New Study
New mesothelioma research is being performed at The Netherlands Cancer Institute. The researchers are looking at new combinations of medications to be used on patients that have mesothelioma with BAP1 genetic mutations. More than half of patients with mesothelioma have changes in the BAP1 tumor suppressor gene. When the BAP1 gene is altered, it allows…
The early diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma is critical for extending survival in patients. Researchers in Italy may have found a helpful biomarker to catch mesothelioma earlier, up to five years before a clinical diagnosis. This is helpful because once mesothelioma is diagnosed, it is hard to treat due to its aggressive and quick spreading…
A new study from Rice University in Houston is showing promising results for mesothelioma. It utilizes the immune system to fight cancer cells. The protein that is being studied is interleukin 2 (IL2), which is a protein that regulates white blood cells through the use of cytokines, a cell signal that affects other cells. When…
There might be more options for treating mesothelioma. A study looked at the combination of Opdivo and Yervoy after surgery. The study was performed at the Hyogo College of Medicine in Japan. Opdivo and Yervoy, which were recently approved for the treatment of mesothelioma, improved survival when administered after surgery. The six-month survival was 87…
A specific type of radiation could be useful for the treatment of mesothelioma. Carbon-ion beam irradiation along with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin could potentially stop the growth of pleural mesothelioma tumors. Research was conducted at a carbon ion center in Chiba, Japan and results have been published to the American Journal of Cancer Research. Carbon…
A United Kingdom study is showing the dangers of legacy asbestos. Asbestos that remains in commercial and residential buildings can be more dangerous than previously thought. Researchers from the study found that two-thirds of the asbestos still in buildings was old enough or damaged enough to release fibers into the air. Around one million samples…
Patients with thoracic and abdominal mesothelioma can extend survival when they are given aggressive surgery. This news came from a study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. When patients are given bicavity cytoreductive surgery, they had a median survival of 58.2 months. The results were published in December in the Journal of Thoracic and…
Immunotherapy before aggressive surgery shows great promise for pleural mesothelioma. The combination has shown that it can improve survival for a group of patients with pleural mesothelioma in a phase II study at Baylor College of Medicine. The treatment uses two immune checkpoint inhibitors, durvalumab and tremelimumab. The two drugs have shown that they can…
It is best to treat peritoneal mesothelioma as soon as possible. Waiting to receive treatment could prevent a patient from living longer than possible. Information from a study looking at treatment start times was published in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery in November. Researchers observed patients who either received treatment quickly, had a delay in…
Mesothelioma diagnoses have almost doubled in the last 30 years, highlighting the need for better care and more ways to regulate and reduce asbestos exposure. There were around 35,000 people diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2019, while in 1990 there were around 19,000 people diagnosed. This information was released by the Clinical Research Center at Shandong…