There was a time when people believed that Asbestos was a miracle material. Therefore, in the 1900s, many homes were constructed with supplies containing Asbestos. Now, Asbestos is known to be a dangerous toxin that can lead to cancer and other diseases after substantial scientific research. Although people believe that Asbestos is a thing of… Read More »
FDA has come up with several incentives for companies that create treatments for rare diseases such as mesothelioma. These incentives, which involve expedited movement through the FDA drug approval process or market exclusivity, are offered mostly because the audience for these therapies is so small that the drugs would probably not otherwise turn a profit.… Read More »
An Australian man suffering from mesothelioma beat an appeal recently against his personal injury lawsuit. However, he will receive $850,000 less than in the original verdict. Matthew Werfel will receive at least $2.23 million in compensation from the firm once known as James Hardie. He originally was to receive $3.08 million from the Southern Australia… Read More »
In 2014, Russell Lamkins was told he had six months to a year to live after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Six years later, Lamkins travels the US in his motor home with his wife. While mesothelioma has slowed him down, he reports he feels good. Lamkins credits his longevity with deadly mesothelioma to the care… Read More »
Adding Imfinzi (generic: durvalumab) to chemotherapy improves survival for diagnosed with inoperable malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to recent data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. The clinical study is the first to show cancer patient survival times going over 20 months in this patient population. A Phase 3 trial – DREAM3R – to confirm the… Read More »
A drug that is made to boost the immune system response to mesothelioma, when combined with immunotherapy, has been found to be beneficial in a small clinical trial of 10 patients. The results appeared on July 1, 2020, in Science Translational Medicine. They suggest that the drug – LMB-100 – could improve the lifespan of… Read More »
The Society of Interventional Radiology reported this week that a new treatment for stage 3 and 4 mesothelioma might enhance the quality of life for patients with few treatment choices, according to a new clinical study. (Sciencedaily.com) The research shows that transarterial chemoperfusion treatment for pleural mesothelioma has few side effects and shows promise for… Read More »
San Diego city workers have filed a lawsuit against the city after they were allegedly exposed to asbestos in their office for months. (10News.com) The class-action lawsuit was filed in Superior Court in June 2019. It accuses high-level city officials of knowing about high levels of asbestos at 1010 Second Avenue, but they kept workers… Read More »
A combination of ONCOS-102 plus standard chemotherapy is showing sustained benefit for people with mesothelioma, according to recent results from a Phase 2 clinical trial. The time without progression of mesothelioma is longer, and the therapy seems to encourage immune system activity in people with pleural mesothelioma who cannot have surgery. (Immuno-oncologynews.com) Overview of ONCOS-102… Read More »
Johnson & Johnson is stopping sales in North America of its talc-based Baby Powder. The product once defined J&J’s wholesome, pure image. Still, it has been forced to defend the product in recent years as it faced thousands of personal injury lawsuits from users who say it may contain asbestos that causes ovarian cancer and… Read More »
Atara Biotherapeutics announced May 15 that an abstract that describes the preclinical safety, enhanced functional characteristics and anti-tumor efficacy of ATA2271 – a next-gen autologous chemeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy targeting mesothelin – was chosen for a poster presentation at the 2nd American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting 2020. The… Read More »
Mesothelioma diagnoses normally do not get headlines in local newspapers, especially in large cities such as Philadelphia. But that is what happened recently in The City of Brotherly Love as the Philadelphia Inquirer has been following the mesothelioma case of Lea DiRusso. DiRusso is a 51-year-old who worked for almost 30 years as a teacher… Read More »
Scientists recently conducted a clinical study where they trained an artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning tool to look for lung cancer tumors in CT scans. The algorithm’s evaluation was compared with those of six radiologists. The results indicated that the AI was better and more accurate in detecting lung cancer when CT imaging was unavailable.… Read More »
Medical oncologist Angus Dalgleish, M.D., never did prefer the standard treatments for pleural mesothelioma, even when he had recommended them to patients in the past. He thinks there are now better options. Dalgleish, who is a physician at St. George’s Hospital at the University of London, recently released a case study that detailed a novel… Read More »
Thousands of personal injury lawsuits have been filed by victims of malignant mesothelioma against companies that sell and manufacture talc-based products, such as Johnson & Johnson, Colgate Palmolive, and Avon. But the corporate line has been that their talc is not tainted with asbestos. They further argue that talc by itself does not cause asbestos… Read More »
There is a new treatment device for mesothelioma from Novocure called the NovoTFF-100L System, better known as Optune Lua. FDA approved the medical device almost a year ago. Is a cure for mesothelioma close?. (mesotheliomaguide.com) The news of Optune Lua could be big news for mesothelioma patients, who usually do not live beyond a year… Read More »
FDA gave final approval for the chemotherapy drug Pemfexy (pemetrexed) after several years of legal battles. The drug was patented by Eagle Pharmaceuticals, based in New Jersey, to treat malignant mesothelioma, as well as metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. The approved injection chemotherapy drug will serve as an alternative to standard medication Alimta (also… Read More »
