Durvalumab Phase III Trial Could Change Mesothelioma Care
An international, much-anticipated phase III clinical trial that could change standard-of-care treatment for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma will open soon, pending COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The randomized trial will be studying the effectiveness of the immunotherapy drug durvalumab (Imfinzi) when used in combination with chemotherapy drugs pemetrexed (Alimta) and cisplatin for mesothelioma.
Opening dates may vary by center because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has slowed or stalled clinical trials everywhere.
Durvalumab produces an antibody that helps a patient’s own immune system kill tumor cells by...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 28, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Specialist Brings HIPEC Expertise to Stanford
Surgical oncologist and mesothelioma specialist Dr. Byrne Lee spent close to a decade in Southern California, building a well-respected peritoneal surface malignancy program at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center.
He wants to build a bigger and better one now — second to none — almost 400 miles away.
The quest is well underway.
Lee, 45, joined the renowned Stanford Cancer Institute in October 2019 with a well-defined vision: Helping an elite academic institution become even better with a program for a previously underserved population.
“I had a great career in Los Angeles. I’m proud of that program, the legacy...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 26, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Ends Talc-Based Baby Powder Sales in US, Canada
Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday that it will stop selling its iconic, talc-based baby powder, the target of thousands of lawsuits claiming that its talc was contaminated with asbestos, which led to cancers such as mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.
The company said the stoppage is only in the United States and Canada, citing a decline in consumer demand and “misinformation” about the safety of the product.
“Demand for talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in North America has been declining due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 20, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
New Tests Find Asbestos-Contaminated Talc in Eyeshadow
The Scientific Analytical Institute in Greensboro, North Carolina, recently uncovered asbestos-contaminated talc in two new eyeshadow makeup products sold online on sites like Amazon and eBay.
Its findings were the latest example in a growing list of talc-based cosmetic products found to contain toxic asbestos.
Scientific Analytical Institute found asbestos fibers in 40% of the shades tested in Jmkcoz 120 Colors Eyeshadow Palette. It found traces of asbestos in 20% of the shades tested in the Beauty Glazed Gorgeous Me Eye Shadow Tray Palette.
The results were released by the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C.,...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 19, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Libby Protects Those with Asbestos Disease from COVID-19
No town in America has a higher percentage of asbestos-related lung disease — and resulting respiratory issues — than Libby, Montana, making its population uniquely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet no town has responded to the threat so effectively.
The home of the longest-running man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history — the mining of toxic asbestos for 70 years — has refused to let COVID-19 dictate who lives and who dies.
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease, also known as CARD, has stepped up and taken charge.
“We can’t afford to let the virus get loose here because of the number of high-r...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 13, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Report Finds Asbestos, Other Risks in Military Family Housing
This report is not a surprise for any service member who has lived in some of the older, on-post housing, either in the U.S. or overseas,” said Aaron Munz, former U.S. Army captain and director of the Veterans Department at The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “Unfortunately, the military continues to expose service members to potentially dangerous conditions by not allocating the required resources to ensure that our personnel and their families are provided with safe housing.”
Military Housing Report Stems from Congressional Directive
The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General released the report pub...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 11, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Latest Clinical Trial for Pleural Mesothelioma Opens in Georgia
This study is open also to patients with lung cancer or urothelial cancer.
In the trial, the use of cabozantinib will be combined with standard-of-care Alimta, the chemotherapy drug generically known as pemetrexed. The study is designed to establish a safe and effective dosage level for both agents when used together.
Cabozantinib is known as an inhibitor. It blocks signals that encourage the growth of new blood vessels needed for cancer cells to divide and grow.
Blocking those signals can shrink tumors or even cause tumor cell death, leading to significantly longer survival for patients.
Cabozantinib will be taken orall...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 6, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Mesothelioma Drug Combination Continues to Show Promise
Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb continues to tout its immunotherapy combination of Opdivo and Yervoy for first-line treatment of patients with pleural mesothelioma cancer.
