Mesothelioma

The Silent Killer


There are a number of diseases that you would want to be wary about in the world today, but there are some diseases which are more dangerous than the others. These are the ones that you would really wish to do something about but might not be successful in the end. One such disease would have to be Mesothelioma, which is one of the most lethal diseases to affect mankind today. There are a number of reasons why people would want to be scared of this disease, and once you learn all about it, you too will realize why people are so petrified about it.

What It Is Actually

Mesothelioma is a kind of cancer that is observed in certain kinds of human beings. It is developed in the lungs, and eventually causes lungs to collapse and become pretty much useless. Most of the people that have this disease have the pleural Mesothelioma, which is the cancer on the membrane that surrounds the lungs. This is not the only site for this disease, as there are cases of abdominal infections and also reproductive organs getting damaged in certain cases. Depending on your body, it can affect pretty much anywhere, in some cases quite lethally as well.

How Is It Caused?

The main reason for someone to develop Mesothelioma cancer is if they have been exposed to asbestos. Hence, it is important to avoid exposure of any kind to this material. Even if you expose to it infrequently in small amounts, it is adequate to contract Mesothelioma. In most cases, people start showing symptoms several years later on, even sometimes after a decade or two. Hence, you really should be careful when working with asbestos if you don't want to be diagnosed with this condition. Despite being a relatively rare disease, it is known to spread through contact. Hence, you can contract it even if you don't directly come in contact with asbestos.

Can It Be Cured?

Unfortunately, like other kinds of cancer, Mesothelioma cancer also cannot be completely treated. To a certain degree, it can be controlled using chemotherapy and other such kinds of traditional treatments. However, this too is not a guaranteed treatment and can only help in ensuring that you don't suffer in excruciating pain due to the condition. The people that are diagnosed with the disease were exposed to asbestos many years ago, which would have given the cancer ample amount of time to have developed and taken significant control.

But, not all hope is lost. There have been some cases where people have walked away from the disease unscathed. You need to have faith and believe in the fact that mesothelioma cancer will not get the better of you. If the need arises, get the support of the people that are around you in order to help you out and ensure that you don't end up being left all alone. Having sound support during this time of crisis is the least that you can expect to look forward to.

How To Apply For A Mesothelioma Scholarship

Awareness about mesothelioma is increasing tremendously across the globe. Almost each and every city in USA consists of various groups specializing in mesothelioma awareness. Mesothelioma research is an extensive topic which includes various aspects like discussion forums, mesothelioma legal cells, etc.

Recently, in 2003, the Mesothelioma Memorial Scholarship was introduced to offer tribute and honor the people affected by mesothelioma. It is one such financial need for these affected patients or their dependants. Mesothelioma Memorial Scholarship is a $500 scholarship given four times per year.

Scholarships and grants need not be paid back to the institute after being used.

Statistics indicate nearly 80% of people affected with mesothelioma were working in a workplace with asbestos content in the environment. For all kinds of mesothelioma, the common factor in developing the disease is asbestos.

As mesothelioma is a cancerous disease, it leads to huge expenditure for its patients to get effective treatment. Many patients are still ignorant about the various financial aids offered to bear the treatment, legality and other expenses.

This scholarship is offered to students who have completed their high school education and is open to those attending traditional colleges as well as those going through vocational/technical programs, continuing education, ministry training and job skills training programs.


Applying for a mesothelioma scholarship:

If you are a student and are interested in applying for mesothelioma scholarship, you should undergo the following steps:

• Find out institutions offering this kind of scholarship programs and opt for the best choice

• You need to get the necessary papers ready including doctor certificates and referrals

