A new study has demonstrated that there may be more value in a little-researched treatment option for mesothelioma patients. Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) involves the removal of the cancerous lung and the surrounding tissue. The procedure was originally considered by experts to be too risky, with heart attacks, kidney failure, fluid buildup and pulmonary embolisms resulting. There are some sources that claim a 60 percent complication rate associated with the procedure. A recent study, conducted by researchers from the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Tor Vergata University in Rome, shows that the quality of life improvement from the procedure may be worth it for some patients. In a study that went from 1997 to 2007, researchers looked at 29 patients who received the treatment. Seventeen of those patients were alive at the one-year mark, with 10 alive at the two-year mark. With a median survival rate of 19.5 months, the results…
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Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma Attorneys
Overlooked Procedure Could Improve Mesothelioma Quality Of Life
January 11th, 2012Mesothelioma Drug That Does Not Warrant Further Use
January 9th, 2012A drug that doctors had hoped would be effective as a single agent alternative to chemotherapy for mesothelioma patients has been found to be ineffective. Vatalanib is an oral medication, classified as an anti-angiogenesis drug. This means it should inhibit the formation of new blood vessels necessary to ‘feed’ a growing tumor. The hope was that because vatalanib had shown promise in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, it would work similarly for mesothelioma. According to scientist with the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, a research team based at the University of California, a phase II trial of vatalanib found no significant survival benefit among mesothelioma patients as a single agent (administered by itself). Testing the drug at 19 centers with a total of 47 patients, a single dose was given containing 1250 mg of vatalanib daily. Only six percent of patients showed even a mild response to the…
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Injection Of Cold Virus Shows Hope For Mesothelioma Treatment
January 5th, 2012A new approach to treating mesothelioma was tested in a small clinical trial recently, and though the study is small, the results are intriguing. Published in the December 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the small gene therapy clinical trial showed some success in awakening the cancer fighting abilities of mesothelioma victims. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia tested a treatment that transferred a small amount of genetic material from an existing virus into a victim’s body to encourage the immunes system to fight the cancer cells. Using nine subjects suffering from malignant mesothelioma, researchers injected a modified cold virus directly into the chest cavity at the site of the cancer. In over half of the test subjects, antibody responses occurred, with four subjects in more advanced stages of the disease not exhibiting the desired response. In the five that did…
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Inhibiting Proteins Could Stop Tumor Growth
January 3rd, 2012Researchers are attempting to slow or stop the growth of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma by starving the tumors of proteins, and at least in mice, it seems to be working. Peritoneal mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the abdomen, caused by the ingestion of asbestos fibers. The disease affects victims differently, with some dying quickly and some living for extended periods of time. Dr. H. Richard Alexander, a surgeon, and Dr. Sheelu Varghese, a research scientist, analyzed the cancer cells to determine what causes the mesothelioma tumors to grow. The results of their research, published in 2011, demonstrated that there is a family of related proteins that are present in large numbers of peritoneal mesothelioma cells. Hypothesizing that the tumors are addicted to the proteins for survival, the researchers thought that blocking the proteins should slow or stop the tumor growth. Currently they are testing a protein inhibitor…
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