Mesothelioma Help Cancer News
Catalog of Effects of Kinase Inhibitors May Aid Development of Anti-Cancer Drugs
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have catalogued the actions of 178 drugs that have the potential of blocking the activity of enzymes that promote growth of cancer cells, according to an article in the November issue of Nature Biotechnology.
The enzymes, called kinases, transmit signals and control complex processes in human cells. Kinases also function as drivers of a variety of forms of cancer, including mesothelioma. A number of studies suggest that kinases are involved in the gradual transformation of normal tissue in the lining of the lung into malignant pleural mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos. It’s unclear whether one or more kinases promotes the growth of mesothelioma.
More effective therapies and treatment options are needed for mesothelioma which is an aggressive cancer and has a low cure rate.
The scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia cataloged drugs including FDA-approved drugs, drugs undergoing clinical trial and laboratory compounds that are designed to block the cancer-promoting activity of any of more than 300 kinases. The body has more than 500 kinases that perform a variety of functions and many kinases are multi-taskers.
Drugs known as kinase inhibitors have the potential to be highly effective anti-cancer drugs that impede the cellular processes that cause cancer. Some cancer patients already receive kinase inhibitors as part of their therapy. And many additional kinase inhibitor drugs are under development. But the reactions of the drugs are complex.
Most kinase inhibitors act on more than one kinase. The drugs may disrupt both the growth of cancer and normal bodily processes at the same time, causing serious side effects such as heart problems.
With the cross-indexed catalog that the Fox Chase scientists have complied, researchers will be able to predict the complex reactions of the kinases inhibitors more accurately. That will allow for the development of drugs that block kinases that promote cancer while aiming to avoid side effects.
“These results have pushed the field closer to finding truly specific inhibitors of the processes that drive cancer,” Jeffrey R. Peterson, associate professor in the Cancer Biology Program at Fox Chase and senior author of the study said in a press release. “We now have a collection of kinase inhibitors that are more well-characterized and understood…. The next step is to use this information to identify specific, effective therapies that stop cancer in its tracks while avoiding healthy processes.”
Until the last few years, researchers didn’t have the tools to observe which kinase a drug acted upon. A new assay technology developed by Reaction Biology Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based provider of drug screening and profiling services, was used to catalog the kinase inhibitor effects.
Each year, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with mesothelioma. Most mesothelioma patients are older workers, retirees and veterans who were exposed to asbestos in the workplace. The use of asbestos is now restricted, but asbestos was widely use in the workplaces and in the military from the 1940s through the late 1970s.
Symptoms of mesothelioma typically take 20 years to 50 years to develop so a worker or veteran exposed to asbestos in the 1960s or 1970s may only recently have been diagnosed.
For more information about mesothelioma, click here.
On Veterans Day Honor All Veterans and Especially Those Struggling with Illnesses Such as Mesothelioma
Today is November 11, Veterans Day, a day to honor all United States military veterans. Initially established in 1919 to celebrate the end of World War I, the day is now a federal holiday honoring veterans of all wars with ceremonies and parades.
This year November 11 is once again declared the Veterans Day holiday through a proclamation by the President of the United States. Following is an excerpt from the proclamation:
“On Veterans Day, we pay tribute to our veterans, to the fallen, and to their families. To honor their contributions to our Nation, let us strive with renewed determination to keep the promises we have made to all who have answered our country’s call. As we fulfill our obligations to them, we keep faith with the patriots who have risked their lives to preserve our Union, and with the ideals of service and sacrifice upon which our Republic was founded.”
Unfortunately, to many of our veterans the day signifies another day of fighting a debilitating illness suffered during their service in the military. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, there were nearly 21.9 million military veterans in the U.S. in 2009. Of those, about 5.5 million now suffer from some form of disability. A small number of these veterans are suffering from mesothelioma or asbestosis, caused by years of exposure to asbestos during their military service.
A recent study shines a light on the devastating effect of mesothelioma on veterans who served from World War II through the Vietnam era. The study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology analyzed 928 veterans. Researchers found the average veteran had about seven months to live after diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Due to the popularity of asbestos with the military, it has been estimated that nearly 30 percent of veterans who served between the 1940s and 1970s may have been exposed. For those exposed to asbestos, many factors determine whether or not they will develop mesothelioma. These factors include how much exposure, how long the exposure lasted, the fiber type and how they were exposed to the mineral. Age, sex, diet, family traits, lifestyle (including whether you smoke tobacco), and general health are also determinants.
Approximately 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year.
Allied Health Professionals Honored This Week, Provide Critical Support to Mesothelioma Patients
Mesothelioma, known to be caused by exposure to asbestos, is an aggressive cancer that is challenging to treat. When mesothelioma patients are not in the hospital for surgery or inpatient procedures, they are often receiving radiation, chemotherapy or having lab work done. With all these visits to the hospital and their doctors’ offices, mesothelioma patients and their family encounter allied health professionals nearly every day. This week, for all they do, allied health professionals are being recognized during National Allied Health Professionals Week. The week runs November 6-12.
According to ExploreHealthCareers.org there are 5 million allied health care providers in the U.S., who work in more than 80 different professions. Distinct from doctors and nurses, allied health professionals collaborate with physicians and other members of the health care team to deliver patient care services. They also provide a wide range of services including diagnostic, technical, therapeutic and direct patient care services.
