Mesothelioma cells have the ability to resist drugs designed to kill them. Here’s how the cancer pulls it off. First, your doctor infuses your body with a mesothelioma chemotherapy drug such as pemetrexed. The pemetrexed encounters the cells making up a mesothelioma tumor. The drug then tries to penetrate the individual mesothelioma cells. But the
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The goal of mesothelioma research is to build a better mousetrap for getting rid of this vicious cancer. One group of mesothelioma researchers has been focused instead on building a better mouse. Mice play a very important role in mesothelioma research. Scientists use the furry rodents to test theories about how mesothelioma develops and about
You’re a former school teacher who now has mesothelioma. Chances are you developed the cancer because of asbestos exposure that occurred in the classroom. Typically, classroom exposure to asbestos occurs because the materials used in building the school contained the toxic mineral. How then does one explain the case of the teacher who worked in
One of the drawbacks to mesothelioma chemotherapy is you have to wait to see if it worked. You can’t be given chemotherapy and then right away know how much, if any, damage the mesothelioma tumors sustained. Usually you must repeat dosing with the mesothelioma chemotherapy drugs over a course of days or weeks before the
An invention capable of unboiling a hardboiled egg may someday be put to work fighting cancer. Among the cancers that could be targeted is mesothelioma. A chemist from Flinders University in South Australia writes in Nature’s Scientific Reports that his Vortex Fluidic Device could be used to prepare carbon nanotubes. When readied, these carbon nanotubes
Your medical records should include a detailed history of the places you’ve worked. Researchers suggest this will help your doctor tell whether symptoms you have are signs of mesothelioma. The researchers indicate that a complete rundown of your past employment and the materials you handled on those jobs will also come in handy if you
Researchers and doctors agree that the best way to treat mesothelioma is to kill it before it kills you. Easier said than done, since mesothelioma is notorious for resisting chemotherapy and just about any other type of treatment you’d care to name. That’s why some mesothelioma researchers are abuzz about findings published in the journal
A pharmaceutical company developing a promising new mesothelioma drug has decided to end its relationship with its research and development partner. This move threatens to halt a clinical trial of the drug, FP-1039. FP-1039 is a protein-based, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) ligand trap developed by Five Prime Therapeutics of San Diego, California. The company pulling
An extract made from the leaves of olive trees appears capable of putting the brakes on mesothelioma. In a recent Italian study, the extract was shown to have an effect against mesothelioma cells. The extract appeared to inhibit their growth and spread. The researchers who made the extract also came away convinced that it could
Former Pittsburgh Steeler and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lattner ran all the right plays against his opponent — mesothelioma. In the end, none of them were enough to let the two-time college football All-American score any touchdowns against the ruthless asbestos cancer. Lattner lost to mesothelioma, which refused to be tackled, blocked or benched despite the