• Then you need to apply for a suitable mesothelioma scholarship

Mesothelioma - Chemotherapy Treatment

Mesothelioma is a malignant type of cancer that is caused by being exposed to asbestos. The cancerous cells are developed in a protective lining that covers internal organs in the body called mesothelium. The most common site of mesothelioma is in the outer lining of the chest wall and lungs called the pleura. It can also occur in the lining of abdominal, peritoneum cavity, or the sac that is around the heart, pericardium.
It is found that most people that develop mesothelioma have been exposed to asbestos particles at some time in their life.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive type of cancer and Doctors want to treat it as soon as possible and with aggressive treatment. One of the treatments includes Chemotherapy and its strong drugs that can destroy the cancer cells.
Chemotherapy is an option for those patients that are not able to go through a surgical procedure. The Doctor determines if the patient is a surgical candidate or not. Chemotherapy has been used since around the 1940's.
Using Chemotherapy for treatment of mesothelioma can be taken in pill form, intravenously, or if the cancer is in the pleural; it is injected directly into the lungs.

Chemotherapy treats the disease by using chemicals that kill the bad cancerous cells and also damages the good cells around the cancer area. There are a few types of chemotherapy treatments for mesothelioma besides the curative intent.
They are:

- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy
- Adjuvant chemotherapy- which means chemotherapy is used after a surgical technique and if the doctor feels there is a risk for recurrence of the cancer.
- Combined modality chemotherapy- this means chemotherapy is used in combination with radiation therapy or surgery.
- Neoadjuvant chemotherapy- referrs to being done prior to surgery to reduce the size of the tumor mass.
- Palliative chemotherapy- is used as a treatment to the symptoms of mesothelioma

There are side effects that come from chemotherapy treatment. Most Doctors tell the patients about these side effects that can come from this treatment. Most of the side effects will go away when the treatment has ended. These include:

- Weakening of the immune system
- Hair loss
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Decrease in number of red blood cells
- Ototoxicity
- Nephrotoxicity
- Higher risk of cardiovascular disease
- Cardiotoxicity
- Hepatoxicity

The results of treating Mesothelioma with Chemotherapy can be good to stop the growth of the cancer and help shrink it, but unfortunately there is no cure for mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Curable or Not ?

If you have been exposed to asbestos, it is in your best interest to gather as much information as possible. Asbestos has had many uses throughout history, and though it is a rare find these days, it still exists in the insulation of some older buildings.

Many lung diseases occur as a result of exposure to this material, among them is mesothelioma cancer. The web is ripe with information, and here we will give you a brief introduction.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that is almost always malignant, and can afflict a variety of bodily systems. Most often it affects the lungs because the easiest way for asbestos (the cancers main cause) to enter the body is through inhalation. If it affects the lungs it is also known as pleural mesothelioma.There is also peritonial mesothelioma, which affects the lining around the organs in the abdomen. And pericardial mesothelioma is found in the sac around the heart.

There are also three different types of mesothelioma. Epithelioid, which is the most common, is found in the protective lining around vital organs. Sarcomatoid, the most serious, but less common than the former, is found in tissues such as fat, muscles, bone and cartilage. There is also mixed, where both epithelioid and sarcomatoid are present at once.

Unfortunately all information concludes that it is a fatal cancer. Symptoms vary depending on which bodily systems are affected. If the cancer resides in the lungs there may be shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain, and sometimes no symptoms at all. Abdominal cancers are generally accompanied by weight loss, a swollen belly, and digestive related problems. These symptoms may not appear until many years after asbestos exposure. And diagnosis is often difficult because many of the symptoms mimic other conditions.

Treatment for mesothelioma varies, and is dependant upon many factors. Common treatments, as with most cancers, include surgical removal, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. And though the prognosis is grim, modern technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. If you, or someone close to you, is experiencing the symptoms of mesothelioma, see your doctor, and do your research. Stay updated on the latest information. Hopefully we will find a cure soon.

Mesothelioma Treatments

Mesothelioma treatment options depend on many internal factors such as: stage, location, and the patient’s age and desires. Important external factors to consider include the experience level of the oncologist with mesothelioma cases and whether or not a rural dweller would have to be transferred to a larger city for aggressive treatment or palliative care.

