agency in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), but it still
-
No Consensus on Radiotherapy as Standard Treatment Before Mesothelioma Surgery
Creating a treatment plan for patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma is a challenge. Though patients expect a standard course of treatment with proven results, the reality is that each patient is unique, and responds in different and unpredictable ways to different protocols. One example of this can be found in performing radiotherapy before mesothelioma
-
COVID-19 Telemedicine Experience May Permanently Change Mesothelioma Palliative Care
The global pandemic has introduced countless changes to our way of doing things, and not all are bad. One positive has been the greater acceptance of telemedicine in the delivery of palliative care, and it is likely that this will have a permanent impact on the way that mesothelioma patients and their families receive this
-
Unsafe Asbestos Levels Confirmed As Widower Wins Mesothelioma Lawsuit
Widower William E. Robaey was recently awarded millions of dollars in a mesothelioma lawsuit that he filed against Felt Products Manufacturing after his wife, Marlena Robaey, died from the rare and fatal form of cancer. Though an appeals court vacated an earlier jury award as deviating from reasonable compensation, the same court upheld the overall
-
Mesothelioma Victim Faces Off Against Honeywell Over Brake Pads
Ricardo Ocampo spent 1991 though 1997 working as a car dealership maintenance worker, and he blames asbestos dust from brake pads used there for his recent diagnosis with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Despite complications and challenges posed by conducting a jury trial in the midst of a pandemic, his $70 million personal injury lawsuit against the
-
Johns Hopkins Research May Explain How Mesothelioma Spreads
In malignant mesothelioma and many other types of cancer, the spread of cells to distant areas of the body – a process called metastasis – is an ominous sign. Metastasis makes fighting the disease much more difficult. The quest to stop the process has long been a goal for cancer researchers, and it starts with
-
Olivia Fitzgerald – 2020 Mesothelioma.net Scholarship Winner
The Scholarship committee at Mesothelioma.net is pleased to announced that the winner of the 2020 Mesothelioma.net Scholarship is Olivia Fitzgerald, a rising freshman at the University of Pittsburgh – Bradford who is planning a career in radiology. The scholarship is awarded to one student with financial need whose life has been shaped by cancer and
-
Australians Expect New Surge of Mesothelioma Victims Who Grew Up in Contaminated Homes
Every case of malignant mesothelioma is a tragedy, but the most heart-wrenching may be those involving victims who were unknowingly exposed as children. In the United States, most childhood exposure came either fro second-hand exposure to asbestos carried on working parents’ clothing or from having been exposed to the material left behind in mining towns
-
Mesothelioma Specialist Urges Continued Screening and Treatment Despite Pandemic
One of the country’s most noted mesothelioma specialists is warning that the pandemic’s disruption will make things much more challenging for those at risk for asbestos-related diseases. According to Dr. R. Taylor Ripley, many mesothelioma patients are delaying seeking treatment and not making appointments until their symptoms are already in a more advanced stage.
-
Genes May Play a Role in the Success of Radiation Therapy for Mesothelioma
Almost immediately after diagnosis, many victims of malignant pleural mesothelioma begin a course of treatment that includes radiation therapy in hopes that the treatment will shrink and kill the tumors. But a group of researchers from the University of Bern has learned that the success of this treatment may depend on the individual patient’s genes,
