Congress Funds Feasibility Study for Mesothelioma Patient Registry

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will oversee a study in 2019 to determine the feasibility of establishing the first national mesothelioma patient registry.
The $100,000 feasibility study was part of the $1.2 million Congress allocated in 2019 to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention for mesothelioma research.
The bulk of the funding goes toward the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank, which is a biospecimen registry first established in 2006.
It is the only federally funded program designed exclusively for the research of mesothelioma, the rare and aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
“If it was possible for a registry to rapidly identify and enroll people soon after diagnosis, it might be able to help with information about available treatments, information about clinical trials, and potentially other services,” Dr. David Weissman, NIOSH director of the Respiratory Health Division who will oversee the study, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com.
Leading to Treatment Advances
Mesothelioma advocates have been lobbying for a patient registry for several years. Congress already funds several national health registries, including those for Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral palsy, colon cancer, breast cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumors and cystic fibrosis.
A registry for mesothelioma could potentially lead to better diagnostics and quicker treatment advances. It could allow for more comprehensive understanding of the disea...

Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - January 15, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Matt Mauney Source Type: news