Bristol Myers Squibb recently announced that overall survival “significantly improved” when the combination was measured against standard chemotherapy in a randomized, phase III clinical trial of previously untreated mesothelioma patients.
Its announcement was based on a pre-specific interim analysis conducted by the Data Monitoring Committee, a clinical study organization independent of Bristol Myers Squibb.
The study is being conducted at...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - May 4, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
EPA Asbestos Review Delayed Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency postponed indefinitely a peer review of the recent asbestos risk evaluation draft done by its Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals.
A peer review virtual meeting was scheduled for April 27-30, but several independent scientific experts on the panel are no longer available. A Bloomberg Law article published this week explained that several health professionals serving on the committee could not attend because they needed to “give their full attention to the coronavirus crisis.”
No date for the rescheduling was announced.
“The agency believes that rescheduling for a t...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 23, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
UK Oncologist Proposes Novel Treatment for Mesothelioma
Medical oncologist Dr. Angus Dalgleish never did like standard of care treatment for pleural mesothelioma cancer, even when he reluctantly recommended it in the past.
He believes now there is something better.
Dalgleish, of St. George’s Hospital, University of London, recently published a case report detailing a novel treatment regimen that turned a six-month life expectancy for one patient into a six-year survival.
The treatment involved a series of anti-inflammatories that included low-dose naltrexone, vitamin D3 supplements and the vaccine IMM-101, which heightens a patient’s own immune response.
“Initially, I was...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 22, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Duke Study Challenges Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Practices
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy — often used before aggressive surgery — has shown no definitive survival benefit for patients with pleural mesothelioma cancer, according to a recent study at the Duke University Medical Center.
The study strengthened the growing belief among mesothelioma specialists that the combination of chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and pemetrexed might be a more effective treatment after surgery than before.
“I think the study provides a little more evidence to support what those of us were seeing, that (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 16, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
COVID-19 Pandemic Delays Mesothelioma Clinical Trials
Medical centers across the country have slowed or stopped the enrollment of new patients in mesothelioma clinical trials because of the all-consuming COVID-19 pandemic.
The pause in enrollment options could be critical for newly diagnosed patients with pleural mesothelioma, whose life expectancy is often just six to 12 months.
Clinical trials are research studies where patients can find cutting-edge treatments not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Those experimental treatments go beyond standard of care, which generally has not been effective for this rare and aggressive cancer caused by asbestos expos...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 9, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
EPA Finds Asbestos Use Poses Risk to Chloralkali Workers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released an asbestos draft risk evaluation Monday that found serious health dangers to workers in the chloralkali industry, the country’s last remaining user of raw asbestos.
There is an “unreasonable risk to workers, occupational non-users, consumers and bystanders” the EPA found when evaluating several asbestos products still being imported and used today.
The draft risk evaluation was an initial review of asbestos by the EPA under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
“It is being disseminated for peer review purposes and is not final,” an EPA spokesperson to...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 2, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Latest Study Reinforces Cosmetic Talc, Mesothelioma Link
Evidence continues to mount that prolonged exposure to cosmetic talcum powder contaminated by asbestos fibers is causing mesothelioma cancer.
Individuals using cosmetic talc regularly may be putting themselves at higher risk, according to doctors at Peninsula Pathology Associates in Newport News, Virginia. They recently completed the most extensive case study to date on the topic.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer caused primarily by the inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers.
Peninsula’s study involved 75 mesothelioma patients — including 64 women — who believed their only exposure to asbestos was through cos...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 1, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
New Florida Legislation Protects Firefighters from Mesothelioma
The Florida Legislature has passed a bill designed to better protect its firefighters from cancer-causing contaminants, including toxic asbestos.
By approving the legislation, Florida joined a growing number of states that have passed laws in recent years to help firefighters combat occupational hazards they face every day.
The Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Equipment Grant Program in Florida will provide funding for departments to procure supplies, equipment and add additional training that should reduce exposure to hazardous pollutants.
It includes all fire departments across the state, from large municipal entities...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - March 30, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