Patient survival rate is determined to be up to a year; while some leading cancer centers have reported life expectancy after diagnosis to be as much as five more years.

Screening

Imaging tests allow doctors to see a picture of the cancer site. These tests could include x-rays, CT scans (computed tomography), or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

New Screening Instrument: The Mesomark Test

The Food and Drug administration has just approved (January 2007) the world's first in-vitro test for mesothelioma. The Mesomark assay test, developed by Fujirebio Diagnostics is administered to patients diagnosed with biphasic or epithelioid mesothelioma by a simple blood test. The test measures proteins within the blood that reflect changes in the patient's tumor volume, a key factor for monitoring patient status and response to therapies.

Traditional Treatment Types

Surgery, removal of the entire lung and a part of the chest lining, the diaphragm and part of the sac surrounding the heart.

Thoracoscopy is the insertion of an endoscope which is a small narrow tube, containing a tiny cameria into the pleural cavity to look directly at the tumor. Pathologist’s perform a biopsy to collect a tissue. Often, chemical pleurodesis (draining fluid in the intrapleural space), can be accomplished during the same procedure.

Mediastinoscopy, another type of surgical incision is sometimes used to stage the extent of disease when enlarged nodes are seen using imaging techniques.

Laproscopy is used in mesothelioma patients when imaging techniques suggest that the tumor has penetrated through the diaphragm. This information is important in evaluating a patient for potential pleurectomy or extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Radiation Therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells.

Radiation - Although mesothelioma tumors are highly resistant to radiotherapy, these treatments are sometimes used to relieve symptoms arising from tumor growth, such as obstruction of a major blood vessel.

Radiotherapy is commonly applied to the sites of chest drain insertion, in order to prevent the growth of the tumor along the track in the chest wall.

Chemotherapy – is used to stop the cancer cells from growing and dividing.

Immunotherapy: Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy requires the removal as much of the tumor as possible followed by the direct administration of a heated between (40 and 48°C) chemotherapy agent, into the abdomen for 60 to 120 minutes and then drained.

Palliative Procedures

Pleuroperitoneal Shunt is a procedure where a catheter is placed under the skin from the pleural to the peritoneal cavity. This procedure raising concerns as the catheter can cause damage by embedding itself into the abdomen.

Pleurectomy, a palliative procedure, may be performed when more extensive surgery is not an option. The procedure does not effectively remove all tumors. It is considered the most effective means of controlling pleural effusion (fluid buildup) in cases where the lung's expansion is restricted by the mesothelioma.

Potentially Curative Procedures

These procedures are performed with "curative intent".

Pleurectomy/Decortication is usually performed on patients with early stage pleural mesothelioma disease (Stage I and selected Stage II), and attempts to remove all gross tumor.

Extrapleural Pneumonectomy is surgery to remove a diseased lung, part of the pericardium, part of the diaphragm and part of the parietal pleura. This type of surgery is used most often to treat malignant mesothelioma and is combined with traditional chemotherapy and/or radiation, gene therapy, immunotherapy or photodynamic therapy.

Cytoreductive Surgery removes visible tumors in the peritoneal cavity. The remaining cancer cells are treated by Intra-Peritoneal Hyperthermic (heated) Chemotherapy (IPHC) and then delivered to the abdominal cavity.

New or Experimental Therapies

Gene Therapy: The best known tumor suppressor gene is called p53. If this gene is damaged or non existent oncogenes or cancer genes multiply at an abnormal rate. The main focus of gene therapy for mesothelioma involves injecting a virus that has been modified in the laboratory. The virus is injected into the pleural space in the chest, where mesothelioma develops as an attempt to kill the cancer cells.

Drug or Vaccine Therapy

Patients with mesothelioma have much higher levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) a chemical controlling blood vessel than people with any other type of cancer. Trials are being conducted to see if VEGF can be blocked, thus stopping the growth of blood vessels feeding the mesothelioma tumors.

