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Month: December 2016

Mesothelioma Patients are Not Alone

Mesothelioma Patients are Not Alone on their Journey

Throughout my father’s journey with mesothelioma, and even now, I have been blessed with wonderful family members and friends to support me. They have been there through every triumph and struggle, all the ups and downs of this part of my life, but sometimes, I still find myself feeling alone.

When you are faced with a life altering event like a mesothelioma diagnosis, it’s easy to find yourself feeling like no one understands. My entire family was doing their best to cope with the news, but each one of us had to process it, and ultimately go through it, on our own. It’s important to remember that no two people are just alike. If you gave 100 people the same exact situation, you would have 100 different reactions. It is this way with every turning point in your life.

Something else to remember is that it’s ok if you don’t want to share every detail of your experience with this disease with the world. There are some things that you want to keep private. Even I, writing about my family’s story all these years, don’t divulge every nuance of our lives. People will ask questions, and it’s ok to say that you aren’t comfortable discussing it. The topic of mesothelioma may be all that you’re asked about. Sure, there are some people out there who are just being nosey, but the vast majority are truly concerned and want to help.

Keep in mind that even though you may feel like you are on this road by yourself, you are not. Your friends and family are right there with you, undertaking this journey in their own way. Even though it may not be easy, try to keep an open line of communication so that when someone does decide they want to talk, they know that somebody will be there to listen.

Please remember that you have countless people praying for you. Total strangers know how they felt at different points in a mesothelioma story, and only want the best for you and your loved ones. Keep the faith and remember that you are not alone.

Top Mesothelioma Stories

2016 Year in Review: Top Mesothelioma Stories

2016 is coming to a close, and while another year has gone by with no cure for mesothelioma, many believe this year’s research efforts brought the mesothelioma community much closer to that goal. There are treatments in clinical trials, promising leads still in the lab, and recently approved treatments now available to patients that show promise for effectively fighting the asbestos-caused cancer.

Every year Mesothelioma Help reports on the top mesothelioma stories of the year, and below we highlight some of our most important stories of 2016.

Number One MesotheliomaHelp Story of 2016

This is the third year in a row that we have selected Mavis Nye of England, who has been living with mesothelioma for over seven years, for the top spot of our news stories for the year. Mavis, who has been a staunch advocate for herself and for all mesothelioma patients, successfully completed a two-year clinical trial of the drug known as Keytruda in the U.S. And, in July, Mavis was the first person in the UK to be able to claim she is in remission from mesothelioma.

In 2014, Mavis enrolled in the MK-3475 clinical trial being run at The Royal Marsden, a world-leading cancer center in the UK. Mavis was the first mesothelioma patient in the UK to participate in the trial designed to test the efficacy of the drug, developed by Merck, in suppressing the PD-L1 biomarker found in cancer cells. PD-L1, or programmed death-ligand 1, is a protein that has been shown to play a role in suppressing the immune system during cancer and other diseases.

Patients across the U.S. are clamoring for Keytruda after 91-year-old, former president Jimmy Carter announced last year that the drug helped him beat melanoma, that had metastasized to his liver and brain.

Thank you Mavis for paving the way for other mesothelioma patients!

U.S. Government Funds Allocated for Cancer Research

The U.S. Government has continued to support research to improve and protect the health of all Americans. During the last year, our representatives and President Obama have approved significant funding to bring new, effective cancer treatments to patients more quickly.

  • Cancer Moonshot Initiative: In President Obama’s State of the Union address in January he announced a national effort to “cure cancer” through the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. With a goal to accelerate cancer research, President Obama allocated the money and put Vice President Joe Biden at the helm. The hope is that the Moonshot will bring about the breakthroughs needed to bring an end to the needless suffering of millions of Americans – and ultimately, people worldwide. The Cancer Moonshot Task Force will consult with external experts, including the presidentially appointed National Cancer Advisory Board with a charge to provide expert advice on the vision, proposed scientific goals, and implementation of the Cancer Moonshot.
  • The 21st Century Cures Act: The U.S. government has allocated billions to ensure Americans have the resources necessary to target many of the top medical issues today. Nearly $5 billion has been allocated to fight cancer. This includes $1.8 billion in new resources to transform cancer research and accelerate discoveries towards the Moonshot initiative, and close to $3 billion towards the President’s Precision Medicine Initiatives, among other initiatives, to improve health.

“21st Century Cures is the innovation game-changer that patients, their loved ones, and the nation’s researchers and scientists so desperately need.”

  • The 2017 Defense Appropriations Bill: Mesothelioma was first funded through the bill in 2011 and has been on the list every year since then, with mesothelioma-eligible funding once again earmarked for 2017. $30 million was allocated for distribution among eligible cancers including mesothelioma, brain cancer, colorectal cancer, listeria vaccine for cancer and many others. An additional $12 million is set aside specifically for the lung cancer research program. The bill provides a total of $282 million for cancer research.

