mesothelioma treatment

November 28, 2015

Promising Treatment Options for Mesothelioma

When a victim first learns he or she has a malignant mesothelioma, there is often very little time to reflect on the diagnosis. The patient is normally told he or she have very little time left to live – in many cases, this means a matter of months or less than a year.

The mesothelioma patient can elect to have treatment, but this is a hard decision. Most treatment options are able to extend a patient’s life for anywhere from a matter of months to even a year or two, but this extension comes at a big cost – not only in terms of dollars (which happens to be quite expensive), but also in terms of pain and suffering. If a mesothelioma victim elects not to undergo treatment, he or she will essentially be given painkillers and breathing aids and placed in a hospice type status for the duration of his or her life. Continue reading

November 26, 2015

Radiotherapy Not Shown as Effective in Mesothelioma Treatment

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Radiotherapy, or “radiation” as it often called by both patients and oncologists when speaking to the general public, is a common treatment option for patients with mesothelioma. Radiotherapy involves using a targeted beam of concentrated ionizing radiation aimed at the location of a malignant tumor. A modern radiotherapy machine uses laser guidance and special molds placed under the patient to determine the exact location to apply the beam. This is very important, because the ionizing radiation will kill any cells it encounters. It is not only effective against tumorous growth. Accidental exposure to healthy cells can be devastating to a patient’s health.

The specific manner in which radiation works is that it kills the DNA in any cell it interacts with, and this will result in death of the entire cell in a short amount of time. The procedure is effective but can and often does lead to serious side effects. While there is no pain at the time of the procedure, just as there isn’t during exposure to most types of radiation, side effects can linger for years and can include vomiting, nausea, heart disease, brain damage when using radiation of the brain, and even cancer. Radiation can be used as primary treatment but is often used as secondary treatment after surgery or chemotherapy. This is the case in mesothelioma patients. Continue reading

November 9, 2015

Massachusetts Court of Appeals Rules on Asbestos Removal Issues

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article form The National Law Review, Massachusetts Court of Appeals has recently made a significant ruling on a case involving non-payment of a subcontractor for issues involving asbestos abatement (removal) responsibilities.

In this case, Acme Abatement Contractor, Inc. v. S&R Corporation, a general contractor was working on a public demolition and hired a subcontractor to perform most of the work. However, after subcontractor performed most of the work, contractor refused to pay subcontractor for any of the work. At this point, subcontractor filed a civil contracts lawsuit against general contractor in the Massachusetts Superior Court. In this case, after discovery and hearing cross motions for summary judgment, the superior court granted summary judgment in favor of contractor. In other words, the court was convinced it was acceptable for contractor to withhold payment to subcontractor based upon the alleged deficiencies in performance. Continue reading

November 9, 2015

Report: New Research on BAP1 and Mesothelioma

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent article from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (one of the nation’s leading cancer hospitals), new collaborative research suggests that there may be beneficial treatment for mesothelioma if the BAP1 gene is targeted.

Mesothelioma is technically not what we typically refer to as lung cancer. It is an entirely different type of cancer caused by exposure to toxic asbestos fibers, which become embedded in a layer of tissue surrounding internal organs known as the mesothelium. Mesothelioma can form in the chest cavity, stomach, or other organs, but, since it affects breathing and often develops in the lungs, many people incorrectly believe it is the same as lung cancer. Continue reading

October 13, 2015

New England School Closed Due to Asbestos

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Many schools in Boston and across New England were built during a time when asbestos was heavily used in construction. The asbestos was deadly to the miners who unearthed the material and to the workers who installed it in the schools, but, generally speaking, asbestos is no longer harmful to occupants of a building. The reason for this is because asbestos was used in wall joint compounds and many other things, but, unless it is being disturbed, there is not a great risk of inhaling the deadly fibers.

However, if a building is not properly maintained and is allowed to fall apart, the risk of asbestos exposure skyrockets for anyone inside. Unfortunately, due to budgetary shortcomings, it is fairly common for schools to end up in very bad condition to the point where students are at a high risk for asbestos exposure. Continue reading

October 3, 2015

Results not Promising for New Mesothelioma Drug

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

As many know too well, there is not much doctors can do for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. This is not say there aren’t a multitude of FDA-approved treatment options, because there are, but even in the best case scenarios, patients undergo invasive and painful procedures and may only be given an extra few months to live.

There is, however, hope that, one day, there will be real treatment options for mesothelioma patients that can actually arrest the growth of tumors or even force them into remission. One drug that people thought might help doctors and patients achieve these goals was known as VS-6063, being developed by Verestem Inc. pharmaceuticals based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company had recruited patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma in 2011, and, by 2012, the company had announced it was closing enrollment in the study because it had enough patients with the deadly disease to complete the study. Continue reading

September 27, 2015

Promising Results for CRS-207 Trials in Fighting Mesothelioma

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news release from Nasdaq News Service, Aduro Biotech has just announced the results of Phase 1b mesothelioma trials for its new immunotherapy drug, CRS-207.

Phase 1b is part of the process of clinical trials to test new medications on human patients. In this phase, multiple increasing dose studies are performed on human patients to determine safety and tolerability. The patients are given multiple low doses of the drug during the study, and multiple tests are performed to determine how the human body processes the new drug. In the next group of patients, the dose of the experimental drug is increased, and then increased again in future groups, until a preset limit has been reached. Continue reading

September 9, 2015

One Man’s Struggle with Mesothelioma

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma is devastating.

A person begins to experience chest pain, abdominal pain, or shortness of breath and goes to the doctor to see what is wrong. He or she is told they have malignant pleural mesothelioma, and even though patient only just learned of having this illness, he or she is also told most patients do not live long after being diagnosed. The vast majority of cases prove lethal in as few as three years, with many of those victims not surviving a full year after learning they are sick.

Patients are also told there are treatment options, but they involve high doses of chemotherapy, radiation, major surgery, or a combination of all of these treatments, and, even in the best cases, generally only extend a patient’s life for a relatively short period of time. Continue reading

August 28, 2015

New Concerns over Asbestos Exposure

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Despite the fact that widespread use of asbestos and asbestos-laden products was largely abandoned in the late 1970s, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the substance, it continues to be a problem. While the EPA’s ban on asbestos was eventually overturned as unconstitutional, public awareness made continued use of asbestos difficult.

According to a recent article from Huffington Post, we are still seeing a great deal of asbestos concerns across the country, and there are no signs the problem is going away any time soon. In the past month, there have been reports of a veterans’ medical center in Denver having asbestos exposure problems, contamination at an elementary school, and contaminated drinking water due to asbestos pollution in a river. Continue reading

August 25, 2015

New Research on New Mesothelioma Treatments

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There are several treatment options available for patients who are diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The problem with all of these treatment options is they generally do not work very well. Mostly, they are able to sustain a patient’s life for a matter of months, so the victim has longer to spend with his or her family. However, those few extra months, even in the best-case scenarios, come at very high cost.

Treatment options typically involve large doses of potent chemotherapy and radiation, and may involve invasive surgery where entire organs and large sections of tissue are removed. Once the organ tissue is removed, more chemotherapy or radiation is administered internally to the site of the tumor. Even if these procedures are successful, most patients will still die shortly after the procedure and will be in a great deal of pain during that time. Continue reading