Monthly Archives: July 2016

Fitness, Not Age, Should Determine if Mesothelioma Surgery Is a Good Option

Fitness, Not Age, Should Determine if Mesothelioma Surgery Is a Good Option

The type of treatment you receive for mesothelioma depends on a number of things. Among the biggest considerations is your physical condition. Unfortunately, some doctors insist on using age as a substitute for a determination of physical fitness. Researchers from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom suggest that it’s unhelpful for doctors to

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Determining Mesothelioma Cell Types by Measuring Activin Levels

Determining Mesothelioma Cell Types by Measuring Activin Levels

Measuring how much activin A is in your bloodstream may be a way to more quickly diagnose mesothelioma. It also may be a way to more quickly tell if it’s the epithelioid, biphasic or sarcomatoid type of mesothelioma. Knowing which of these types you have is important. It helps your medical team choose the most

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Chemo and ONCOS-102 Work Together to Fight Mesothelioma

Chemo and ONCOS-102 Work Together to Fight Mesothelioma

A new drug might turn out to be a viable treatment against mesothelioma. ONCOS-102 is a dual-targeting, chimeric oncolytic adenovirus. The new drug is being tested in Europe. In a recently completed preclinical trial, it was shown to exhibit anti-tumor activity. Specifically, it triggered immunogenic cell death in mesothelioma specimens. Researchers from the University of

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Mesothelioma Chemo Using S-1 May Be More Effective for Certain Patients

Mesothelioma Chemo Using S-1 May Be More Effective for Certain Patients

This was unexpected. Researchers in Japan were investigating the body’s response to the thymidylate synthase inhibitor drug S-1 as a gauge of mesothelioma survival. In the course of that investigation they unexpectedly came upon evidence indicating that S-1 may slow or stop mesothelioma progression in patients who express high levels of orotate phosphoribosyltransferase. Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase

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Pleural Catheters Don’t Appear to Promote Mesothelioma

Pleural Catheters Don’t Appear to Promote Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma patients often have a pleural catheter inserted during an initial visit with their doctor. You yourself may have received one of these. The catheter typically is needed to drain fluid that builds up in the lungs as a result of mesothelioma. This fluid is what causes many people to seek a doctor’s help before

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BAP1 Gene Mutation Could Predict Mesothelioma Survival Prospects

BAP1 Gene Mutation Could Predict Mesothelioma Survival Prospects

The BAP1 gene mutation responsible for kick-starting many cases of mesothelioma is obviously a bad thing. But some good may yet come from it. An international team of researchers have determined that the BAP1 gene mutation might prove useful to oncologists as a prognostic tool. As they see it, the BAP1 gene mutation could provide

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Surgery May Improve Mesothelioma Survival of Patients Older Than 70 Years of Age

Surgery May Improve Mesothelioma Survival of Older Patients

You might have heard that mesothelioma surgery isn’t a good idea if you’re over 70. An article in the journal Clinical Lung Cancer suggests something different. Researchers from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and from Stanford University near San Francisco, California, wrote that they are now of the opinion that surgery can be beneficial

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Avelumab Might Offers Mesothelioma Patients Hope by Blocking PD-L1

Avelumab Might Offer Mesothelioma Patients Hope by Blocking PD-L1

A treatment strategy being tested by scientists to combat mesothelioma involves the disruption of protein PD-L1. Among the drugs showing the most promise so far for disrupting PD-L1 is avelumab. Results of recent tests with avelumab were shared at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting held in Chicago in early June. The results

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