Mesothelioma Science News
San Pedro, CA - September 23,
2008
Radiation therapy
A review of intensity-modulated radiation therapy
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Meso support networks
Hands of Time: the experience of establishing a
support group for people affected by mesothelioma
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Patient survival
Survival of peritoneal malignant mesothelioma in
Italy: A population-based study
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Meso staging
Computed tomography, positron emission
tomography, positron emission tomography/computed
tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging for
staging of limited pleural mesothelioma: initial
results
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Preoperative staging of mesothelioma by
18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission
tomography/computed tomography fused imaging and
mediastinoscopy compared to pathological findings
after extrapleural pneumonectomy
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Diagnosis
Metastasis of malignant peritoneal epithelioid
mesothelioma in endoscopic gastric biopsy: A
diagnostic pitfall
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Cellular research
Proteasome inhibitor MG132 induces apoptosis and
inhibits invasion of human malignant pleural
mesothelioma cells
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Peritoneal meso
Peritoneal mesotheliomas: clinicopathologic
features, CT findings, and differential diagnosis
Click here
Chrysotile
Orally ingested chrysotile asbestos affects rat
lungs and pleura
Click here
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We Salute
Bob Treggett
Almost five years since
Bob Treggett was diagnosed with malignant pleural
mesothelioma, this powerful and gentle man succumbed
to asbestos cancer on August 23, 2008. A full three
years after undergoing an EPP with Dr. Eric
Vallieres, Bob had already beaten the average
survival time for an illness that typically claims
its victims in seven months. Bob continued on to
enjoy life and give of life as he battled with a
refractory and tenacious tumor.
 Cheerfully grappling with the
loss of mobility that accompanies a surgery like the
EPP, Bob embarked on missionary work that took him to
South Africa, Kenya, India, and the Philippines. He
saw each day as a gift and spent every hour marveling
at the good fortune of being surrounded by a loving
family.
Able to sit and talk for hours, Bob found few things
as gratifying as his ministry. "God has trained
me to travel overseas to train pastors and church
leaders," he once said in preparation for his
missionary work.
A submariner on the nuclear sub USS John
Marshall, Bob found time after his diagnosis
to advocate for federal funding and for an asbestos
ban. "It's never too late to do the right
thing," Bob was fond of saying when discussing
the government's obligation to ban the poison and
to invest in research that will prevent and treat
those afflicted with asbestos cancer. Bob's
strength, decency, and moral courage will be sorely
missed by us all.
Sharon Johnson
Nine years of struggle, triumph, and courage ended
for
Sharon Johnson on September 11, 2008, when she
finally set down arms in her own personal battle
against malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.
Sharon's two sisters were also victims of
mesothelioma, both pleural and peritoneal. Her sister
Sue continues to successfully battle the disease.
 Sharon's surgery with Dr.
Robert Taub and Dr. John Chabot, and her good fortune
in detecting the cancer early, resulted in effective
treatment that produced results far beyond what most
mesothelioma patients experience. However,
Sharon's experience also highlights what many in
the mesothelioma community have recognized: pleural
and peritoneal mesothelioma are very different
diseases from the standpoint of treatment and
survival, even though they are both cancers of the
mesothelial lining. In addition to conventional
therapy, Sharon also treated at the IAT clinic in the
Bahamas.
Sharon's valiant battle and her success in
outlasting the odds point again to the crucial need
for asbestos research funding that will address these
diseases in a systematic way, pinpointing prevention
and treatment strategies, and putting resources into
understanding why two similar asbestos cancers have
such different prognoses.
Our thoughts are with Sharon's family. She has
been a shining example to all who knew her.
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Bottom of the Ninth
Congress will soon decide whether the bill to ban
asbestos will be sent to mark-up, a committee vote,
and on to the House for a full vote. You can do a
huge part by visiting ADAO's
www.banasbestos.us or
the MARF online action center to send a message
to your senators and representative, letting them
know that you support HR 6309's goal of banning
asbestos and funding for meso research.
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Got Data?
Lawyers donate money to mesothelioma research, but in
the course of representing a client, they also
generate vast amounts of medical records. Some
attorneys have estimated that the mere cost for
accessing a client's medical records in a
mesothelioma case can exceed $7,000.
Unfortunately, after a case closes, those records sit
in a file storage room or reside tucked away on a
server where they serve no useful purpose ever again.
For the last couple of years, the Pacific Heart, Lung
& Blood Institute has been working on a clinical
database project that will turn those mountains of
records into razor sharp weaponry in the war on meso.
At the upcoming IMIG Congress in Amsterdam our firm
will propose anonymously donating records with the
client/patient's approval to a clinical
mesothelioma database project. Cancer databases for
other tumors have been successfully implemented, and
the sheer number of records aggregated by lawyers
could quickly build an enormous data fund from which
doctors and scientists could learn more, and learn
quickly, about meso.
Such a global clinical database would also allow
patients to upload medical records from their home
computer, and it would also provide doctors and labs
the ability to upload data. The critical mass created
by this project could identify trends, treatments,
and research areas that might ultimately remove the
isolation and orphan status associated with
mesothelioma.
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