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
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
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
Study: Early Mesothelioma HIPEC Surgery Extends Survival
Sooner is better when it comes to aggressively treating peritoneal mesothelioma cancer with a combination of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
Waiting could cost a patient months of survival. Rejecting surgery could cost them years.
The Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery published a study in November that showed for the first time to what degree a delay in having the mesothelioma surgery, or not getting it at all, can affect overall survival for patients.
Results of the mesothelioma study were presented earlier this year at the annual Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 8, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Peritoneal Surgical procedures Source Type: news
VA Disability Rates Rise; Veterans With Mesothelioma Benefit
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has increased its monthly payments to disabled veterans by 8.7%, the largest annual increase in 40 years.
Veterans who developed disabilities caused by asbestos exposure during military service – including mesothelioma cancer – are among those receiving the increase, which began on Dec. 1.
VA disability payout increases are based on the latest cost of living adjustment done annually by the Social Security Administration.
Soaring inflation and rising prices prompted the much-needed increase.
“After a year of historic inflation, it’s great to see the federal governm...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 6, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Veterans Source Type: news
Honeywell to Fund Asbestos Trust With $1.3 Billion
To eliminate future funding obligations, Honeywell International Inc. has agreed to a one-time, lump sum payment of $1.325 billion to the asbestos trust fund it first established in 2013.
If approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the buyout agreement would likely end any additional asbestos-related liabilities for Honeywell.
The payment is a significant investment toward future financial stability for the industrial giant, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Honeywell’s costly asbestos trust fund obligation stems from North American Refractories Company, which it...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - November 28, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Asbestos Exposure Legal Trust Funds Source Type: news
Looking Beyond Clinical Trials for Mesothelioma Treatment
Clinical trial results should not always be the guiding force when a mesothelioma cancer patient and their medical team determine what therapy path to take, according to one recent study. A look at real-world populations might be just as important.
A research team at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medicine has made the point with a retrospective, observational analysis of second-line treatment for pleural mesothelioma.
The analysis came on the heels of a multicenter clinical trial from the European Thoracic Oncology Platform that evaluated the efficacy of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an immunotherapy drug,...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - November 22, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Global Mesothelioma Cases Nearly Double Over 30 Years
The number of people in the world diagnosed annually with mesothelioma cancer has almost doubled in the last 30 years, accentuating the need for more effective and better coordinated efforts to end this preventable, global health problem.
Almost 35,000 people were diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2019, compared to an estimated 19,000 in 1990, according to a study by the Clinical Research Center at Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology published the study in September. It is believed to be the most comprehensive and recent evaluation of the annual incidence and mortality rate for mes...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - November 17, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Mesothelioma Source Type: news
Latest Study Compares Major Pleural Mesothelioma Surgeries
Mesothelioma patients may benefit more from aggressive extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery than from the lung-sparing pleurectomy and decortication currently being recommended as an alternative by many specialists today.
According to the most recent study from Italy, extrapleural pneumonectomy, or EPP, allowed mesothelioma patients diagnosed with high symptom burden to live a longer, better-quality life than with the more popular pleurectomy and decortication surgery, also known as P/D.
Journal of Clinical Medicine published the latest report on Oct. 29, authored by thoracic oncology specialists at Tor Vergata Univers...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - November 15, 2022 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Tags: Clinical Trials/Research/Emerging Treatments Surgical procedures Source Type: news
