Study: Early Identification Needed for Mesothelioma Advances

Professor John Cherrie at Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom believes future treatment advances and improved patient outcomes for mesothelioma rests with a formula to better identify and screen high-risk patients. It could make an early diagnosis of the asbestos-related cancer much more common. Cherrie said the current standard — which typically results in a late-stage diagnosis and a poor prognosis — prevents novel treatment studies and the development of any pre-emergent strategy to combat the aggressive cancer. “We don’t pretend to have a medical cure that will help immediately, but until we can start identifying patients earlier, we can’t even try out what might work,” Cherrie, an occupational medicine specialist in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt, told Asbestos.com. “The patients are usually too sick. It’s tough to make progress that way.” Cherrie is the lead author in a study published recently in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, detailing the asbestos-exposure formula he believes would work. “Right now, we don’t have a way of identifying early-stage disease,” he said. “Usually by the time it is diagnosed, it’s virtually untreatable. We want to find a way to change that.” Pre-Emergent Treatment Strategies Mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by exposure to toxic asbestos, typically in long-term occupational settings. Cherrie believes a reliable, standardized assess...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Activity emission potential biomarkers for mesothelioma chemoprophylaxis strategies early diagnosis mesothelioma Early identification of mesothelioma early screening asbestos Heriot-Watt University high-risk mesothelioma indwelling pleural Source Type: news