Bevacizumab is a drug vaccine currently in use. One trial recently reported that this drug may increase survival for patients with lung cancer. An American phase 2 trial tested bevacizumab for mesothelioma, in combination with chemotherapy drugs. Bevacizumab is still in the experimental phase and much larger trials are needed before we will know how effective it will be in treating mesothelioma and other types of cancers.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

In Photodynamic therapy a drug called a photosensitizing agent is injected into the bloodstream and absorbed by the body's cells rendering the cells sensitive to light. When the area to be treated is exposed to laser light, the cells are killed. PDT has to be combined with surgery to treat patients in the early stages of mesothelioma. PDT is still in the trial stages and very experimental.

Clinical Trials and Eligibility

Clinical Trials provide research by using a sampling of people affected by the cancer. The National Cancer Institute states that the purpose of most listed clinical trials is to test new cancer treatments or new methods of diagnosing, screening for or preventing cancer.

Eligibility requirements for clinical trials are not the same; each study has specific guidelines for participation. Some trials allow participation after other treatments have failed, while others require that the patient did not have prior treatment. Choosing a clinical test should only be done after a medical consultation.

Prevention trials - study ways to reduce the risk, or chance, of developing cancer. Most prevention trials are conducted with healthy people who have not had cancer. These trials use drugs, vitamins or diet to reduce risk of cancer. Some trials are conducted with people who have had cancer and want to prevent the return of cancer (recurrence), or reduce the chance of developing a new type of cancer.

Screening Trials - study ways to detect cancer. They are often conducted to determine whether finding cancer before it causes symptoms decreases the chance of dying from the disease. These trials involve people who do not have any symptoms of cancer.

Diagnostic Cancer Trials - develops new tests or scans

Treatment Trials – studies new drugs or combinations of drugs; new ways of giving treatment, and new types of treatment

Quality of life trials explore ways to improve the comfort and quality of life of cancer patients and cancer survivors. These trials may study ways to help people who are experiencing nausea, vomiting, sleep disorders, depression, or other effects from cancer or its treatment.

Genetics Study Trials - are sometimes part of another cancer clinical trial. The genetics component of the trial may focus on how genetic makeup can affect detection, diagnosis, or response to cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are conducted in 4 phases:

Phase 1 trials look at whether a trial treatment drug is safe or has any harmful effects and attempts to establish the right dosage required.

Phase 2 trials look at the effectiveness of the treatment.

Phase 3 trials test a new treatment against the existing standard treatment. If it yields better results, it may become the new standard treatment.

Phase 4 trials are carried out after a drug has been licensed. They collect information about side effects, safety and the long term risks and benefits of a drug.

Ongoing research attempts to improve mesothelioma treatment options but clinical trials will not all result in new and better treatment. After testing, it may be discovered that the treatment being tested does not work, or that it has worse side affects than existing treatments. But, to researchers and doctors, and in the end for patients, it is crucial to keep this research going.

Mesothelioma

Mesolthelioma is a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is made up of tiny fibers, often used to make insulation in homes, schools and other buildings. This disease attacks the lining of the heart, lungs and abdomen.

Since asbestos can be found in basic building materials, those at risk for mesolthelioma are largely, but not limited to, construction workers who built our buildings through the seventies. The danger of using this natural occuring mineral was either unkonwn or ignored by health officals. One danger of the disease is that the symptoms are similar to those of general aging, and many people tend to ignore them until more severe, and potentially fatal symptoms occur.

Asbestos: A Lesson in Shame

Cancer Monthly, LLC

How can a tiny mineral kill tens of thousands of people and cost industry billions of dollars?

It's actually pretty simple when the mineral is a carcinogen called asbestos and companies tried to hide its dangers.

Outrageous Behavior Leads to Death Sentences

We are all vulnerable when companies act outrageously. If a corporation discovers that its products contain a substance that is dangerous to human health we want companies to do the right thing and warn employees and consumers and get the danger out of the product fast. But history has shown that such expectations are often unrealistic.

