Mesothelioma Empowerment Update - January 28, 2011

January 28, 2011

Dr. Robert Cameron Meso Myth Buster - Myth #1

A more radical operation obviously provides better results than a less radical surgical procedure

Often when confronted with a large obstacle, people naturally chose a "bigger" weapon. In movies and computer games characters are portrayed as being more powerful if they possess a bigger arsenal of guns (or other weapons). In the 1994 movie, The Mask, for instance, when Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) dons the mysterious mask and is confronted with villains armed with normal handguns, he magically pulls out an entire arsenal of weapons and promptly wins the battle. Mesothelioma is not equivalent to a comedy movie and surgeons (also wearing masks!) cannot just pull out the most radical operation possible and expect to win the day.  More...

Dr. Robert Cameron Meso Myth Buster - Myth #2

A more radical operation that takes out the pericardium and diaphragm for bigger margins is a better operation

Some surgeons claim that removing the heart sack (pericardium) and the muscle between the chest and abdomen (diaphragm) are necessary to achieve "adequate" margins in mesothelioma tumor surgery. What is a "margin?" In traditional surgical oncology (cancer surgery), surgeons are trained to remove a reasonable amount of healthy normal tissue around tumors (if such exists) to assure that all the tumor cells have been removed. This is a fundamental surgical oncology practice of obtaining "adequate margins." The surgeon removes the visible tumor together with a "buffer zone" of normal tissue.  More...  

Tammy Frank - An Incredible 10+ Year Survivor! 

It all began in January 1999, when Tammy began to experience severe abdominal pains that subsequently lead her to the local emergency room on two separate occasions. However, it wasn't until November 2000 when she again sought medical attention for the same pain that her physician discovered she had what was thought to be an ovarian cyst.

On November 21, 2000, Tammy was to undergo a diagnostic laparoscopy, but when they attempted entry through her naval, they immediately discovered: omental adhesions to the anterior abdominal wall.What began as a minor procedure immediately turned into a full-blown invasive surgery to remove pelvic mass, rupture and clean adhesions attached throughout her pelvis and colon, and dissect her fallopian tubes and ovaries off the colon. Six specimens were taken and sent to the Mayo Clinic Pathology. Each specimen revealed Tammy Frank had Malignant Mesothelioma of Epithelial Type.

Jump ten years later and you would have found Tammy taking her mother and son on a wonderful trip to Hawaii.  More...

Study finds rogue gene attacks protein that stops cancer spreading  Meso-Byte date Thursday, January 27, 2011 A new study conducted by a team of Italian researchers tested the effectiveness of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy (PBC) as a second-line treatment for mesothelioma cancer patients whose cancer shows at least a partial response to initial chemo. PBC is already effective for some patients, however no drugs have been approved yet for second-line treatment when the cancer continues to progress after first-line chemotherapy. More...  Mesothelioma Patients May Benefit From Second Pemetrexed-based Chemotherapy Meso-Byte date Tuesday, January 25, 2011 A new study conducted by a team of Italian researchers tested the effectiveness of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy (PBC) as a second-line treatment for mesothelioma cancer patients whose cancer shows at least a partial response to initial chemo. PBC is already effective for some patients, however no drugs have been approved yet for second-line treatment when the cancer continues to progress after first-line chemotherapy. More... Study: Mesothelioma Significantly Underreported in Developing Countries  Meso-Byte date Monday, January 10, 2011 A new study published by the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives estimates the global magnitude of reported and unreported mesothelioma. According to the study, it conservatively estimates that, globally, one mesothelioma case has been overlooked for every four to five reported cases. In particular, many developing countries, including some with a high cumulative use of asbestos, do not report mesothelioma. Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and India all rank in the top 15 countries for cumulative use of asbestos. Under diagnosing and/or underreporting may have occurred in these countries due to lack of awareness, knowledge and resources. More... Who to Trust? Reading Medical Articles with A Grain of Salt  Meso-Byte date Wednesday, December 15, 2010 How much faith should we put in published, peer reviewed studies which show that a drug, vitamin, surgical technique or medical device produces a favorable result? We certainly want to believe that a conclusion based on raw data generated in a properly designed test by objective scientists must be true and is therefore reliable. A recent article in The New Yorker -- "The Truth Wears Off " -- by Jonah Lehrer reminds us of the perils of putting all our faith in scientists who, like the rest of us, are fallible. Scientists, especially medical researchers, he contends, tend to select their data to confirm a preconceived thesis, especially if they want to publish their study in a prestigious journal.  More... Is EPP The Answer? Meso-Byte date Wednesday, December 8, 2010 For years in the US the conventional wisdom taught that if you have pleural mesothelioma and you want to survive, you better have your lung taken out. A new study from the UK has debunked that theory. Doctors in the UK recently published the preliminary findings from the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) study, a randomized trial in which one group of participants would receive chemotherapy, then extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), then radiotherapy. The second group of patients would receive other types of aggressive therapy, but would not receive EPP. Significantly, the study did not contain an arm for patients to choose or undergo the surgical alternative to the EPP, known as the Pleurectomy/Decortication, which removes the tumor only and spares the lung.  More...

For Additional Mesothelioma-Bytes, Click Here

Diagnosis / staging:  

Exposure to asbestos: correlation between blood levels of mesothelin and frequency of micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes (1/14/2011) Soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP) are a promising biomarker suggested for the screening of mesothelioma in healthy asbestos-exposed subjects. SMRP levels were found to be significantly higher in subjects exposed to asbestos and in their various subgroups than in controls. More...

Clinical-therapeutic management of thoracoscopy in pleural effusion: a groundbreaking technique in the twenty-first century (1/13/2011) This study found that thoracoscopy continues to be a cost-effective and reliable technique for obtaining and confirming histological diagnosis in pleural effusion and also allows a directed pleurodesis if needed. More...

Chemotherapy:

Phase I Studies of CBP501,a G2 Checkpoint Abrogator, as Monotherapy and in Combination with Cisplatin in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors (1/10/2011) Two phase I dose-escalation studies were conducted to determine the maximum tolerated dose and safety profile of the G2 checkpoint abrogator CBP501, as a single agent and in combination with cisplatin. CBP501 was found to be well tolerated in patients as monotherapy and with cisplatin. Evidence of anti-tumor activity was observed in platinum-resistant patients. More... 

Mesothelioma patients may benefit from second pemetrexed-based chemotherapy (10/2010) A study testing the effectiveness of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy (PBC) as a second-line treatment for mesothelioma cancer patients shows promise. The study found that mesothelioma tumors shrunk or at least stopped growing in nearly half of patients (48%), and the median survival rate was 10.5 months after the treatment. Researchers also determined that the patients whose tumors stopped growing for at least 12 months after their first round of PBC treatment were more likely to respond well in the second round. More... 

Surgery:

Quantitative Measurement of Lung Re-expansion in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Undergoing Pleurectomy/Decortication (12/8/2010) This study provided objective evidence that pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) allows a trapped lung to re-expand, quantifies the re-expansion based on scans, and investigates whether the expansion persists after surgery. It found that debulking of mesothelioma with P/D substantially increased the ipsilateral lung volume relative to both the presurgical ipsilateral volume and the contralateral lung volume. This improvement persisted months after surgery. More...

Peritoneal Mesothelioma:

A Pharmacological Review on Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Peritoneal malignancy Perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy in combination with cytoreductive surgery has been shown to be of benefit for treating selected patients with peritoneal surface malignancy. This review shows graphs and focuses on pharmacological information regarding intraperitoneal chemotherapeutic agents commonly used in gastrointestinal oncology. More...