New Study
A new study looking at low dose radiation and immunotherapy is showing promising results for non-small cell lung cancer. Patients treated with the combination had higher progression free survival compared to patients who received immunotherapy alone. Research was completed at Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian as well as at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and…
Polaris Group recently announced an application for a rolling submission of a new mesothelioma treatment. The Biologic License Application is the first step in becoming approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The treatment, known as ADI-PEG 20, is for the use on non-epithelioid mesothelioma patients alongside pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy. The non-epithelioid subtypes of…
Pleural mesothelioma, a cancer mainly caused by asbestos, is a hard cancer to treat. Diagnosis usually occurs when it is in a late stage, leading to limited treatment options. New clinical trials are always being performed to try to find a new treatment approach that could possibly extend the lives of patients or even cure…
Surgery is usually the first choice for patients and doctors for the treatment of early-stage cancer. There are other options though like radiotherapy. A special type of radiotherapy called Carbon-ion radiotherapy (CIRT)has become popular with doctors. A study in Japan showing how the therapy can benefit patients with early-stage lung cancer recently released results. Carbon-ion…
A group of Australian patients receiving Checkmate743 therapy saw higher levels of toxicity compared to CheckMate743 clinical trial patients. Checkmate743 consists of a dual treatment of ipilimumab and nivolumab and is the standard of care for patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma. Unresectable means patients are not able to receive surgery to remove their cancer. Patients…
A new biomarker has been found for the diagnosis of mesothelioma by scientists in Japan. Information from this research could revolutionize how mesothelioma is diagnosed and treated in the future. Mesothelioma is a hard cancer to diagnose because it shares symptoms with other cancers. Cancers it can look like include squamous cell lung carcinoma and…
Researchers in Vienna, Austria recently found a protein that could help treat mesothelioma patients. Researchers found the oncoprotein YB-1 which, when targeted, could make pleural mesothelioma more sensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The results of the study were published in the medical journal “Cancer Letters.” The study builds on earlier research that found that the…
Results from a phase 3 clinical trial were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showing that a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for mesothelioma improves patients’ survival more than chemotherapy alone. Researchers combined Keytruda, or pembrolizumab, with platinum and pemetrexed chemotherapy. The overall response rate for patients receiving chemotherapy and Keytruda was 63…
Researchers are trying to determine if a breath test can detect malignant pleural mesothelioma in patients exposed to asbestos. Early results are promising, but more research is needed to see what can be done for patients. The study, which is known as MESOBREATH 5, uses a test to detect volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath.…
Extended pleurectomy decortication surgery combined with chemotherapy is associated with worse outcomes compared to just chemotherapy alone. Researchers looked at extended pleurectomy and decortication surgery alongside chemotherapy and found that there are worse survival outcomes, a higher chance of serious adverse events, and a diminished quality of life compared to just giving patients platinum and…