“The Committee commends the Department of Defense for ensuring that projects funded through the various peer-reviewed cancer research programs maintain a focus on issues of significance to military populations and the warfighter.” Close to 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year, with nearly one-third of those being military veterans.

Clinical Trials Underway Benefit Mesothelioma Community

  • ONCOS-102: Announced in November, this clinical trial is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of ONCOS-102, an immuno-oncology therapy, when administered in combination with chemotherapy drugs. The clinical trial, being conducted at the Hospital Universitario Quirón in Barcelona, Spain, begins with a Phase 1b trial of a cohort of six patients who will first receive ONCOS-102 with pemetrexed/cisplatin. The standard of care for pleural mesothelioma is the combination therapy of pemetrexed and cisplatin.
  • CRS-207: Aduro-Biotech, the maker of the Listeria-based vaccine that has been engineered to induce immune system T cells to target cancer cells that express mesothelin, reports continued encouraging results with the immunotherapy drug in its ongoing Phase 1b mesothelioma clinical trial. The company reports 82% of patients had disease control, with 55% achieving a partial response, and 27% with stable disease; and tumor shrinkage was observed in 77% of patients. The company hopes to advance directly to a Phase 3 clinical trial due to these encouraging results seen in mesothelioma patients.
  • Opdivo: Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina have opened a Phase IB/II clinical trial with Opdivo (nivolumab), a drug that has already shown “spectacular results” for treating lung cancer patients, to assess whether a longer survival can be achieved with patients when ALT-803 is added to nivolumab. Developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Opdivo works by blocking the PD-L1 protein and activating the immune system, leading it to attack and kill cancer cells. ALT-803, being developed by Altor BioScience Corporation, is an immune stimulation drug. By combining these two forms of immunotherapy drugs, the researchers are hoping to deliver a one-two punch to the cancer cells.

FDA Approvals

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been on a roll this year in approving anti-cancer drugs. While none of the approvals are specific to mesothelioma, those approved for lung cancer care open new doors for treatment of mesothelioma patients.

  • In January, the FDA approved Keytruda for first-line treatment in melanoma patients, then in October, Keytruda became the only anti-PD-1 therapy approved by the FDA for first-line treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Keytruda works by targeting the cellular pathway known as PD-1/PD-L1 (proteins found on the body’s immune cells and some cancer cells). This is the same drug that gave Mavis Nye her life back.
  • Roche’s immunotherapy drug atezolizumab, known as TECENTRIQ, was approved in October for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose disease progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy. Compared with the chemotherapy drug docetaxel, patients in the trials saw a 4.2 and a 2.9 month improvement in overall survival, respectively.

About Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer of the lungs, heart or abdomen, caused by past exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma has a long latency period where those exposed to asbestos may not exhibit symptoms for nearly 60 years after exposure. Mesothelioma can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, however, the likelihood of recurrence of the cancer is high. There is no cure for mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Help will continue to bring timely, thoroughly researched articles to our readers in 2017.

Make the Holiday Special for Mesothelioma Patients

It’s the Little Things That Make the Holiday Special for Mesothelioma Patients

This weekend, people around the world will be celebrating the holidays with family and friends. Mesothelioma patients and their families are more than likely taking a little extra time to appreciate the little things that make their time together special. Whether it is enjoying the lights of the season, a light snow falling, a football game on TV, a fire in the fireplace or the bite of a delicious cookie, taking the time to sit back and enjoy the simple pleasures of life can ease some of the stress of the season.

Unfortunately, treatments, doctors’ appointments, and the pain of the disease don’t stop during the holiday season. But patients who take the time to forget about their disease, if for just one day, will feel a little more relaxed when they return for their next appointment.

If you have a friend or a loved one suffering from a serious illness, consider taking the time to send a hand-written card, deliver a homemade treat or simply stop by for a short visit to let them know you are thinking of them.

While many factors determine survival for a mesothelioma patient, such as treatment plan and overall health and fitness of the patient, physicians also believe that a positive outlook and affirming thoughts can result in the improvement in a patient’s health. Mesothelioma patients should try to use the holiday cheer to help raise their mood and lower their anxiety level to help them feel better. Maybe those feelings will carry into the next day, week and month.

Warm wishes from all of us at MesotheliomaHelp.

