One way you can be personally identified is by your handwriting. Malignant pleural mesothelioma can be identified in a somewhat similar way. It has a “signature” of its own. The signature is actually certain biological traits and behaviors that are often identified with this disease. “Biomarkers” is the term used by mesothelioma doctors and researchers.
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You undergo mesothelioma surgery with the expectation of living longer. Indeed, that’s the outcome many mesothelioma surgery patients enjoy. But some mesothelioma surgery patients don’t survive as far into the future as they’d hoped. Two of the reasons for this were identified recently by researchers from Italy. First reason: a post-surgical infection develops. Second reason:
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
