Category Archives: Mesothelioma News
Cancer Drugs Out of Reach for Medicare Patients
Advances in chemotherapy technology have led to the development of newer and better drugs with fewer side effects. Many of these drugs now come in pill form, eliminating the need for office visits and intravenous administration. However, these advances are coming at a steep price for many cancer patients, in that many of them cannot [...]
Cancer Treatment Costs Skyrocket
The good news for cancer patients is that scientific advancements have made more and better treatments available than at any time in medical history. The bad news is that the climbing costs of these new treatments keep them out of reach of the patients who need them the most, especially the uninsured and the under-insured. [...]
Genetic Factors Help Lung Cancer Tumors Resist Treatment
Scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center found that some cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) do not respond as well to chemotherapy drugs as others. The study also found that some tumors undergo further genetic mutations after doctors administer the chemotherapy drugs. The tumors change their genetic makeup to make themselves more [...]
Metal Nanoparticles Used to Detect Cancer
Several groups of researchers are applying magnetic fields and metal nanoparticles—microscopic particles than can interact with substances at the atomic level— to find cells that can lead to breast cancer. The method seems to be much more responsive than those currently in use, which include biopsies and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The new tests also [...]
News About Pharmaceuticals in Mesothelioma Treatment
1. New Biomarkers May Speed Diagnosis of Mesothelioma 2. Lowered Cost of DNA Sequencing Improving Specificity of Cancer Treatment 3. Scientists Find Cell Process That Causes Mesothelioma 4. Immune Response Inhibitor Identified in Cancer Retroviruses 5. MRIs Effective in Identifying Malignant Testicular Cancer Growths 6. National Comprehensive Cancer Network Announces New Mesothelioma Guidelines 7. New [...]
Boston Steam Pipe Bursts, Spewing Asbestos
On Wednesday, July 14, just before the evening news, a steam pipe on Harrison Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, burst, sending scalding steam and toxic asbestos pipe wrap into the air. When the mess settled, the steam was gone, but the asbestos used to coat the steam pipes covered the roadway and dusted all the cars [...]
Screening Coal Miners With Digital Chest X-Rays
Since the introduction of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in 1969, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been dedicated to monitoring lung health of coal miners through routine chest x-rays. Recently, conventional screen-film radiographic imaging of coal miners has begun to be replaced by digital imaging equipment. Inhalation [...]
Scientists Find Cell Process That Causes Mesothelioma
Since the 1970s, scientists and researchers have endeavored to learn the process that causes exposure to asbestos to lead to mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that strikes the soft band of tissue around the lungs. A recent study published by the National Academy of Sciences and authored by a research team from the University [...]
FDA Approves Alimta – Cisplatin Combination for Treatment of Asbestos-Related Cancer Mesothelioma
SOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company The first and only drug regimen proven to help patients with an asbestos-related cancer live longer was approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Alimta® , to be introduced shortly by Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), was approved for use with cisplatin, a standard chemotherapy agent, [...]
New Treatments for Mesothelioma Show Promise
Two new protocols, involving two separate types of mesothelioma, offer better hope for survival for patients of this dread form of cancer. Mesothelioma, a cancer of mesothelial tissues, occurs most commonly as (malignant) pleural mesothelioma, in the lungs – in about 75 percent of cases – followed by peritoneal mesothelioma, in the abdomen. Pericardial mesothelioma, [...]
