Mesothelioma Help Cancer News
Mesothelin May Play Multiple Roles in Spread of Mesothelioma, Other Cancers
Mesothelin is a protein found on the surface of some cells in the human body. Its biological purpose is a bit of a mystery frankly. But it occurs in overabundance in certain types of cancer cells including ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen. Therefore, it’s on scientists’ radar screen.
Scientists are evaluating the role of mesothelin in the spread of cancer and its potential usefulness as a signal of cancer for doctors who are trying to diagnose a patient’s disease such as mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. There are treatments for mesothelioma, but as yet, there is no known cure. Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma each year in the U.S., primarily as a result of asbestos exposure at a workplace or during military service.
In a mesothelioma researcharticle published in February 2013 in the journal Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, medical researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and East China Normal University in Shanghai, say that there are three ways that mesothelin may play a role in the advance of cancer, as previous studies have suggested:
- Implantation — Mesothelin may aid in the implantation of tumors in the abdominal cavity, leading to peritoneal mesothelioma;
- Survival — Mesothelin may play an important role in the survival of cancer cells;
- Resistance — The presence of mesothelin may cause resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs.
As a result of the key role of mesothelin, the researchers say that a drug that neutralizes the functionality of mesothelin may be helpful in cancer treatment, making chemotherapy drugs more effective, for instance. Some antibody drugs that disrupt the function of mesothelin are currently being evaluated in clinical studies.
The researchers say additional research is needed to evaluate the role of mesothelin in the growth and spread of malignant tumors, cancer cell survival and drug resistance. They conclude that studies on mesothelin biology may give opportunities for more effective antibody therapy targeting mesothelin in solid tumors.
Assessing The Risk of Mesothelioma for Car Mechanics and Brake Technicians
A recent study in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health suggests that automobile mechanics and car service technicians may be at risk of developing mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos-containing brake dust. Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive type of cancer that develops in the lining of the chest cavity and is caused by the presence of asbestos fibers.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University conclude that there is a “net of evidence” favoring a causal relationship between exposure to brake dust containing chrysotile asbestos and mesothelioma. They say that the brake manufacturers’ position that there is an insufficient chain of evidence to link brake dust to mesothelioma is inaccurate. They suggest that further research is needed.
While many brakes and clutches in newer model cars do not contain asbestos, some brakes shoes and pads and clutch linings in use even today in the United States contain asbestos, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If you work at a brake shop or a auto repair garage, you cannot determine whether brake or clutch components contain asbestos just by looking at them. But if the brakes or clutches contain asbestos, then the dust may contain asbestos.
Brake and clutch dust is often visible when a brake disk, drum or clutch cover is removed from a car or truck. The dust may contain asbestos. If you are an auto mechanic, you should not blow dust from brakes or clutches, according to EPA’s current best practices for avoiding asbestos exposure.
Using compressed air, a brush or a dry rag to clean brake assemblages has the potential to expose you to asbestos fibers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Compressed air blows dust into the air. Airborne dust allows the microscopic particles of asbestos to be inhaled.
Mechanics should assume that brakes have asbestos-type shoes and use brake dust control procedures, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. If a mechanic assumes a brake does not contain asbestos, they may be exposed to asbestos. Exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs.
The symptoms of mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease typically take 20 years to 50 years to appear. A mechanic who worked on auto brakes in the 1960s may only recently have begun experiencing symptoms or been diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Sources:
- Study in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/cookieAbsent - Portland State University
https://www.pdx.edu
Mesothelioma Patients Have Built-In Support Group in Their Family
There are many wonderful support groups out there for patients and families of those with mesothelioma. You are encouraged to share your experiences and get insight and support from others who have been in a similar situation. However, support groups aren’t for everyone, as some people prefer to keep to themselves or turn to their family.
Family is key in helping mesothelioma patients recover physically as well as mentally and emotionally. Family members should encourage their loved ones and assure them that you’re there to help in any way. A listening ear can be invaluable. Try not to push the person to talk about their diagnosis if they don’t feel up to it. They are going through a huge emotional strain and, although it’s healthy to talk about your problems, you have to let them do it on their own time.
Do your best not to push your family member too much to do things they don’t feel up to doing, or may not be physically ready to perform. As essential as it is for them to move around and exercise, you don’t want them to overexert themselves. It might take them a long time to rebound from a long day at the mall or an extended trip.
I believe that everything has a balance, and this situation is no exception. Supporting a family member with mesothelioma is an honor, but it can be tough at times as well. Hearing about their pain and suffering is a trying experience, but remember, you are there for them, not the other way around in this case.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you are having a hard time coping with the diagnosis of a loved one, there are plenty of external resources and support groups for you, too. The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has many different options for caregivers as well as survivors. Take advantage of these services that are so precious.
There are other online support groups such as Cancer Buddies Network. Cancer Buddies Network is an online support network for anyone, anywhere affected by cancer. Share the ups and downs, laughter and tears with someone who knows how it feels because they’ve been there too. You can either chat 1-to-1 by private messaging onsite, or on our lively forum 24/7. Whether you have experienced cancer yourself, or you are family, friend or carer, you can search for your buddy simply and safely on their dedicated website.