Drug Delivery System - Mesothelioma Treatments

Automatic Drug Delivery System Can Increase Effectiveness of Mesothelioma Treatments

Mesothelioma patients are often faced with a cocktail of drugs including anti-cancer, anti-nausea, and antibiotics when undergoing treatments. This involves countless, and sometimes lengthy, medical appointments to receive chemotherapy infusions and other injections. Now, a new implantable drug delivery device may revolutionize the way cancer patients receive their medications.

Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), in partnership with Houston Methodist Research Institute began researching a safer, more effective way to deliver medications to chronically ill patients since precision dosing is needed for maximum effectiveness. When patients are put in charge of their own medications they may forget to take them or, on the other hand, they may inadvertently take too much of a drug, leading to sometimes devastating side effects. For chemotherapy drugs and other infusions, a visit to a medical center is required. These trips can be hard on extremely ill patients, often leaving them exhausted.

Led by Lyle Hood, study lead and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UTSA, the research team developed a tiny implantable capsule that can deliver medicinal doses for several days or a few weeks, according to a Dec. 2 article in Science Daily. The mechanism can be used for illnesses requiring a localized drug delivery over an extended period of time, such as cancer where the drug can be released directly in the tumor, or for HIV.

The researchers are hopeful that the “new device could revolutionize the delivery of medicine to treat cancer,” and other illnesses. Hood plans to pursue using the device for immunotherapy treatments for cancer patients.

“It’s an implantable capsule, filled with medicinal fluid that uses about 5000 nanochannels to regulate the rate of release of the medicine,” said Hood. “This way, we have the proper amount of drugs in a person’s system to be effective, but not so much that they’ll harm that person.”

While many mesothelioma patients are familiar with a port that is temporarily implanted for chemotherapy treatments, this device is injected under the skin and actually carries the medicine itself. The team hopes to have a fully biodegradable unit available in the future that can be swallowed.

Mesothelioma is an asbestos-caused cancer of the lungs, abdomen or heart that is very aggressive. The cancer requires an equally aggressive treatment, however, sometimes the dosing given in one visit can be too toxic for many patients. This type of delivery system that can give a steady amount of drugs over a period of time could help avoid this issue, while allowing the patient to remain at home.

Mesothelioma is diagnosed in close to 3,000 Americans each year. There is no cure for the cancer.

Feeding Tubes as Part of Mesothelioma Care

Feeding Tubes as Part of Mesothelioma Care

During a patient’s journey with mesothelioma, or any cancer, nutrition plays a vital role. Research has shown us how important proper nutrition is in the healing process. It is a building block of recovery, especially one that includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Some patients who are having treatment for mesothelioma have a complication that involves inserting a feeding tube. Often, this is a temporary measure until the patient is stronger and is able to maintain their nutritional status on their own.

The thought of a tube being inserted into your body, and feedings going through them is a difficult concept for many patients and their families.

There is a lot of misinformation regarding the insertion of a feeding tube and the role of tube feedings in treatment of patients. Insertion of a feeding tube and initiation of tube feedings are always done after careful consultation with the patient’s medical team and the patient. There are a lot of different scenarios for why a feeding tube might be recommended for a patient.

Feeding tubes can be placed in the nose or abdomen. For patients who are going to need them for more than a few days, it is usually the abdomen. Patients who are going to a rehab facility after their hospitalization usually have the feeding tube placed in their abdomen. The tubes themselves can be temporary and can be removed when they are no longer needed.

There are different kinds of feeding tubes and different reasons for placing the tubes where they are being placed. A nasogastric tube is placed through the nose, and the tube ends up in the stomach. This tube is good for patients who require feeding for a short amount of time.

A direct method to the stomach is a gastrostomy tube- which is placed into the stomach with the tube coming through the abdomen. A percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube, PEG tube, is a technique for placing a gastrostomy through the skin to the stomach. A jejunostomy tube, J-tube, is placed directly to the intestine instead of through the stomach. There is also a percutaneous route to insert this tube called a PEJ tube. There are also tubes that have a gastric portion and a jejunal portion. The location of the tube is decided based on the individual patient‘s situation.

The whole issue of feeding tubes and the actual tube feedings can be overwhelming. There are resources available on the internet for support and questions. See the Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation and www.shieldhealthcare.com for more information.

From my experience with mesothelioma patients, when feeding tubes are inserted and tube feedings begin it is usually a temporary measure allowing patients to heal over time. We have seen patients regain their strength quickly and no longer need the tube.

All patients and their mesothelioma care are unique. Ask questions of your team. Reach out for information as you, your family and your medical care team all work toward the best possible care.

Free Mesothelioma Patient & Treatment Guide

We’d like to offer you our in-depth guide, “A Patient’s Guide to Mesothelioma,” absolutely free of charge.

It contains a wealth of information and resources to help you better understand the condition, choose (and afford) appropriate treatment, and exercise your legal right to compensation.

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