We have all heard about the exploding Ford Pinto and the more recent children's toys from China filled with lead, but asbestos is the classic example of industry's greed, belligerence, and criminal behavior that kills innocent people.

Asbestos was put into thousands of products - cigarette filters, hair dryers, brakes, basement and roof materials, pipes, boilers, insulation, and many other products found throughout the home and at work. Millions of people were exposed to this carcinogen and, as a result, many have been diagnosed with asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. These diseases tend to be incurable and deadly. For example, people with mesothelioma generally have a life expectancy of less than a year.

"Deadly Hug" from Parents to Children

Children were also vulnerable especially if the parent worked with or near asbestos. Parents would often bring the dust home on their clothes. The so-called "deadly hug" would follow. Children greeted their parents with a hug and the dust would be transferred from parent to child. Many of these children are also diagnosed with asbestos caused diseases years later.

Chronology of Shame

The following are just a sample of events that occurred that provided companies with knowledge that asbestos was dangerous. This information comes primarily from two books: "Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial," written by Paul Brodeur and "Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects," written by Barry I. Castleman.

• 1922: Louis Dublin, a statistician for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, writes that asbestos workers are at risk of injury to the lungs.


• 1930: One major asbestos company, Johns-Manville, produces a report, for internal company use only, detailing the fatalities and medical injuries of asbestos workers.


• 1932: A letter from the United States Bureau of Mines to asbestos manufacturer Eagle-Picher states, "It is now known that asbestos dust is one of the most dangerous dusts to which man is exposed."
  
• 1933: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company doctors find that 29% of the workers at one Johns-Manville plant are suffering from asbestosis. Johns-Manville settles lawsuits by eleven employees on the condition that the lawyer for the employees agrees that he will not bring any new actions against Johns-Manville.


• 1934: Officials at Johns-Manville and Raybestos Manhattan, rewrite an article about the diseases of asbestos workers written by a Metropolitan Life Insurance Company doctor to minimize the danger of asbestos dust.


• 1935: Johns-Manville and Raybestos Manhattan instruct the editor of Asbestos Magazine to publish nothing about asbestosis.
  
• 1936: A group of asbestos companies agree to sponsor research on the health effects of asbestos dust, but require that the companies have complete control over the disclosure of the results.
  
• 1942: An Owens Corning corporate memorandum refers to "medical literature on asbestosis . . . [and] scores of publications in which the lung and skin hazards of asbestos are discussed."
  
• 1942-43: The president of Johns-Manville says that the managers of another company were "a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis." When one of the people in attendance ask, "Do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they drop dead?" According to deposition testimony, the response was, "Yes. We save a lot of money that way."
  
• 1944: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company finds 42 cases of asbestosis among 195 asbestos miners.
  
• 1944: The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that asbestos is one of the "agents known or suspected to cause occupational cancer."
  
• 1951: Asbestos companies remove all references to cancer before allowing publication of research they sponsor concerning exposure to asbestos.
  
• 1953: National Gypsum's safety director wrote to the Indiana Division of Industrial Hygiene, recommending that acoustic plaster mixers wear respirators "because of the asbestos used on the product." Another company official notes that the letter was "full of dynamite," and urges that the letter be retrieved before reaching its destination. A memo from those files notes that the company "succeeded in stopping" the letter which "will be modified."
  
• 1964: Dr. Irving Selikoff publishes a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, proving that people who work with asbestos containing materials have an abnormal incidence of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma.
  
• 1989 and 1991: In 1989, the United States Environmental Protection Agency bans asbestos and most of its uses, but, in 1991, asbestos companies win a federal lawsuit which overturns the EPA's asbestos ban.

Civil Liability "Hits Them Where They Hurt"

You can only keep a secret so long. These facts and many others finally did come out. Because workers and consumers were exposed to asbestos thanks to the outrageous behavior of these companies, these corporations were now exposed to civil liability costing billions of dollars. But money, no matter how much, does not reimburse for a dead father or mother or brother or sister. More than anything, the money hits corporations where they hurt. It punishes them because for decades they placed profits above human life.