Keep your chin up, and continue to pray! Remember, a cure could come at any time!
Penn Researchers Developing Protein ‘Passport’ To Help Deliver Cancer Drugs
The body’s immune system is designed to defend against bacteria, viruses and other perceived “foreign invaders” that assault the body. Unfortunately, the immune system doesn’t distinguish between harmful bacteria and friendly foreign objects such as medical devices implanted in a patient or nanoparticles used to deliver medicine to tumors. That poses complications to doctors trying to administer treatments to people with cancer, including malignant mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
Doctors would like to avoid triggering an inflammatory response in cancer patients when they administer medicine or when implanting a pacemaker or artificial joint. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are experimenting with what they describe as “a passport” to allow therapeutic devices to get past the immune system, according to new research published in the journal Science.
The human body’s innate immune system responds to foreign bodies in a generalized way, trying to destroy anything it doesn’t recognize as a part of the body. The team of Penn researchers says the solution is to make the foreign particles seem like part of the body so the immune system doesn’t destroy them.
The researchers reported this week that they had accomplished that feat in lab mice, attaching customized protein fragments to foreign particles that tricked the animals’ immune system. The key was tricking the immune-system “border guards” known as macrophages that are a type of white blood cell that find and eat invaders. Macrophages continually monitor the bloodstream for a type of protein called CD47, a marker of self. If an object such as a red blood cell has CD47 on its membrane, the macrophages let it pass.
The Penn team leader, Dennis E. Discher, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, compared CD47 to a passport that identifies a cell as part of the body rather than a foreign object. The research team attached fragments of CD47 to plastic nanoparticles, then injected them into laboratory mice. Nanoparticles, which are smaller than one-billionth of a meter, are useful in delivering, antibodies, drugs and imaging agents and are being studied for diagnosis and treatment of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The researchers said the technique enhanced the performance of nanoparticles carrying tumor-shrinking medicine and other loaded with dye to capture images of the tumors. They observed that the particles carrying a cancer drug Taxol were shrinking tumors in mice.
Discher said in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that the technique could be useful in overcoming resistance to much larger foreign objects in the body such as pacemakers and joint replacements.
Researchers not involved in the research called it a promising advance, though it will take some years before the technique is ready to use with human cancer patients.
Know more about mesothelioma and how you can deal with it.
Anxiety Before Followup Mesothelioma Scan
The following post is Part I of an article from Jan Egerton, a long-time mesothelioma survivor. Jan has suffered many setbacks during her battle with mesothelioma, and here she discusses her last struggle with chemotherapy and the anxiety leading up to her CT scan.
After a terrible few weeks leading up to the appointment for my followup CT scan, I had set my mind that no matter what, I was having chemotherapy for the third time. I was dreading the chemotherapy, but with the choice of something that could work against me or only one trial on offer in the UK what choice did I have?
I still class myself as a healthy person, the only thing wrong with me is mesothelioma, and okay, this annoying bile problem that has developed over the years from a mixture of the side effects of chemo and having my gall bladder removed to prove a point. [Jan has been struggling with bile buildup in her stomach.] I have found I don’t ail from the normal things that people without cancer do.
On the eve of my first chemotherapy infusion I started with one of my “sessions”, this is when my mesothelioma is on the warpath and does a kind of growing surge, at least that’s what I say. My temperature drops to around 35.3C [95.5F], I can’t get comfortable and I feel like my adrenalin is pumping. When they took my temperature before commencing the infusion, again showing it was low, I was worried they wouldn’t go ahead, but I told the nurse it would be alright I was having a “mesothelioma growth spurt.”
I knew the minute the chemotherapy started pumping through my veins it would do some damage [to the cancer cells], even at the low dose of 50% of what my body could handle. That night my body hurt, each area where my mesothelioma resides told me it wasn’t happy, I could imagine each tumour opening like a flower to send its seeds out and the chemo creeping in and killing all the seeds. It was a full out war going on inside.
The second infusion wasn’t a good one [November, 2012], my body took a dislike to the carboplatin as it was pumping through my veins, and I found myself in an ambulance being transferred to a hospital with an A & E department. Needless to say that was the last chemotherapy I was allowed.
Now I really dreaded the upcoming CT scan: my aches and pains were worse, my imaginary steel cage that tightens around my left ribs had turned to a solid iron one, each movement feeling restricted, my back ached and I felt dreadful. My bile problem had also increased in intensity, and I was sure when I finally had my CT scan, some two months after my second infusion, it was going to be extremely bad news.
I was giving myself a year at most, so I looked at projects I wanted to get done before I was too ill to complete them. My life with my husband was the most important one, creating a storyboard of our time together, the happy times, the dogs we have poured our love on, the holidays we have had – I wanted it all mapped out and put onto DVD’s so if he wanted to remember me all he had to do was press play.
Read Part II of Jan’s story next week to find out the results of her scan.
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