Immunotherapy Combo Now Approved for First-Line Mesothelioma in EU Immunotherapy Combo Now Approved for First-Line Mesothelioma in EU
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab showed superior overall survival versus standard-of-care chemotherapy in patients with unresectable malignant mesothelioma.News Alerts (Source: Medscape Hematology-Oncology Headlines)
Source: Medscape Hematology-Oncology Headlines - June 3, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Hematology-Oncology News Alert Source Type: news
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects J & J Appeal of $2 Billion Talc Verdict
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request June 1 from Johnson & Johnson to consider overturning a $2.1 billion award to 22 women who blamed the company’s asbestos-contaminated talcum powder products for causing ovarian cancer.
With the Supreme Court declining to consider it, a Missouri state court ruling from 2018 that originally awarded $4.69 billion remains in place. A Missouri court of appeals reduced the award in 2020 to $2.1 billion, but also rejected a J&J effort to dismiss the jury verdict. The appeal did not involve the question of whether the products caused cancer.
Johnson & Johnson wanted the...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - June 2, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Memorial Sloan Kettering Opening New Mesothelioma Clinical Trial
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City will begin recruiting soon for its latest clinical trial involving patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma and the expanded use of immunotherapy.
The single-center, phase I study will explore the effectiveness of pembrolizumab in combination with intensity-modulated pleural radiation therapy, known as IMPRINT, in treating unresectable disease.
Pembrolizumab, also known by the brand name Keytruda, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2020 for treatment of a small subset of mesothelioma patients.
As a well-known immunotherapy drug, pemb...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 26, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Matt Bardsley Source Type: news
MD Anderson Examines Aggressive Mesothelioma Surgery in Latest Study
A retrospective study involving two decades of pleural mesothelioma patients at the heralded University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center failed to demonstrate a definitive survival advantage to support regular use of extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery.
The most aggressive surgery possible for this type of mesothelioma – once the surgery of choice – showed no clear benefit over a more conservative procedure.
When compared to the less-aggressive, lung-sparing pleurectomy and decortication surgery, EPP had a much higher perioperative mortality rate and a shorter median survival.
“In comparison, we have not be...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 25, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Faulty Gene Could Raise Vulnerability to Asbestos-Linked Cancer
FRIDAY, May 21, 2021 -- Mutations in a certain gene may increase a person ' s risk for an aggressive asbestos-related cancer called malignant mesothelioma, a new study claims.
The gene is called LRRK2 and is involved in regulating responses in immune... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - May 21, 2021 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
EPA Facing More Litigation on Legacy Asbestos
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization delivered on an earlier notice of intent to sue by filing an official complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its ongoing risk evaluation of asbestos.
ADAO, a leading nonprofit aimed at preventing asbestos exposure, was joined by five other organizations and several public health experts in asking the court to set a deadline for the EPA to complete its work. The lawsuit was filed May 18 in the U.S. Northern District of California Court in San Francisco. The notice of intent to sue was delivered in January.
Thoracic surgeon Dr. Raja Flores of Mo...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 20, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
A Look at Three Decades of Real-World Mesothelioma Statistics
Despite clinical trials that often produce inflated expectations, real-world survival rates for pleural mesothelioma have failed to advance significantly over the past three decades, according to one recent study in Canada.
Celebrated treatment advances have fallen short for the average patient diagnosed with this rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
“This is a story about a lack of progress. What we’ve seen is kind of underwhelming,” Dr. Paul Wheatley-Price, associate professor of medicine at University of Ottawa and thoracic oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, told The Mesothelioma Center ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 11, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Asbestos-Contaminated Talc Central to Old Spice Mesothelioma Lawsuit
Willie McNeal Jr., a Vietnam War veteran and retired school bus driver, was awarded $4.8 million by a California Superior Court jury that determined asbestos-contaminated talc led to his diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, a longtime talc supplier now based in South Plainfield, New Jersey, was ordered to pay McNeal $1.8 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages.
The verdict stemmed from evidence presented that an Old Spice powder product, used almost daily by McNeal for more than 20 years, contained talc from a mine in North Carolina known to be contam...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 6, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Canada Moves Toward Increased Talc Restrictions
Canada may soon become the first country to legally restrict the use of popular talc-based products, stemming from an extensive, recently completed human health assessment of the naturally occurring mineral.
Health Canada, the governmental agency responsible for national health policy, issued an official advisory in April, concluding that loose talc products – such as body powder, baby powder and genital deodorants – can cause serious lung problems and ovarian cancer.
The agency has proposed expanded restrictions on the use of talc in cosmetics, natural health products and nonprescription drugs that can be inhale...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 4, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Buried Asbestos Remains a Concern at EPA Superfund Sites
Scientists have discovered that the soil composition typically used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cap asbestos Superfund sites actually increases mobility of the toxic mineral, sending it into groundwater that could endanger people nearby.
This discovery disproves the long-held belief that, once buried, asbestos waste no longer presents a serious problem.
The Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters published the findings in early 2021. Researchers referenced at least 16 federal Superfund sites designated by the EPA as environmental emergencies, along with many lesser-contaminated asbestos dumping grou...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 29, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Combined recognition strategy allows CAR T cells to kill solid tumors in mice and avoid side effects
(American Association for the Advancement of Science) Two teams have created a new generation of highly specific CAR T cells, which safely cleared solid tumors in mice with mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma while outlasting and outperforming conventional CAR T cell designs. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - April 28, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Scientists Develop Artificial Intelligence for Mesothelioma Assessment
Scientists in Scotland have developed a prototype imaging system using artificial intelligence that has proven effective with malignant mesothelioma, potentially revolutionizing the way patients will be treated in the future.
The pilot program could spark much-needed advances in diagnostics and therapeutics.
“Mesothelioma is such a complex, incredibly difficult disease,” Dr. Kevin Blythe, professor of respiratory medicine at University of Glasgow and respiratory physician at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “This could be a very important step toward helping pat...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 26, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Pleural Mesothelioma Patients with 5-Year Survival Still Rare
Although no amount of asbestos exposure is considered safe, lower levels of non-occupational exposure are most often linked to long-term survival for those diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to a recent study.
Clinical Lung Cancer published the study that compared characteristics of 43 pleural mesothelioma patients who survived at least five years with the disease to a much larger control group.
Several previous mesothelioma studies have estimated that the five-year survival rate is just under 5% for pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer with no definitive cure. It is caused almost exclusiv...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 22, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Triple combination therapy shows promise against a rare deadly asbestos cancer
(University Health Network) Combining immune-boosting drugs with radiation and surgery increased the survival and anticancer immune response in mouse models of mesothelioma in preclinical research by Princess Margaret Cancer Centre researchers. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - April 14, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Latest KCIC Report Finds Decline in Mesothelioma Lawsuits
The number of mesothelioma lawsuits filed in 2020 dropped significantly, while cases involving lung cancer continued to increase, according to a recent study reflecting the changing face of asbestos litigation.
KCIC, a well-respected consulting firm in Washington, D.C., that manages asbestos product liabilities, released its industry report Thursday.
Asbestos legal filings, covering both malignant and nonmalignant disease in the United States, dropped 11% from 2019 to 2020, from 4,137 to 3,685 cases, respectively.
Most prominently, there was a 9% increase in asbestos-related lung cancer filings, but a 14% decrease...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 12, 2021 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Amy Edel Source Type: news
