Judge Rules EPA Must Tighten Asbestos Data Collection
United States District Judge Edward Chen has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to improve its data collection on the amount of asbestos and asbestos products that are coming into the country.
Chen issued his ruling Tuesday in San Francisco, stemming from a lawsuit brought against the EPA by a group of nonprofit organizations wanting to close the current asbestos reporting loopholes.
The EPA has contended that the voluntary reporting today by manufacturers, processors and importers provided adequate data.
“EPA has not articulated a satisfactory explanation for its decision not to use its significant enforcement ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 23, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Top 10 Mesothelioma and Asbestos News Stories of 2020
Growing allegations of asbestos-contaminated talc in various consumer products, coupled with historic approval of a new treatment for pleural mesothelioma, made 2020 a year filled with both anxiety and hope.
Johnson & Johnson stopped selling its iconic baby powder in May after being hit by thousands of lawsuits contending its talc-based product was causing various cancers, including ovarian cancer and malignant mesothelioma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the immunotherapy combination of Opdivo and Yervoy in October, the first new drug regimen approved for first-line treatment of unresectable disease in...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 15, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Differentiation of the Cs in lung cancer: Cancer vs. COVID, British Thoracic Society
Urgent referrals for cancer in general and for lung cancer specifically have fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic that will likely lead to an increase in mortality and morbidity from lung cancer. The appendix reproduces a submission by the Clinical Expert Group for lung cancer and mesothelioma which includes recommendations about differentiation of symptoms from lung cancer from those due to COVID-19 and recommendations for easy access of patients with concerning symptoms for assessment by primary care. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - December 3, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Study: Immunotherapy Vaccine for Mesothelioma Still Promising
The ONCOS-102 immunotherapy vaccine continues its move toward future, first-line standard of care treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, based upon the latest study follow-up data.
When combined with standard chemotherapy, the genetically modified adenovirus has produced a median overall survival of at least 18.2 months, according to results released in late November from the ongoing clinical trial.
Median overall survival was more than four months better than the control group receiving chemotherapy alone in the randomized trial.
ONCOS-102 is manufactured by Targovax, a small Scandinavian biotech company focused on...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 3, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Patient Research Expanding in United Kingdom
The University of Sheffield has launched the Mesothelioma UK Research Centre-Sheffield, the country’s first experience-based program designed to improve the treatment and care of patients diagnosed with this aggressive, asbestos-related cancer.
Based in South Yorkshire, England, the University of Sheffield hopes to become an international pioneer in patient-led mesothelioma research.
“The program will build on our legacy of research from a number of years,’’ Dr. Clare Gardiner, of the University of Sheffield Health Sciences School and program co-director, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “Our resear...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - November 30, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Surgery with Organ Removal Extends Survival
Removing major organs to achieve a more complete cancer resection did not increase severe complications or hinder survival benefits of aggressive surgery for patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, according to a recent report.
The increased complexity of organ resection surgery will not adversely affect long-term outcomes, according to the multicenter study published in Annals of Surgical Oncology.
By comparison, an incomplete cytoreduction that can spare the organs is associated with increased mortality and shorter overall survival.
The study, which involved 174 patients across 12 specialty centers within the U.S., accent...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - November 17, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
MRI May Best CT for Assessing Mesothelioma Tumor Volume MRI May Best CT for Assessing Mesothelioma Tumor Volume
MRI offers advantages over CT for assessing primary-tumor volume in patients with mesothelioma, researchers from UK report.Reuters Health Information (Source: Medscape Radiology Headlines)
Source: Medscape Radiology Headlines - November 9, 2020 Category: Radiology Tags: Hematology-Oncology News Source Type: news
Trial targets deadly lung cancer
(Flinders University) With more than 650 Australians diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma last year, Flinders University is leading new research to discover alternatives to chemotherapy and even prevent deaths by early detection in future. One novel approach, using natural therapeutic benefits of curcumin, a key component of the spice turmeric, will be put to the test in a clinical trial in 2021 as part of world-leading research at Flinders University. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - October 30, 2020 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Tiny golden bullets could help tackle asbestos-related cancers
(University of Cambridge) Gold nanotubes - tiny hollow cylinders one thousandth the width of a human hair - could be used to treat mesothelioma, a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, according to a team of researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - October 26, 2020 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Latest T-Cell Clinical Trial Opens for Mesothelioma Patients
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City has begun recruiting patients with pleural mesothelioma for its latest — and potentially most promising — clinical trial involving T-cell therapy.
The novel study stems from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent Investigational Drug Application approval of ATA2271, a chimeric antigen receptor known as CAR T-cell therapy.
This latest therapy will be tested in a phase I, dose-escalation clinical trial. It will involve the removal and genetic modification of a patient’s T cells, a type of white blood cell, that will be separated in the laboratory through...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - October 8, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Congress Fails to Vote on Asbestos Ban Legislation
The U.S. House of Representatives last week failed to advance once-promising legislation that effectively would have banned asbestos, frustrating advocates once again.
H.R. 1603, titled the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2020, had been expected to pass easily under a Congressional procedure reserved for broadly supported, non-controversial legislation.
The bipartisan House Committee on Energy and Commerce had voted earlier, 47-1, to move it forward, fueling considerable optimism leading into the latest Congressional session.
If passed, the bill would have then moved to the U.S. Senate, which also had shown bipartis...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - October 7, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Settles 1K Baby Powder-Asbestos Lawsuits
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle an more than a thousand lawsuits claiming its iconic baby powder caused cancer, according to Bloomberg News.
The settlement stems from burgeoning litigation after earlier asbestos-contaminated talc was found in one of its products.
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health care merchandise, recalled 33,000 bottles of its baby powder in 2019, “out of an abundance of caution.”
It also stopped selling talc-based baby powder the same year in the United States and Canada, switching to a cornstarch-based product....
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - October 6, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Matt Mauney Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Will Pay $100M in Baby Powder Lawsuits
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle more than a thousand lawsuits claiming its iconic talc-based baby powder caused cancer, according to Bloomberg News.
The settlement stems from burgeoning litigation after earlier asbestos-contaminated talc was found in one of its products.
Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health care merchandise, recalled 33,000 bottles of its baby powder in 2019, “out of an abundance of caution.”
It also stopped selling talc-based baby powder the same year in the United States and Canada, switching to a cornstarch-based ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - October 6, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Matt Mauney Source Type: news
Drug Combo Approved for First-Line Treatment of Mesothelioma
Title: Drug Combo Approved for First-Line Treatment of MesotheliomaCategory: Health NewsCreated: 10/5/2020 12:00:00 AMLast Editorial Review: 10/6/2020 12:00:00 AM (Source: MedicineNet Cancer General)
Source: MedicineNet Cancer General - October 6, 2020 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Drug Combo Approved for First - Line Treatment of Mesothelioma
Opdivo - Yervoy combination approved to treat adults with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (Source: The Doctors Lounge - Oncology)
Source: The Doctors Lounge - Oncology - October 6, 2020 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncology, Pharmacy, FDA Approvals, Source Type: news
