New BAP1 Finding Could Be Key to Regulating Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer most often caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. Our researchers at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center have discovered how asbestos causes mesothelioma, which we linked mainly to the protein HMGB1.
After several years of studying a unique mesothelioma epidemic in Cappadocia, Turkey, we noted that in certain families, up to 50% of family members developed mesothelioma. We demonstrated that susceptibility to mesothelioma was transmitted genetically from one generation to the next.
Following this discovery, several U.S. families with multiple mesothelioma cases contacted us...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 9, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
$72.5M BASF Talc Settlement to Benefit Rubber Workers, Heirs
Nearly $60 million of a $72.5 million settlement reached in 2020 will go to the heirs of rubber workers sickened by asbestos-contaminated talc in Akron, Ohio. A probate court in Ohio is now handling the processing of claims for deceased plaintiffs.
Summit County Probate Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer oversaw a hearing about the settlement in February. BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world, agreed to the settlement over two years ago on behalf of its subsidiary Engelhard.
Engelhard was the major talc supplier for rubber companies from the 1950s until the 1980s. It owned Eastern Magnesia Talc, known...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 6, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
W.R. Grace Settles Montana Environmental Asbestos Claims for $18.5M
W.R. Grace has offered $18.5 million to settle the last of Montana’s claims for environmental damages caused by the company’s mining operations that spread asbestos throughout the town of Libby and surrounding areas.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced the offer on Jan. 10. He said the settlement would resolve the remaining environmental claims in W.R. Grace’s bankruptcy case for the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site in Lincoln County.
“After years of negotiation following Grace’s historic damage, Libby and communities in Lincoln County can more fully recover,” Gianforte said in a statement. “I look forwa...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 1, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Source Type: news
Netherlands Cancer Institute Tests New Mesothelioma Therapy
Research for a new type of mesothelioma treatment is underway at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. Scientists are exploring a novel combination of existing medications for patients with BAP1 genetic mutations.
More than half of all mesothelioma patients show alterations in the BAP1 tumor-suppressor gene. An altered BAP1 gene allows for vulnerabilities that make specific treatments more effective. The combination treatment led to about a four-week increase in median survival.
Researchers have previously only explored the combination of zoledronic acid and tazemetostat in single cells and animal models. This late...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - February 15, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Amy Edel Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Court Rejects Johnson & Johnson ’s Bankruptcy Plan for Talc Lawsuits
A federal appeals court last week rejected an LTL Management bankruptcy filing, delivering a blow to the company’s plan to resolve thousands of talc lawsuits. The company is a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary.
The ruling effectively found the company’s bankruptcy was not filed in good faith. J&J said on Feb. 6 that it plans to appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s ruling.
“LTL initiated this process in good faith and our objective has always been to equitably resolve claims related to the company’s cosmetic talc litigation,” J&J wrote.
If denied on appeal, Joh...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - February 7, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Amy Edel Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Treatment Uses Natural Immune Cells
This study provides support for the clinical evaluation of this IL2-based delivery system,” the authors wrote. Continued research with IL2 treatments in humans could lead to a new standard for mesothelioma therapy.
Using Cytokines Increases Effectiveness
Cytokine factories are delivery systems that invoke innate immune cells to fight tumors. Each drug “factory” consists of thousands of drug-producing cells contained in a microscopic gel-like bead. The study investigators used mice to model the efficacy of IL2 cytokine factories.
“The rapid clinical course of malignant mesothelioma necessitates the ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - February 1, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Amy Edel Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Immunotherapy Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Study Shows Opdivo, Yervoy Effective After Mesothelioma Surgery
This study tested the safety and efficacy of two drugs following mesothelioma surgery after cancer recurrence. The combination of immunotherapy drugs nivolumab and ipilimumab, known by the brand names Opdivo and Yervoy, was recently approved for mesothelioma.
The new treatment led to a 6-month survival of 87% in pleural mesothelioma patients. The 12-month survival rate was 74.2%.
“Nivolumab with ipilimumab has promising efficacy in treating recurrent MPM [malignant pleural mesothelioma] in the postoperative setting,” the authors wrote.
