Pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer Inc. signaled earlier this month that it will begin aggressively pursuing development of gene therapies — a strategic shift that could ultimately benefit mesothelioma patients. While Pfizer’s gene therapy research-and-development plans don’t specifically include mesothelioma, they nonetheless set the stage for a big influx of dollars to laboratories engaged in molecular science. As
Monthly Archives: December 2014
New research suggests that a gene segment tends to go missing much more often in pleural mesothelioma cases than in those involving peritoneal mesothelioma. This discovery will be helpful to doctors who want to give you a faster, surer mesothelioma diagnosis. The research also suggests that gene deletions can be useful in quickly telling whether
Mesothelioma researchers say that there are more avenues by which your mesothelial cells can be corrupted and turned into mesothelioma than scientists previously thought possible. A new study by some of the nation’s leading mesothelioma researchers examined the genetic structure of DNA from top to bottom and side to side in order to get a
Suspicions that exposure to dust from iron ore unearthed in Minnesota causes mesothelioma were fueled by university research made public earlier this month. The University of Minnesota spent nearly $5 million over the last six years trying to determine why miners working in the state’s Iron Range had mesothelioma rates higher than other Minnesotans. They
There may be a smarter, more effective way to attack mesothelioma — a way that could overcome mesothelioma’s tendency to roar back stronger than ever after it’s removed. That better way has not yet been identified, but scientists are now on a surer footing to do so, thanks to eye-opening research from the University of Hawaii
It’s unknown how many mesothelioma patients are opting for this, but the Associated Press reported that some cancer patients use specially bred lab mice to try chemotherapy choices in advance. Here’s how it works. You have mesothelioma. Your mesothelioma doctor wants to start you on chemotherapy. But you and the doctor aren’t sure which mix
Researchers now think glycoengineered anti-GM2 antibodies could someday open up another front in your war against mesothelioma and keep you alive longer. Because mesothelioma is such an aggressive cancer that usually carries a poor prognosis, researchers are constantly on the lookout for new ways of battling it. One research team now believes glycoengineered anti-GM2 antibodies
If you were a do-it-yourself drywall finisher, your risk of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma was likely less than if you didn’t finish drywall but happened to be near where drywall finishing was occurring. Strange but true, according to research published in the November issue of the journal Risk Analysis, an official publication of the Society
A problem for doctors trying to quickly determine whether you have mesothelioma is that sometimes it doesn’t look like mesothelioma. Occasionally it looks like something else. And occasionally something else looks like mesothelioma. As a result, doctors must take extra steps to be sure that the mesothelioma diagnosis they give you is reliable.
Your battle against mesothelioma might be easier if you didn’t have to also fight terrible pain at the same time. If researchers are right, you may someday be able to wage your war pain-free. Suffering no pain would give you a real edge over mesothelioma by perhaps permitting you to tolerate stronger doses of chemotherapy