Due to the rare and complex nature of mesothelioma, a large number of allied health professionals are needed to provide the appropriate level of support mesothelioma patients require. Allied health professionals are either technicians (assistants) or therapists/technologists. Technicians are trained to perform procedures, but are required to work under the supervision of technologists or therapists. Typically, a technologist gets a certificate with 2 years or less of higher education, and includes professions such as physical therapy assistants, medical laboratory technicians, radiological technicians and respiratory therapy technicians.
The field of allied health professions is one of the few areas of employment that are continuing to grow in the United States. According to the North Carolina Health Professions Data System, in North Carolina alone the number of allied health jobs increased by over 67 percent from 1999-2009. Healthcare jobs continue to be resilient to the current recession.
Since mesothelioma is such a complex disease, it is important for patients to receive multidisciplinary care from a team of specialists that is not limited to physicians or nurses. Following is a short list of allied health professionals that may be involved in the care of a mesothelioma patient:
- Respiratory Therapists. Evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. Highly trained respiratory therapists may assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care, therapeutic treatments and diagnostic procedures.
- Anesthesiologist Assistants. Under supervision of licensed anesthesiologists (doctors), they operate anesthesia equipment, monitor patients, and assist in providing patient care before, during and after anesthesia.
- Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist. Help patients understand and manage their heart or lung disease so they can live longer and do more, primarily by making sure the patient understands his condition and his medical regimen.
- Clinical Laboratory Science professionals. While not directly involved in the care of the patient, a medical technologist can discover the presence or absence of a disease. They typically maintain vital data for identifying and treating mesothelioma and other health conditions.
- Health Information Manager. These professionals manage and maintain all of the medical information vital to providing care to the patient. The health manager must capture each piece of information that is tracked every time health care personnel treats the patient including medical history, results of examinations, results of X-rays and laboratory tests, diagnoses, and treatment plans.
Allied health professionals have chosen a career where many must work long days, work under pressure and face life-and-death situations daily. If you see any this week, be sure to take a moment to thank them for their hard work and dedication.
For a list of Allied Health Professionals see ExploreHealthCareers.org .
Symposium to Focus on the Genetic Link to Mesothelioma
The University of Hawaii Cancer Center and Queen’s Medical Center are co-sponsoring the third annual Translational Cancer Medicine Symposium: “Mesothelioma-Melanoma Cancer Syndrome: Gene-Environment Interaction?” on December 2, at the Queen’s Conference Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Researchers in cancer genetics will convene to discuss the recent discovery of the BAP1 genetic mutation and its link to mesothelioma, melanoma and possibly other cancers.
In a study led by Michele Carbone, M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, the researchers found that mutations of the BAP1 gene, which is involved in tumor suppression, might underlie mesothelioma in people with a strong family history of the disease. The study was designed to identify individuals at high risk of mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that can form in the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart which was previously only known to occur as a result of exposure to asbestos. In another study, however, Carbone and his team have subsequently determined that erionite, a mineral used in road gravel in several US states, can also lead to the development of mesothelioma.
The Symposium will feature more than 20 global experts on cancer genetics including Carlo M. Croce, M.D., Director of the Human Cancer Genetics Program at Ohio State University; Joseph Testa, Ph.D., Director of the Genomics Facility at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and Michele Carbone, M.D., Director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
“We are excited to bring these experts to Hawaii to work together to find ways to reduce the suffering and death caused by this mutation,” Carbone said in a prepared statement issued by the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many cancer treatments. Currently there is no known cure for mesothelioma, and the average survival time varies from 4 – 18 months after diagnosis. Approximately 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease each year.
See the Symposium brochure for more information.
Even Brief Exposure to Asbestos May Cause Mesothelioma
A recent report in theInternational Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health describes the case of a 58-year-old man who developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos-containing gaskets during a high school summer job.
Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, chest cavity and abdominal cavity, is a signature disease of asbestos exposure. According to the article, the man was exposed to crocidolite asbestos starting at age 16 during three summers and for approximately four hours a day during his senior year of high school. He had no further known exposure to asbestos.
Laboratory analysis of samples of lung tissue revealed elevated levels of crocidolite asbestos fibers. The case helps establish that relatively short and/or intense exposure to crocidolite can lead to asbestos disease.
Crocidolite is one of the six naturally-occurring fibrous minerals that are currently regulated as “asbestos.” Asbestos had many commercial applications, including building materials, auto parts and industrial gaskets. But its use was reduced in the last 1970s because of the occupational hazard it posed to workers. All forms of asbestos cause cancer, including mesothelioma and lung cancer, according to the World Health Organization.
It is estimated that between 1940 and 1980, 27 million Americans has significant occupational exposure to asbestos in their workplaces. Exposure to asbestos may cause mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung and abdomen, as well as lung cancer and asbestosis, a scarring of the lung that causes breathing problems. Chrysotile is the most common form of asbestos while crocidolite is considering among the most deadly.
Approximately, 2,500 to 3,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. For most, the symptoms appear 20 years to 50 years after exposure. There is no known cure for mesothelioma, but there are treatment options available including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy to manage the cancer.
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