The authors also noted a higher rate of adverse events than in prior s...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - January 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Immunotherapy Pleural Source Type: news
MPs urge asbestos company to pay £10m to fund cancer research
All-party group including peers backs campaign by victims ’ group, saying Cape ‘knowingly put people in danger’MPs and peers have written to one of the biggest manufacturers of asbestos calling on it to make a £10m donation towards mesothelioma research “for knowingly putting people in danger”.In a letter to Altrad, parent company of Cape, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on occupational safety and health says thatdocuments released after a long-running court battle show that Cape historically “provided misleading reassurance about the dangers of asbestos”.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 22, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent Tags: Cancer House of Commons House of Lords Society Politics UK news Medical research Manufacturing sector Health Source Type: news
UK unions call in cancer expert over fears of asbestos risk to female teachers
Concerns at mesothelioma death rate trigger study to detect exposure to now banned material used in school buildingsThe threat of asbestos-related cancer to female teachers is to be examined after possible signs of an elevated risk of fatal illness.Trade unions are to work with one of the country ’s leading cancer experts on a study of the exposure women in their late-40s to mid-60s may have had to the material inside school buildings. It comes after researchers detected a possible increase in mesothelioma deaths among the group that could be statistically significant.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 15, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Michael Savage Policy Editor Tags: Schools Trade unions Cancer research UK news Science Society Education Teaching Medical research Health Politics Women Source Type: news
Baylor Study: Mesothelioma ‘Staged Surgical Approach’ Increases Survival
In this study, there were no immediate deaths following the first surgery, and all 14 patients proceeded to the second surgery. There were two patients – both starting with the EPP – who died within 90 days of the abdominal surgery.
“When considering bicavitary cytoreductive surgery for mesothelioma, we would recommend only performing ePD and avoiding EPP in this cohort of patients,” authors concluded.
Baylor Medical Center thoracic surgeon Dr. R. Taylor Ripley was the lead author of the study. One of the co-authors was surgical oncologist Dr. Paul Sugarbaker, brother of Dr. David Sugarbaker and a pioneer in ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - January 4, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
UK Citizens Filing Asbestos Talc Claims In U.S. Courts
Residents of the United Kingdom have been among the growing number of personal injury plaintiffs filing lawsuits in U.S. courts, attributing their diagnoses of mesothelioma cancer to asbestos-contaminated talc.
That should come as no surprise. With the world’s highest per capita incidence rate of mesothelioma, the UK is contributing to the changing face of asbestos litigation in America.
While mesothelioma traced to occupational asbestos exposure among men is dropping, nonoccupational exposure leading to mesothelioma among women is rising.
Asbestos-contaminated talc, sometimes found in health and beauty products...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - January 3, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Multimodal Therapy of Epithelioid Pleural Mesothelioma Multimodal Therapy of Epithelioid Pleural Mesothelioma
This study describes a multimodal treatment approach to help improve overall survival in these patients.Translational Lung Cancer Research (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - January 2, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Hematology-Oncology Journal Article Source Type: news
Avon Hit With $52.1M Verdict for Asbestos-Contaminated Talc
A California jury awarded $52.1 million to an Arizona woman diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer. The multimillion-dollar verdict combines damages against cosmetics giant Avon and a forklift manufacturer.
Attorneys for Rita-Ann Chapman said she had been using Avon talc products contaminated with asbestos for much of her life. Chapman is 76.
She blamed additional secondhand asbestos exposure on forklift maker Hyster Company. Her husband Gary handled asbestos products while working at Hyster.
Chapman won her case in California Superior Court earlier this month.
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer. Inhalation or ingestio...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 21, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Dangers of Legacy Asbestos Detailed in UK Study
A recently published study from the United Kingdom has shown that legacy asbestos lingering in commercial and residential construction is more dangerous than expected.
In what is believed to be the largest study in the world of legacy asbestos, researchers found that almost two-thirds of it had aged enough, or was damaged enough, for fibers to become airborne and put people at risk.
An estimated 1 million samples were collected in a six-month period across Great Britain as part of the study, completed by the National Organisation of Asbestos Consultants and the trade group Asbestos Testing and Consultancy.
W...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 20, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Surgery With Immunotherapy Proves Effective in Study
An immunotherapy combination given before aggressive surgery has shown impressive effectiveness in extending survival for pleural mesothelioma patients in a recent phase II clinical trial at Baylor College of Medicine.
The combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors durvalumab and tremelimumab showed an ability to effectively alter the intratumoral immune system and make surgery more effective.
This randomized clinical trial compared the use of durvalumab alone – already shown to be effective in other cancers – to both the two-drug combination and to using no immunotherapy before mesothelioma surgery.
Clinica...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 19, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Immunotherapy Pleural Source Type: news
