Mesothelioma Help Cancer News

Mesothelioma Patients are encouraged to Seek Care for PTSD

• Lisa Hyde-Barrett
• Nurse's Corner, Uncategorized

Many people who have been diagnosed with a serious illness, including mesothelioma, will experience PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder is triggered by a traumatic event. It can be described as a kind of anxiety. The person or patient who experiences this can experience a feeling of helplessness, fear or shock. Many who have experienced a traumatic event will heal with time and through healthy coping methods.

According to the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, 40% of sufferers develop PTSD after a loved one dies suddenly. The most common symptoms of PTSD are nightmares, frightening thoughts, sweating, shaking , refusal to discuss the event, reduced interest in life and feeling numb emotionally and mentally.

A life threatening illness like mesothelioma can cause PTSD. Many medical professionals  are becoming aware of this phenomenon and are setting up support groups for patients and caregivers. The symptoms usually develop within three months of the event. It can occur several months later or even years later.

If you are experiencing PTSD symptoms that last more than one month, you should seek medical attention. Patients need to seek PTSD care because their stress and anxiety could inhibit them from getting proper mesothelioma treatment or follow up care. The more intensive the treatment plan for mesothelioma, the higher the risk patients have of developing PTSD.

One of the top mesothelioma centers in the U.S. is in the process of setting up a support group and a clinic specifically for patients who need support for this type of PTSD. Often treatment includes psychotherapy. There are counselors who specialize in helping patients and their caregivers dealing with cancer.

Counselors cannot always solve the issues, but they can provide a safe place for people to discuss their issues. Depression, relationship issues, financial and emotional concern, and managing cancer symptoms and side effects, such as pain and fatigue, are some of the real concerns that can be discussed.

The key is to get treatment for your mesothelioma, but to also take care of your whole self. Living with cancer is a big challenge, and often a few conversations with a counselor can be helpful.

WT-1 Vaccine Granted Fast Track Designation for Pleural Mesothelioma

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News

Mesothelioma Help has reported several times on the positive results realized in pleural mesothelioma clinical trials with the WT-1 vaccine. In June, we reported on the “exciting results” from two separate phase II clinical trials for the drug for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and malignant pleural mesothelioma. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted fast-track designation to the drug for pleural mesothelioma.

According to a Sept. 19 press release from Sellas Life Sciences Group, the maker of the drug, the FDA granted the status to galinpepimut-S following results of the phase II trial that showed median overall survival was 24.8 months in patients treated with the WT-1 vaccine compared with just 16.6 months in mesothelioma patients who did not receive the treatment. The company reports “survival benefit was even greater” in surgical mesothelioma patients who had the tumors removed and were then treated with galinpepimut-S.

“This fast track designation underscores the importance of galinpepimut-S as a potential treatment option in mesothelioma,” said Angelos M. Stergiou, MD, vice chairman and CEO of SELLAS Life Sciences Group. “We are excited to begin the pivotal Phase 3 trial in patients with MPM [malignant pleural mesothelioma] in the second half of 2017 and expect the Fast Track designation to expedite the time to market, thereby enhancing the value proposition of galinpepimut-S in this indication.”

The fast track designation from the FDA is a process designed to facilitate the development, and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. The purpose is to get important new drugs to the patient earlier, according to the FDA. The agency looks at  whether the proposed drug will have an impact on such factors as survival, day-to-day functioning, or the likelihood that the condition, if left untreated, will progress from a less severe condition to a more serious one.

Anne Tsao, M.D., Director of the Mesothelioma Program and the Thoracic Chemo-Radiation Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reports through Clinical Care Options online curriculum, that the WT-1 vaccine is one of the up and coming treatments for mesothelioma to keep an eye on. She explains that WT-1, the Wilms tumor protein, is found on mesothelioma cell surfaces making it “an excellent target for immunotherapy.” Galinpepimut-S is a late clinical-stage immunotherapy.

