This morning, an article appeared in a respected medical journal reporting on a complete response to the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in a patient with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. The case study’s authors encourage the drug’s use, despite the lack of evidence to support the treatment.
Dr. Erin P. Ward is a surgical oncologist at the University of Utah Health and the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her clinical interests include metastatic colorectal cancer; appendiceal cancer; gastric cancer; neuroendocrine tumors; minimally invasive surgery; peritoneal mesothelioma; and peritoneal-based malignancies. She has particular expertise in the treatment of peritoneal surface
Dr. Missak Haigentz is a cancer physician and thoracic oncologist at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health. Dr. Haigentz has focused his experience and knowledge on caring for patients with thoracic cancers including cancer of the lung and thymus, malignant pleural mesothelioma, and head and neck cancers including cancers of the
Dr. Jules Lin is a noted thoracic and surgical critical care surgeon at the University of Michigan and Rogel Cancer Center, where his areas of practice include minimally invasive and robotic surgery for the treatment of patients with lung and esophageal cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, and other chest wall and thoracic malignancies. Dr. Lin has
Dr. David J. Kwiatkowski is a practicing thoracic oncologist and genetic researcher with expertise in all types of thoracic malignancy. His particular interests include therapeutic targeting and personalized medicine approaches to cancer patient care. He is also a visiting scientist at the Broad Institute, where he is engaged in many cancer genome sequencing projects, including The
Dr. Bartley P. Griffith is a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon at the University of Maryland Health System and Professor of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He specializes in intricate and complex surgical techniques required for cardiac and pulmonary care and deploys his skill as part of the Greenebaum Cancer Center’s Mesothelioma and
When someone in your family is diagnosed with mesothelioma, it opens the door to pain, anger, heartache, and grief. But imagine the same thing happening twice in your family. That is exactly what happened to the Pond family of Australia. This week a judge awarded the couple’s daughter more than $600,000, to be paid to
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that afflicts approximately 3,500 Americans every year. The cancer’s tumors usually appear in the lungs, but one in five patients is diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, in which tumors arise in the abdominal cavity. This aggressive malignancy is notoriously hard to treat, but mesothelioma specialists in New York
When a patient is suspected of having malignant pleural mesothelioma, physicians run through a series of diagnostic tests to either confirm or rule out the rare, asbestos-related disease. But a recent case documented by researchers at Case Western Reserve notes that traditional diagnostic tools can sometimes fall short, highlighting the need for comprehensive testing.
Pleural mesothelioma is a notoriously challenging disease. Always considered a terminal diagnosis, the rare form of asbestos-related cancer is also extremely aggressive, claiming its victims’ lives in a painfully short period. To counter this, researchers around the world are working to find therapies that extend life in a way that also improves quality of life.