Overall Survival
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…
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…
The most aggressive surgery for mesothelioma could be more beneficial for patients with the disease. The more aggressive surgery is called an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), which involves removing the lung. The other surgery, pleurectomy and decortication (P/D), spares the lung and only removes the lining of the lung and visible tumors. A study from Italy…
When people are diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is common for the disease to spread. This occurs in around 60 percent of people, but it does not usually spread to the brain. Researchers in Great Britain believe doctors should be focusing on cerebral metastasis in mesothelioma patients in addition to other areas of the body because…
Asbestos exposure screenings are being performed in Libby, Montana. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) is going around the state offering screenings to people who cannot or are not willing to travel. Libby, Montana was heavily contaminated with asbestos because of a contaminated vermiculite mine operating in the area. It is one of the…
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer with a poor life expectancy. People diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma usually live for four to 18 months after diagnosis. The poor survival is a result of the aggressive nature of the cancer and that it is usually diagnosed at a late stage when it is less treatable. Once mesothelioma progresses,…
