Asbestos & Mesothelioma Studies
Scientists may have found an easy way to identify peritoneal mesothelioma, making it easier to detect and catch the cancer earlier. These researchers may have found a link between peritoneal mesothelioma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. The research done in the division of surgical oncology at University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center found a…
Italian researchers have potentially found a new biomarker for mesothelioma. The biomarker is a microRNA signature. This would allow doctors to determine if someone’s cancer is mesothelioma or another type of cancer quickly. Mesothelioma is a notoriously hard to treat cancer and early diagnosis is one of the keys to patients living a longer, higher…
Banning asbestos could soon be a reality after a study linked asbestos, a toxic naturally occurring mineral, to mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other cancers. The report linked asbestos with different asbestos related diseases in 70 countries. The report was published in May by Environmental Health Perspectives, which is supported by the National Institute of Environmental…
An inhalable gene therapy could potentially be approved for use in mesothelioma patients. Researchers in Japan have created two different tumor suppressing drugs that work by targeting genetic mutations. The drugs were created for non-small cell cancer and pleural mesothelioma. They are both doing well in the laboratory. The drugs are known as SFD-p16 and…
Research at Temple University is looking at four different drug compounds, all used for noncancerous conditions, for treating mesothelioma. The research is part of a drug repurposing project, which tests drugs not typically used for illnesses like cancer to see if they work on the disease. Drug repurposing has become more popular over the years.…
Over the past 20 years, the number of women dying from mesothelioma increased by 25 percent. This is happening even with less asbestos being used. Deaths in men have been falling, the reverse of what is happening in women. The information was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the CDC. The annual…
Targeted research is advancing the treatment of pleural mesothelioma. Results from a study on a novel protein inhibitor known as tazemetostat (brand name Tazverik) were recently released. It is showing impressive results as a second line treatment for mesothelioma patients with the BAP1 genetic mutation. The control rate for disease was 54.1 percent at 12…
Mesothelioma is a hard-to-treat cancer. Usually chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy are used, but they do not do enough to save people’s lives. Scientists may have figured out why this is the case and could potentially have found the main causes that affect survival. These include stage of the tumor, lymph node status, and histological…
Researchers are looking at a vaccine to maintain patient health after cancer treatment, which could be effective for mesothelioma in the future. The vaccine is specifically made for each patient based on the individual’s biology. The trial is currently being tested on head and neck cancer. It does not usually take long for mesothelioma to…
Researchers have found that targeting lung fibrosis can help people with mesothelioma. People with mesothelioma usually suffer from fibrosis, which is the stiffening of tissue surrounding tumors. Certain drugs to treat mesothelioma are not very effective because the fibrosis prevents the drugs from penetrating the tumor. It also prevents the immune system from detecting rogue…
