Doctors want to figure out which pleural mesothelioma patients will best benefit from certain chemotherapy drugs. Currently there are no tests to see what immunotherapy drugs might work on a specific patient. This leads to doctors trying out different treatments that have negative side effects to only find out the[…]
New Study
Nivolumab Can Help Increase the Survival in Mesothelioma Patients Whose Cancer Has Relapsed
A study in the United Kingdom involving 332 patients who cannot receive surgery (unresectable) found that patients whose mesothelioma has relapsed can be treated with nivolumab safely. Nivolumab is an immunotherapy drug known as Opdivo, which is popular for treating non-small cell lung cancer. Opdivo is promising because it is[…]
Gemcitabine Used as a Maintenance Therapy Could Help Mesothelioma Patients Live Longer
Using maintenance therapy with gemcitabine alongside chemotherapy can help increase survival in patients compared to patients just receiving palliative care. Gemcitabine is an antimetabolite, which prevents cancer cells from dividing into new cancer cells. Chemotherapy is usually the first line treatment for mesothelioma, and if patients are able to receive[…]
SMART Mesothelioma Procedure Could Extend the Lives of Certain Mesothelioma Patients
Accelerated high dose radiation before surgery created a 65.9 month survival for mesothelioma patients. They were part of a clinical trial in Toronto at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center. The study is named SMART, an acronym for Surgery for Mesothelioma After Radiation Therapy. There were 96 patients who were treated[…]
Thoracic Chemotherapy After Surgery Could Help Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Survive Longer
Hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy alongside aggressive therapy (HITHOC) could help extend pleural mesothelioma patient survival. Doctors perform this by circulating a heated high concentration chemotherapy solution in the chest cavity for one hour right after aggressive surgery is performed on a patient. They do this to kill microscopic tumor cells that[…]
Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Resistance Could be Due to Cell Hibernation
Canadian researchers have discovered a cause of chemotherapy resistance in mesothelioma and other cancers. This is great news because this can lead to new treatments being created to combat the incurable cancer. There are other types of treatments approved for mesothelioma, but they might not work and chemotherapy could be[…]
People with an Inherited Mutation on the BLM Gene Could Be More at Risk of Developing Mesothelioma
New research from the University of Hawaii is showing that the inherited mutation on the BLM gene can increase the chance of getting mesothelioma. The researchers sequenced the DNA of 155 mesothelioma patients. People without the BLM gene were more likely to develop mesothelioma, especially when exposed to carcinogenic asbestos[…]
Peritoneal Mesothelioma Surgery with More organ Removal Can Help Survival
Mesothelioma surgery that removes more of an organ has been found to extend the survival of patients. It also did not increase the chance of severe complications nor did it change the survival benefits of aggressive surgery on patients with peritoneal mesothelioma. The complex surgery also did not negatively affect[…]
Mesothelioma Symptom Management Tool Links Doctors and Patients with a Smartphone
A study looking at a system that connects doctors and patients with a smartphone is showing that it could make the management of mesothelioma symptoms easier. Mesothelioma is a fast growing and aggressive cancer that has many different physical symptoms. Researchers in the United Kingdom are looking at a mesothelioma[…]
The Herpes Virus is Being Tested as a Mesothelioma Treatment
An altered herpes virus is being tested in mesothelioma patients, and the results show that it can stabilize the growth of mesothelioma tumors. Half of the patients given the virus responded to the treatment, which is very promising. Thirteen patients were injected with a version of HSV (herpes causing virus)[…]
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