Researchers are making advances in chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and other techniques.
A new report says there is a relationship between asbestos exposure and larynx cancer, with suggestions that asbestos may also be a factor in colon and stomach cancers. The exact wording from the Institute of Medicine was “the evidence is: sufficient to infer a causal relationship between asbestos exposure and laryngeal cancer; suggestive but not […]
Asbestos also linked to larynx cancer Read More »
There is a new page over at the always excellent Mayo Clinic website about angiogenesis inhibitors and their possible use as cancer therapy. There was considerable excitement about angiogenesis inhibitors back in the late 1990s. This excitement faded somewhat when early tests did not produce the kind of miracle results people were hoping for. But
Angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer therapy Read More »
Some controversey in the UK and a little tension between the medical establishments in Scotland and England. The Scottish Medicines Consortium approved alimta for mesothelioma treatment last year, but now the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, based in England, is saying the drug is too expensive. According to this article, “It is
Alimta may be pulled from use in Britain because of expense Read More »
The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (ADFA) is holding a conference this weekend. One thing they are talking about is the legacy of the Baryulgil asbestos mine which operated between 1944 and 1976. There are all sorts of health problems in the area even today.
Australian conference on asbestos diseases Read More »
There is an article in the journal Respiratory Medicine about mesothelioma tumors extending along the area where the doctors insert instruments for diagnosis and treatment. These researchers were able to prevent the metastases by applying targeted radiotherapy with no catheter damage. Encouraing news.
Needle-track metastases and prophylactic radiotherapy for mesothelioma Read More »
Not specific to mesothelioma, but some interesting news in the war on cancer. Wake Forest University scientists have bred mice that resist cancer. Further, they were able to take white blood cells out of the cancer-resistant mice and use them to fight tumors in other mice with advanced cancer. “Spontaneous regression in human cancers have
Spontaneous Regression of Advanced Cancer in Mice Read More »
When it was still in development and clinical trials, avastin (bevacizumab) was used in trials for mesothelioma. The authorities sometimes allow experimental drugs to be used in mesothelioma treatment, partly because there are so few effective treatments for mesothelioma and because it more or less an orphan disease (i.e. rare). Avastin was eventually “approved” by
Avastin to be used for lung cancer Read More »
Alfacell Corp., the New Jersey pharmaceutical company, got enough patients to go ahead with phase IIIb testing on Onconase, (ranpirnase). Another step in the long process toward getting approval for that drug, which is promising in mesothelioma treatment. The drug companies sometimes target mesothelioma in their development process even though it is a rare form
Another milestone for Onconase Read More »
Impact Analysis blog talks about the integrity of B Readers as expert witnesses in occupational health court cases. NIOSH B Reader approval is granted to physicians who demonstrate proficiency in the classification of chest radiographs for the pneumoconioses using the International Labour Office (ILO) Classification System. Mesothelioma Aid’s write-up on B-readers is here. This is
B-reader consistency? Read More »
This is a pretty common mistake in the popular press – thinking mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer. In mesothelioma, the tumor is on the mesothelium, which is the lining of the pleural cavity. In lung cancer, the tumor is in the lung tissue. In this case, the story was on Dana Reeve, the
CNN mistakes mesothelioma for lung cancer Read More »