Lessons in Shame?

But, you will note that while the EPA tried to ban asbestos in this country, some asbestos companies were able to overturn the ban. This means that asbestos, albeit in much smaller concentrations, is still used in some products in the U.S. especially products imported from countries with lax environmental rules.

So what are the lessons? They are not new. One is that companies will act belligerently, irresponsibly and dangerously if they decide it is in their best interest to do so. Another lesson is that even when the truth comes out, it does not mean that the problem goes away. Asbestos is still here and people are being diagnosed with asbestos caused disease, including deadly cancers, from exposure decades before.

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How many will die before the mesothelioma dust settles?

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Connie Schultz
Plain Dealer Columnist

It happens in large families all the time: Parents organize kids by age and ability and divvy up the chores.

Kati Maloney was the second-oldest daughter of eight, and her job was the laundry. Week after week, she gathered and sorted the clothes in the family's basement on Cleveland's West Side.

Her father's work clothes took extra effort. She'd grab one shirt at a time, turn her head and shake. With every snap, dust particles from asbestos filled the air.

Week after week, Kati breathed in the dust.

Four decades later, Kati couldn't breathe anymore.

Kathleen Maloney LoPresti died at 55 from mesothelioma, the same asbestos-related disease that killed her father and her uncle. Unlike her dad, she never worked directly with the deadly "magic mineral."
But she took good enough care of him for it to kill her anyway.

The question looms: How many more Kati's are there?

"We know the secondary victims of asbestos are out there," said Dr. Pasi Janne, a thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and one of Kati's doctors. "We don't know how many there are, and we don't know yet if they're mostly women."

It may be getting easier to connect the dots from what we do know.

So far, mostly white, male laborers get mesothelioma, Janne said. They were the guys who got the better-paying, often union, jobs that exposed them to asbestos, which also increased their chances of lung cancer.

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Mesothelioma facts

1. Mesothelioma usually appears in the outer lining of the lungs and the chest cavity, the lining of the abdominal cavity, and/or in the sac that surrounds the heart.
2. The symptoms of mesothelioma might not appear until 30 to 50 years after a person has been exposed to asbestos.
3. Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are standard treatment options.
4. About 10,000 Americans die each year as a result of asbestos exposure.

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New statistics unveiled by the Health and Safety Executive show an increase in the number of people who have died from mesothelioma.

The figures released this week show more than 2,000 North East people died from the disease from 1985 to 2004. The figure is increased from 1701 deaths from 1981 to 2000.

Additionally the statistics from the Mesothelioma Register show more women than ever are affected by the disease, with 251 deaths during the period compared to 216.

Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at Thompsons Solicitors, said: "These figures once again highlight the devastation asbestos has inflicted on people in the North East. Many of those affected worked in shipyards, factories or building sites and were given no protection or warning about the risks of asbestos exposure despite their employers being fully aware of the dangers.

"Although shocking, these figures come as no surprise given the widespread use of asbestos in the past. Sadly, the number of people who will die from this disease will continue to rise until 2020."

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Woman Suffers From Mesothelioma

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What causes mesothelioma?

Virtually all cases of mesothelioma are related to inhaling of asbestos fibers. There are about 3,000 cases per year (mostly men over the age of 40) and there will be about 300,000 cases before 2030. Mesothelioma usually spreads rapidly through the mesothelial cells to the heart and abdominal organs. The life span is typically 24 months after diagnosis, but it depends on what stage the cancer is detected, the health of the patient and other factors.

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is the term used to describe a cancerous tumor that involves the mesothelial cells of an organ. Mesothelial cells are cells that form a protective lining over the lungs, heart and abdominal organs. The most common type of mesothelioma is pleural mesothelioma.

The pleura is a thin membrane found between the lungs and the chest cavity.

It provides a lubricated surface so that the lungs do not rub and chafe against the chest walls.