Don Smitley, whose battle with mesothelioma has been chronicled by his daughter Jennifer Gelsick in “Faces of Mesothelioma,” was a participant in the WT-1 clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Smitley and his family remained positive throughout the trial and the family continues to Encourage Mesothelioma Patients to participate in mesothelioma trials.

“I believe that we are so close to finding a cure, and the doctors and other researchers we have been so fortunate to work with are among those vitally instrumental in this crusade,” says Jennifer. “Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone of home and travel for these amazing treatments.”

“Galinpepimut-S is demonstrating its potential as an anti-cancer agent, with outstanding results regarding survival, immunological responses, and safety in AML and MPM patients,” said Dr. Stergiou.

Read about the WT-1 trial results.

Sources :

• Sellas Life Sciences Group
  http://sellaslifesciences.com/2016/06/sellas-life-sciences-announces-exciting-results-for-galinpepimut-s-the-companys-wt1-vaccine-in-patients-with-acute-myeloid-leukemia-aml-and-malignant-pleural-mesothelioma-mpm-as-prese/
• fast track designation from the FDA
  http://www.fda.gov/ForPatients/Approvals/Fast/ucm405399.htm

Mesothelioma Biomarker Could Lead to “Promising” Treatment

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News, Treatments

Researchers continue to focus on biomarkers as a target to increase the effectiveness of existing treatments for malignant mesothelioma. These genetic characteristics can be used to indicate the progress of mesothelioma, help determine an appropriate treatment, and assess the effectiveness of that treatment. Now, researchers have identified a biomarker that they believe points to poor prognosis in mesothelioma patients, but that could also lead to a promising therapeutic approach for the asbestos-caused cancer.

Researchers from Japan report the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), also known as CD87, that  is normally expressed throughout the body, including in the colon and kidneys, was found at elevated levels in a mouse model with mesothelioma. The team from Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan, found that the higher the level of  uPAR, the worse the prognosis was for the mice.

“For the first time, we showed that uPAR overexpression is observed in asbestos-induced rat MM [malignant mesothelioma], regardless of the asbestos fibers used for carcinogenesis and the histological subtype of MM,” wrote the authors. “These data indicate that uPAR overexpression is a common and important expressional alteration in MM.”

The researchers then went on to discover that overexpression of uPAR is also associated with sensitivity to the platinum-based chemotherapy drug cisplatin. When they blocked the level of uPAR in the mice, there was a rise in the sensitivity to cisplatin. On the contrary, higher levels of uPAR “significantly decreased cisplatin sensitivity.”

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, marker levels may be measured before treatment to help doctors plan the appropriate therapy. In some types of cancer, the level of a tumor marker reflects the stage (extent) of the disease and/or the patient’s prognosis (likely outcome or course of disease).

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/science/biomarkers/

Mesothelioma is an aggressive, terminal cancer found in the lining of the lungs, heart and abdomen in patients previously exposed to asbestos. Although the cancer has been shown to be chemo-resistant, chemotherapy continues to be one of the primary treatment protocols for the disease, with the preferred combination being gemcitabine and cisplatin.

Patients nearly always develop resistance to chemotherapy, leading to metastasis of the cancer. However, studies like this where research is done to identify ways to increase the sensitivity, and thus the effectiveness, of cisplatin, and potentially other existing treatments, can lead to an increase in patient survival.

“In addition to the potential use of uPAR as a prognostic marker, the combination of uPAR abrogation and cisplatin may reveal a promising therapeutic approach for MM,” the researchers concluded.”

See the Sept. 2 issue of Oncotarget for the full report.

http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php?journal=oncotarget&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=10430

Nurse Encourages Mesothelioma Patients

• Lisa Hyde-Barrett
• Nurse's Corner

We all know that everyone’s mesothelioma is as unique as their own fingerprints. I visited three patients this week, and there is no doubt that each recovery is as unique as the patient. Although the patients all had similar surgery, their recovery has taken its own course.