A state court in New Jersey has ordered J&J to pay $750 million in damages to four people who claimed toxic asbestos in the firm’s talcum powder products caused their mesothelioma. The judge in the asbestos cancer case stated she would ower the damages. But the amount is still the most awarded yet to plaintiffs… Read More »
The UK has been hit hard by mesothelioma, a rare, fatal lung disease that is caused by asbestos exposure. The country has a large number of buildings that are contaminated with asbestos, which is why many workers continue to be at risk, despite the fact that the dangers of asbestos are well understood. In an… Read More »
A recent study by the Swiss National Science Foundation has explicitly shown how asbestos fibers can cause cancer to develop in the body. The information is useful for clinicians who want more effective therapies to treat mesothelioma and also is of use in personal injury lawsuits so that plaintiffs’ attorneys have more ammunition in their… Read More »
The American Cancer Society recently released its 2019 year-in-review data, which revealed insights from cancer research it conducted throughout the year. Among top stories for the year, cancer researchers found a connection between cancer and obesity. They also found that exercise is of great value during the cancer journey of the patient. Clinical studies also… Read More »
White women have a higher chance to have depression after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lung lining caused by asbestos exposure. (Survivingmesothelioma.com) That conclusion came this week from researchers based at the University of Florida. The team looked at the cases of 120,000 people with late-stage mesothelioma. While all patients with… Read More »
After revelations that the city of San Diego had put them at higher risk for mesothelioma and other diseases related to asbestos exposure, hundreds of firefighters and other employees in the department filed a negligence claim on July 2, holding the city responsible for possible medical damages. This issue came to light after an investigation… Read More »
In one of the biggest verdicts to come down in a large number of mesothelioma lawsuits that have been filed against Johnson & Johnson, a state jury in New York ordered the company to pay a woman suffering from mesothelioma $300 million in punitive damages. (mesothelioma.net) This means Donna Olson and her husband will have… Read More »
A doctor with more than 30 years of experience fighting asbestos-related diseases is the lead investigator in a new clinical trial of breath-based biomarkers that may say lives through early detection of mesothelioma. (asbestos.com) According to Michael Harbut, MD, the new clinical study has great significance for the early detection of mesothelioma and could become… Read More »
A new radiotherapy treatment can double the odds of surviving two or more years with pleural mesothelioma, according to a study performed by Dr. Marco Trovo at University Hospital of Udine in Italy. (asbestos.com) Trovo is the top author of a mesothelioma treatment study that involved 109 patients treated for malignant mesothelioma from 2014 to… Read More »
As of 2019, asbestos still is not banned in the US, even with the many warnings and concerns of experts, scientists and advisors. It is well known throughout the world of science and medicine that asbestos causes many serious diseases, such as malignant mesothelioma and asbestosis. The EPA has established certain rules and regulations to… Read More »
Almost 66% of elderly patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are passing away without receiving any sort of cancer-related treatments that could boost their survival. According to recent data, median survival for mesothelioma patients 80 years and older is just 4.1 months. The Annals of Surgical Oncology recently published the study, which was written and compiled by… Read More »
New clinical studies indicate that treatment with high doses of radiotherapy could greatly boost survival for patients with mesothelioma. New results from a clinical trial that was randomized show that patients who got aggressive radiotherapy were two times as likely to be alive after two years compared to patients who only got palliative radiotherapy; the… Read More »
There is a new, innovative imaging technology that has been developed by a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital that is being tried on patients with peritoneal mesothelioma patients to establish the ideal dosing levels and assess how effective it can be. If it turns out to be successful, it could offer major improvements in the… Read More »
Physicians in Pennsylvania may possibly have found a way to increase the effectiveness of new type of palliative radiotherapy for pleural mesothelioma. Palliative radiotherapy is an important method of treatment to help people with mesothelioma symptoms. It is not expected, however, for doctors to treat mesothelioma with palliative radiotherapy. (survivingmesothelioma.com) However, researchers at the University… Read More »
According to Australian doctors recently, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are the next frontier for the treatment of deadly mesothelioma cancer. The study in which they made this bold statement was the medical journal Expert Opinions in Biological Therapy. The doctors reviewed several mesothelioma clinical studies from 2016 to 2018. (survivingmesothelioma.com) Some of the studies were centered… Read More »
Curis, Inc., a biotechnology company that centers on developing new and innovative therapeutics to treat cancer, announced May 6 that its Phase 1 study of CA-170 has reached the desired target enrollment of patients with mesothelioma cancer. Curis began enrolling and dosing patients in the clinical study at the beginning of 2019. (finance.yahoo.com) The company… Read More »
Ford Motor Company attempted this month to evade a $9.1 million mesothelioma judgement. However, the judge on the case was not sympathetic to the company’s arguments. Delaware Superior Court Judge Ferris W. Wharton rejected arguments from the automotive company that it was not treated well in court and deserved to have a new trial set.… Read More »
