Category: Patients
Symposium To Focus on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Mesothelioma Patients
Medical doctors and researchers will gather on May 12 in Santa Monica, California for the 2nd Annual International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lung and abdominal cavity caused by asbestos exposure.
Approximately, 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in the United States each year. The incidence of mesothelioma has increased in recent decades.
The symposium promotes less invasive alternatives to the radical surgery that involves extensive removal of tissue and organs in mesothelioma patients and prolonged recoveries. Dr. Robert Cameron, director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Comprehensive Research Program and an advocate of lung sparing therapies, will lead the symposium.
The radical surgery attempted on some mesothelioma patients is known as extrapleural pneumonectomy. Also known as EPP, extrapleural pneumonectomy is a procedure that involves removal of a lung, the lining of the lung, the diaphragm and the lining around the heart.
Participants at the first symposium last year reviewed the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) trail conducted in Great Britain from 2006 to 2009. The U.K. Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery trial tracked 50 patients—24 who underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy and 26 mesothelioma patients who did not undergo radical surgery. According to the results, 52 percent of the mesothelioma patients who underwent radical surgery lived 12 months, compared to 73 percent of the patients who had treatment that did not involve removal of a lung.
Participants concluded that the study offered no evidence that extrapleural pneumonectomy offered an advantage to patients over less invasive surgery. They said mesothelioma patients should no longer be subjected to debilitating lung-removing surgery.
The symposium is part of an ongoing debate within the medical community about mesothelioma treatment options and the value of radical surgery for mesothelioma patients. Some physicians advocate highly invasive surgeries for mesothelioma patients with less advanced cancer who are healthy enough to withstand the operation. Other doctors say that lung sparing pleurectomy/decortication procedures are effective and less debilitating.
The distinguished faculty will include experts from Houston, San Francisco, New York and as far away as South Africa.
“This symposium brings the best scientific and medical minds together to advance the treatment of mesothelioma,” Dr. Cameron said in a prepared statement. “Research and practice over the past several years have continued to evolve, working to improve cancer outcomes without unnecessarily sacrificing the affected lung. Clearly, it is best for the patient to treat mesothelioma as a chronic illness while preserving the function of both lungs.”
Many workers and veterans who develop mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos dust on the job, though disease symptoms typically take 20 years to 40 years to be diagnosed.
For more information about mesothelioma, click here.
Dying Woman’s Request For Canada to Stop Exporting Asbestos
Just over a year ago, Rachel Lee, a South Korean woman diagnosed with advanced mesothelioma accompanied an international delegation to Canada to urge Quebec provincial officials to stop the subsidy and export of cancer-causing asbestos to Asian countries.
In December 2010, Lee met with Clement Gignac, Quebec’s minister of natural resources and wildlife and called upon the minister to commit to stop subsidizing asbestos production in the province including the shuttered Jeffrey Mine.
Canada is a leading exporter of chrysotile asbestos, a mineral fiber that causes respiratory diseases including lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung and abdomen. According to the World Health Organization estimates, 107,000 people die each year of asbestos-related disease, including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
South Korea banned asbestos imports in 2009. But prior to that date, nearly two-thirds of the asbestos imported into South Korea came from Canada. Lee had lived close to a factory that produce cement products made of chrysotile asbestos.
During the 2010 visit, Lee spoke emotionally at a press conference at the Quebec National Assembly about the prospect of dying of asbestos disease and leaving her children as orphans and her husband as a widower. On Dec. 21, 2011, Lee died of mesothelioma, according to The Tyee, a Canadian online newspaper.
Following Lee’s death, anti-asbestos activists issued an open letter to the Quebec cabinet minister, reminding him of Lee’s dying wish and urging the provincial government to take a stand against the mining and export of asbestos. The government has not responded to the request, according to the newspaper.
In the U.S. approximately 3,000 people a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma. Most are older workers, retired workers and veterans who were expose to asbestos decades ago. Mesothelioma has a long latency period, with symptoms of mesothelioma typically appearing 30 years to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma Patient Celebrates Remission of Asbestos Cancer
Sherrie Moore, a 55-year-old Missouri woman, hopes to live to see her grandchildren grow up. As 2012 begins, Moore is marking more than just the new year. She is celebrating the remission of her mesothelioma for more than a year.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen caused by asbestos exposure. But it can be difficult to detect as Moore’s circuitous path to a diagnosis shows.
Four years ago, Moore, who lives in Carl Junction, Missouri, was experiencing fatigue, an elevated heart rate and eventually pain in her right side that extended into her back. She assumed it was caused by the stress and physical exertion of caring for her husband Ed who had prostrate cancer.
According to an article in Cancerwise published by the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Moore underwent a series of medical tests that revealed a low hemoglobin count. A colonoscopy showed normal results as did a CT scan of her liver and pancreas. The doctor who performed a CT scan thought something looked abnormal about her lungs and referred her to a pulmonologist.