The first patient I saw was a man who was staying at a local apartment which he rented for his wife and himself. He chose this option because he traveled from another state and it suited his needs. He had surgery approximately one month ago, and he has had clots and one readmission since his original discharge.

One of his biggest issues is his lack of appetite. Nothing tastes good and he is not interested in eating. He was placed on an appetite stimulant which hopefully will improve his nutritional status. They are anxious to return home, but they both realize that this is the place for them for now. Attached to him is a pneumostat [chest drain] waiting for his lung to heal. It is a device that can be uncomfortable and a nuisance, but it allowed him to be discharged from the hospital. He also has complaints of tenderness and pain at his incision site and across his abdomen.

Usually patients have numbness and then a tingling uncomfortable feeling. Although he has weaned himself from the narcotics and is improving, he was unsure of his physical complaints. As I explained, nothing is normal, yet everything is normal.

The next patient I saw had surgery about two months ago. His hospitalization was lengthy because of infection. He finally made it to rehab and was so grateful to be there. He was grateful for his new environment as well as his previous hospitalization. He was full of gratitude and felt fortunate to have come to a place where someone could treat his disease. His stay at rehab was a couple of weeks, but he was planning on being discharged within the week. He was anxious to get home and to be around his family and friends.

The last patient I saw had been at rehab for approximately seven weeks. Unfortunately, her progress was slow. Her surgery was about 15 weeks ago and she was very de-conditioned. Her body was weak and she required the assistance of a ventilator to help her breathe. Another factor that seemed to cause issues was her anxiety. Often times her anxiety inhibited her progress. This week she was able to be off the ventilator for 3.5 hours –  a huge accomplishment. Her home is not close to rehab so her visits from family and friends are regular, but not as frequent as we all wished for her. Although this has been a long road there is hope and improvement.

We know that patients struggle with mesothelioma and the recovery, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We all have our own unique stories to tell.

Moving Beyond Grief After Mesothelioma

• Joseph Belluck
• Faces of Mesothelioma, Uncategorized

We have all heard about there being stages of grief, with the last one being acceptance. Once you do accept that your loved one is gone, what happens from there? I think that maybe “Missing” should be another stage. Even though I have acknowledged that my Dad is gone, I don’t really accept it.

I was there every step of the way throughout my father’s battle with mesothelioma. I saw him suffer, go through physical and emotional trials, and ultimately be taken by this disease. Even though I know what happened, it doesn’t make his death any easier to digest.

Although I still grieve for Dad every day, I think that now I miss him more than at first. In the days and weeks after his passing, I was still in shock, trying to figure out what had happened. How could he really be gone? I was still expecting him to walk through the door, smile, and say that it was all a big misunderstanding and that he was going to be fine.

A profound loss is a lot to process. Once I had a chance to really understand what had happened, I started to really miss Dad. I miss his laugh, his stories, his way of making even the biggest challenges seem like nothing. I miss him at family events, at weddings, on holidays. It’s a different type of grief that will never go away.

Knowing that my father no longer has to bear the agony of mesothelioma does bring me comfort. I know that he is in a better place with no more pain or suffering. Even though I understand that with all of my being, I still miss him. Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I would give anything for him to be here to see my daughter. I would love to hear his laugh and have him tell me, one more time, that he loves me and that everything is going to be ok.

Grieving for someone that you love is a long and bitter undertaking. It is a journey that we each have to take in our own way. For me, it is now easier for me to look back and laugh at things that Dad and I did together. Now, I can see these things as fond memories, not painful ones. These recollections deserve to be greeted with a heart full of happiness, not an empty ache.

I will always look back on my Dad’s life and wonder why it couldn’t have been longer. He was taken from us far too soon. However, I know that he would rather us all be happy and think of him with a smile. Even though I’ll always miss my father, I pray that we’ll meet again someday.