For cancer patients who have little success with traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatments, immunotherapy treatments are becoming known alternatives – working with the body’s own immune system to become stronger and better able to fight cancer cells and other infections. A mesothelioma diagnosis is often grim, with survival rates at[…]
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Pleural Catheter vs. Pleurodesis
Symptoms for pleural mesothelioma are typically centered on lung function breathing, with shortness of breath (dyspnea), pleural effusion (fluid build-up), and pain in the chest being the primary indicators. There is no cure for malignant pleural mesothelioma and while scientists and researchers are continually developing new treatments and therapies, in[…]
Funding Needed for Lung Cancer Awareness and Research – How You Can Help
As November draws to a close, so does Lung Cancer Awareness Month, but that doesn’t mean we should forget about this devastating cancer that affects hundreds of thousands of people annually. For a cancer than claims more lives than breast, colon, and prostate cancer combined, it is severely underfunded, leaving[…]
Smoking Plus Asbestos Exposure – A Deadly Combination
In 2004, the American Thoracic Society called asbestos “the largest cause of occupational cancer in the United States and a significant cause of disease and disability from nonmalignant disease.” Asbestos is a known carcinogen. It has been found to be the cause of many different cancers in those who were[…]
Autophagy Inhibitors Potentially Make Chemotherapy More Effective in Mesothelioma Patients
Autophagy is a natural and regulated self-degradative process in cells that plays a critical role in balancing sources of energy and removing aggravated proteins, damaged organelles, and pathogens. During autophagy, cells break down and recycle their different parts in order to make new cells. In mesothelioma, autophagy is necessary for[…]
Bevacizumab – A Positive Treatment with Serious Side Effects
Bevacizumab (Avastin) is commonly viewed as chemotherapy treatment because when administered intravenously, it is particularly effective in controlling such illnesses such as lung cancer and colon cancer. However, it is a bit different than traditional chemotherapy treatments, which directly attack cancer cells. Bevacizumab fights cancer cells by cutting off oxygen[…]
Palliative Care for Mesothelioma Patients
What is Palliative Care? For serious illnesses, some patients may receive palliative care, or palliative treatment. Palliative care treats the symptoms of the disease, not the disease itself, in an attempt to provide relief and make the patient as comfortable as possible during their illness. Palliative treatment can be provided[…]
Misconceptions about Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is lung cancer One of the most common areas of the body where mesothelioma develops is the lung, and because of this, many misunderstand mesothelioma to be a type of lung cancer. In actuality, mesothelioma is cancer of the mesothelium – found in the lining of the heart, lungs,[…]
Pleurectomy and Decortication Improve Survival, but May Impact Quality Of Life
Pleurectomy and Decortication (P/D) is a two-part surgical procedure that removes the pleural lining around the lungs (pleurectomy) and tumors along the surface area of the lung (decortication). To qualify for this surgery, mesothelioma patients must be in overall good health, and in the early stages of the disease. Since[…]
Amosite vs. Chrysotile Asbestos in Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is rare and aggressive asbestos-caused cancer in which there is no cure. The cancer affects the lining that surrounds various organs and cavities in the body; most tumors are commonly found in the lining of lungs and the chest (the pleura), making up two thirds of all diagnosed cases.[…]
