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Next Generation Sequencing Reveals Mesothelioma Mutations
The rare and deadly form of cancer known as mesothelioma has proven extremely challenging to researchers and physicians, who have been largely unable to stop the progress or significantly improve survival. A study using targeted next-generation sequencing of malignant pleural mesothelioma tumor provided a partial explanation of why the cancer has been so immutable. It
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Research Finds that Mesothelioma Originates from Multiple Cells
Cancer is a notoriously difficult disease to treat. Referred to as the “Emperor of all Maladies” in a recent best-seller, the history of cancer and the attempt to cure it is centuries old and tracks a series of misunderstandings and misconceptions that, once corrected, have led step-by-step to solutions to many of cancer’s mysteries. Mesothelioma
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St. Judes’ Researchers Make Groundbreaking Immunology Discovery
In the world of medicine, one of the biggest challenges and mysteries revolves around the immune system and how it works. Science knows that a healthy immune system fights off infection and other diseases, including cancer, but can also facilitate tumor growth. Understanding which blood cells are working against the system and helping cancer cells
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Baylor Announces New Lung Institute
The highly esteemed Baylor College of Medicine and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center recently announced that it’s establishing a new multidisciplinary center dedicated to the treatment of a variety of chronic lung diseases. From those diagnosed with mesothelioma to those suffering from late stage lung cancer, patients will be able to come to the Baylor
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New Radiation Therapy Technique Being Praised for Mesothelioma Treatment
There is a new, state-of-the-art radiotherapy technique known as VMAT, or volumetric modulated arc therapy, and it is being highly praised for its ability to offer mesothelioma patients a more targeted approach to post-surgery radiation treatments. The new technique was specifically engineered to provide a highly targeted dose of radiation into a tumor without the
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Researchers Call Mesothelioma a Global Epidemic
Despite the best efforts of the World Health Organization and other global organizations, it appears that there is no slowdown in the incidence of mesothelioma around the world. In fact, there are signs that the problem may be on the rise in some regions. A study by researchers Claudio and Tommaso Bianchi of the Center
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Nepal Bans Asbestos
The government of Nepal has announced that it is banning asbestos as a result of concerns about its health impact. An announcement out of the capital city of Kathmandu stated that the toxic material, which has been traced to a number of serious and even fatal health conditions, will no longer be allowed to be
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Experts Find Insurance Reimbursement Drives Mesothelioma Decisions
A study published in the “Annals of Surgical Oncology” provides some encouraging news for patients facing a diagnosis of mesothelioma. Researchers have found that the way that insurance companies are reimbursing hospitals for a variety of treatments is actually improving outcomes in the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma. The study was conducted by surgical oncologists at
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Italian Researchers Identify Factor Affecting Mesothelioma Aggressiveness
It’s well known that some types of mesothelioma cells are more aggressive than others, and are likewise more resistant to certain therapies. A team of researchers from the University of Torino in Italy believe that they have found a cellular variant that may be responsible for these differences There are three different cell types that
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Canadian Report Cites Mesothelioma as Leading Work-Related Illness
Researchers from Canada’s School of Public Health at the University of Montreal set themselves the difficult task of determining how many work-related cancer cases and deaths occurred in the country between the years of 1997 and 2005. These figures can be difficult to determine, because not every case is identified by its cause, and many
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Mesothelioma Researchers in Slovenia Make Important Discovery
Researchers from the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia have made an important discovery that may make a real difference for mesothelioma patients with limited time to pursue the appropriate course of treatment. Spurred on by the tremendous degree of variance in the ways that mesothelioma patients responded to chemotherapy treatment,
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Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Can Utilize Less Invasive Biopsy Procedure
Mesothelioma is a rare and fatal form of cancer that can be difficult to diagnose. The condition is diagnosed in approximately 3,500 patients a year. One of the difficulties in diagnosing the disease is that one of the only definitive diagnostic tools is a surgical biopsy that may be too invasive and difficult for some
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Women’s Mesothelioma Survival Rate Found to be Much Higher Than Men’s
A comprehensive study of mesothelioma in America was completed by researchers from the North Shore/Long Island Jewish Health System-Hofstra School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Health System in New York. The study involved more than 14,000 mesothelioma patients whose records had been compiled in the national Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database between the
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Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation Releases New Clinical Trial Guide
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is a unique organization. It has the distinction of being the only 501 ( C ) 3 non-profit that works towards eliminating mesothelioma while at the same time providing support and comfort for those who are afflicted by this rare and always fatal form of cancer. The Meso Foundation (MARF),actively
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Scientists Hopeful about Combining Gene Therapy with Chemotherapy
The protein mesothelin was recently the target of an innovative study conducted by researchers from Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan. Publishing in the online open-access medical journal “PLoS One,” the scientists determined that by inhibiting or halting the production of mesothelin in mesothelioma cancer cell lines, they not only were able to slow the
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Surgeons Identify Long Term Survival Factors for Mesothelioma Surgery Patients
It has long been established that certain factors make patients poor candidates for aggressive mesothelioma surgery. However, a pair of thoracic surgeons from Leicester, England, have assembled a list of characteristics that they have found to be predictive of positive long term survival rates for those who undergo either one of two types of radical
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Stem Cell Research Shows Promise for Mesothelioma Treatment
Innovative stem cell research is being conducted by mesothelioma specialists at the Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. There are hopes that the novel approach may be able to provide new hope for those suffering from this most-serious of asbestos-related diseases, as well as for other forms of cancer including lung cancer and cancers of
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Mesothelioma Risk not Diminished by Low Level Asbestos Exposure
A new report published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine indicated that mesothelioma is a risk no matter how high or low the level of asbestos exposure occurs. The information was culled from data gathered as part of the Netherlands Cohort Study, a study that has been conducted since 1986 that involves over
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Vinorelbine Found to be Effective Secondary Option for Mesothelioma Patients
Those mesothelioma patients that have already undergone a chemotherapeutic course course of pemetrexed may gain benefits from undergoing a second course with a different medication known as vinorelbine. Though Pemetrexed and a platinum-based medication called cisplatin are the most traditional first-line course of chemotherapy treatment used in mesothelioma patients, physicians have found that the use
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Australia Takes Proactive Approach to Mesothelioma
Australia has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. This is due to heavy use of asbestos during the industrial and building boom that took place between the 1950s and the 1980s. Health officials are warning that although the number of victims is already high, the numbers