A pulmonary specialist did an x-ray and discovered a small volume of fluid in Moore’s lung and put her on antibiotics. Fluid in the lungs, also called pleural effusions, is one of the common symptoms of mesothelioma reported by many patients. When Moore returned at the urging of the pulmonologist, she had another CT scan that revealed nearly two liters of fluid in her right lung. She underwent an outpatient procedure and biopsy that were inconclusive.
The cancer specialist to whom she was referred recommended an open lung biopsy. The surgeon who performed the procedure in November 2008 found 15 tumors in Moore’s right lung and diagnosed Moore with stage IV mesothelioma.
The doctor recommended that she seek treatment at M.D. Anderson Medical Center in Texas.
With patients with cancer limited to one lung, doctors may remove the cancerous lung and surrounding tissue and perform chemotherapy and radiation. But Moore had mesothelioma in both lungs so she had limited treatment options.
Moore underwent 28 chemotherapy treatments that lasted until December 2010. Before the treatments concluded, there was no active sign of mesothelioma. Moore’s physicican, Dr. Anne Tsao, director of the mesothelioma program at M.D. Anderson, informed Moore that she was the first of her patients to achieve full remission.
Approximately 3,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. Many are older workers, veterans and retirees who were exposed to asbestos in the workplace decades ago. Typically, mesothelioma symptoms appear 30 years to 50 years after initial exposure to asbestos.
For more information about mesothelioma, click here.
Breakthrough in Using Immune System to Fight Cancer Through Gene Therapy
Researchers have long hoped to use the human immune system to kill malignant cancer cells. A new study in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests scientists at the University of Pennsylvania may have made significant strides in that approach using experimental gene therapy.
William Ludwig, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., volunteered for the experimental cancer treatment, because his chemotherapy had stopped working and he had few options, according to an article in The New York Times. Today, a year after the novel treatment, Ludwig’s chronic leukemia is in complete remission and he is playing golf and working in the yard. The same approach may work with other cancers besides leukemia, doctors say.
As part of the experimental treatment, the doctors removed a billion of Ludwig’s T-cells, white blood cells that fight viruses and malignant cells, and re-engineered them. They exposed the T-cells to a disabled form of the HIV-1 virus, which genetically altered the T-cells. They reprogrammed the T-cells to hone in on Ludwig’s leukemia and to reproduce in large numbers when activated by chemicals produced by malignant cells. They then reintroduced the T-cells into Ludwig’s blood.
Initially, Ludwig suffered flu-like symptoms such as a temperature and chills as the T-cells reproduced. The T-cells multiplied to 1,000 to 10,000 times the number infused, wiped out the cancer, then gradually diminished, leaving a rear guard of T-cells that can proliferate again if they sense more malignant cells. After a few weeks, Ludwig’s flu symptoms disappeared and there was no trace of the leukemia.
The doctors caution that the treatment is still experimental and are not yet claiming that Ludwig is cured. But a similar approach may work for treating other forms of cancer, the doctors say. Dr. Carl June, head of the research team at the University of Pennsylvania, plans to try the treatment approach on solid tumors produced by cancers such as ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen closely associated with exposure to asbestos.
Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the United States. Many sufferers are retired workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos decades ago, even if they didn’t realize it. Symptoms of mesothelioma typically appear 20 to 50 years after exposure, making the diagnosis more difficult.
What the Veterans’ Cancer Registry Reveals About Mesothelioma
Doctors still have much to learn about mesothelioma and how best to treat patients diagnosed with this aggressive cancer linked with asbestos exposure.
To better understand the causes and consequences of mesothelioma, researchers from Creighton University School of Medicine and the Thomas Jefferson School of Medicine in Philadelphia retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 924 veterans diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma between 1995 and 2009 and listed in the Veterans Affairs Cancer Registry.
The median age of the veterans with malignant pleural mesothelioma was 71, according to the researchers who presented their findings at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference June 3-7 in Chicago. The median age of the veterans with mesothelioma is a reminder of the typical 20-year to 50-year delay between exposure to asbestos and appearance of asbestos disease symptoms. Many veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard likely were exposed to asbestos in their 20s and 30s, but didn’t notice any respiratory symptoms for decades.
From the 1940 through the 1970s, millions of veterans were exposed to asbestos which was widely used in building materials, automotive parts, ships and insulation. The use of asbestos was restricted starting in the late 1970s because of its toxicity to humans. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans who served in shipyards, mining, insulation work, carpentry and construction, demolition of old buildings, and the manufacture of friction products such as brakes were most likely exposed to asbestos.
In the new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers reported that the median survival for the veterans with mesothelioma was seven months. Veterans who had malignant mesothelioma that had not spread and underwent surgery or surgery combined with chemotherapy or radiation tended to live longer.
Nearly 90 percent of veterans diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma were Caucasian and about 9 percent were African American.
In the analysis, some factors observed among the veterans correlated with longer survival including younger age, diagnosis of early stage cancer, the type of cellular structure of the mesothelioma and receipt of surgery.
Approximately, 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the U.S. each year. Most are workers and veterans who were exposed to asbestos for an extended period on the job decades ago.
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