Mesothelioma Help Cancer News

This Spring Brings Breakthroughs and Hope to Mesothelioma Community

• Lisa Hyde-Barrett
• Nurse's Corner

There are many reasons this spring for victims of mesothelioma and their families to be optimistic regarding progress towards a cure.  There have been several research articles that  have been published that have identified sub groups of mesothelioma, and different interventions that have worked on certain subgroups of patients.

There is no magic pill or one-size-fits-all approach to finding a cure for this complicated disease.  Progress is being made. There is excitement among the scientists that they are chipping away on many fronts.  Immunotherapy, chemotherapy, identification of the type of mesothelioma, and combinations of therapies are all actively being explored.

Some of the exciting findings that have been published are:

• Identification of four distinct molecular subtypes of mesothelioma: sarcomatoid, epithelioid, biphasic-epithelioid (biphasic-E) and biphasic-sarcomatoid (biphasic-E).
• Identification of recurrent gene mutations in several genes.
• That recurrent gene fusion and splice alterations to be frequent mechanisms for inactivation of three genes in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The above were published in Nature Genetics, February 2016, authored by Raphael Bueno et. al.

What does all this mean to a patient with mesothelioma today?  In today’s world, and in the future of personalized therapy, understanding what drives malignant pleural mesothelioma on the genetic level is essential. With this information the diagnosis and prognosis can be more accurately personalized. At some point in the future, therapy will be tailored to the patient’s individual tumor type. Drug therapy can then be tried to interfere with the pathways.

None of this progress would be possible without participation in clinical trials. There is no magic bullet for mesothelioma that will cure it overnight.  With this research we are further down the path of personalized mesothelioma care with the expectation that lives will be prolonged and a cure will be in the future.

Just as spring is a season of new growth, opportunities, and new beginnings, this research brings new hope to victims and their families of mesothelioma.

Afatinib Better Than Gefitinib in Extending Survival for Lung Cancer Patients

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News

In January 2015, Boehringer Ingelheim reported results from clinical trials that showed EGFR-expressed lung cancer patients treated with afatinib saw “significantly extended overall survival” over those treated with chemotherapy.” Now, in the latest study, comparing the benefits of afatinib over gefitinib, researchers report afatinib resulted in improved progression-free survival  compared with gefitinib.

An international team of researchers, led by Keunchil Park, MD, of Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, reported that although the three anti-cancer drugs gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib, have shown “superior” results to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy, no study has done a comparison between the drugs, according to an April 29 article in Cancer Network.

In the LUX-Lung 7 clinical trial of 319 EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer patients, half of the patients were treated with afatinib and the other half received gefitinib. The researchers reported the afatinib patients realized better progression free survival at 24 months at 17.6% vs. 7.6% in the gefitinib patients. The time-to-treatment failure was also better with afatinib, at 13.7 months vs. 11.5 months with gefitinib, and objective tumor response for afatinib was 70% compared to 56% with gefitinib.

“The improved antitumor activity with afatinib noted in this trial might reflect its more potent and irreversible inhibition of EGFR signaling,” the authors wrote. “Our findings suggest that first-generation and second-generation EGFR targeted drugs might not be interchangeable.”

In July 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to afatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks proteins that promote the development of cancerous cells, for patients with late stage non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors express specific types of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations. The FDA approved gefitinib, also a kinase inhibitor, for the initial treatment of metastatic EGFR-positive non–small-cell lung cancer in July 2015.

EGFR is a protein found on the surface of some cells to which epidermal growth factor binds, which causes the cells to divide and spread. It is found at abnormally high levels on the surface of many types of cancer cells. According to a 2009 article in Current Drug Targets, EGFR over-expression has been shown in more than 50% of pleural mesothelioma patients. The American Society of Clinical Oncology identified approximately 15% of patients with lung cancer in the U.S. expressing EGFR mutations.

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare, serious cancer affecting the lining of the lungs that occurs in individuals exposed to airborne asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma displays as a large mass of interlocked tumors that blend in with healthy tissue, by contrast, lung cancer is characterized by more distinct, individual tumors. However, the treatments for the two cancers are often similar. Any breakthrough or update in research for lung cancer patients equally benefits mesothelioma patients.

“We believe that these data provide additional evidence to help to inform decision making when choosing a first-line treatment for patients with EGFR mutation–positive NSCLC.”

For more information on the LUX-7 clinical trial see ClinicalTrials.gov.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=%22malignant+mesothelioma%22&recr=Open&pg=1

Results of the study were published in the April 12 edition of The Lancet Oncology.
http://secure.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/action/cookieAbsent

Sources:

• Cancer Network
  http://www.cancernetwork.com/lung-cancer/afatinib-improves-pfs-vs-gefitinib-egfr-mutated-nsclc
• FDA approved gefitinib
  http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm454678.htm

Celebrate Mesothelioma Survivors Every Day

• Nancy Meredith
• Featured News, For Your Family

June 5 was National Cancer Survivors Day, a day set aside to ” to honor cancer survivors and to show the world that life after a cancer diagnosis can be fruitful, rewarding, and even inspiring.”Although this day has come and gone, chances are high that mesothelioma patients are aware of their cancer every day of the year. It is important that you also set aside time throughout the year to reach out and support a mesothelioma survivor.

June 5 was a day for mesothelioma survivors and their families to join the nearly 14.5 million other Americans, and millions more around the world, who have survived cancer. The day was a day for CELEBRATION for those who have survived, an INSPIRATION for those recently diagnosed, a gathering of SUPPORT for families, and an OUTREACH to the community, according to the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation who sponsors the day. We encourage all of the mesothelioma community to take the time out to celebrate with mesothelioma survivors and their families – each and every day of the year.

Mesothelioma is a terminal cancer caused by past exposure to asbestos, a known carcinogen. Although there is no cure for the cancer, advances in treatments are helping patients live longer, more productive lives than in the past. These mesothelioma survivors, defined by the National Cancer Survivor’s Day Foundation as anyone living with a history of cancer – from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life, show true grit and strength every day while continuing to fight this dreadful disease.

“When most people hear the word ‘cancer,’ they automatically think the worst,” says National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation spokesperson, Laura Shipp in a May 20 press release announcing the day. “But the truth is that more people are living longer and better quality lives after cancer than ever before. National Cancer Survivors Day® is an opportunity for these cancer survivors – and those who support them – to come together and celebrate this new reality in cancer survivorship.”

In a statement on survivors day, Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Acting Director, National Cancer Institute, and Robert T. Croyle, PhD, Director, NCI Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, recognized the challenges cancer survivors face every day and acknowledged the role the NCI plays in helping improve survivorship, saying in part:

“As part of the leadership team of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), we also commend the tireless efforts of the researchers who are working to find new and better ways to control and treat cancer more effectively and safely. This is a vitally important task. Although more and more cancer survivors will return to active and productive lives following their cancer diagnosis, for many of them, the long-term physical, psychological, and social effects of cancer and its treatments remain serious and challenging. Recognizing this, survivorship research remains a key component of NCI’s research portfolio.”

The American Cancer Society reports the average survival time for people with mesothelioma, is between 4 and 18 months. However, between five and ten percent of mesothelioma patients will live at least five years after diagnosis.

“Our Foundation hopes that NCSD serves as a call to action for further research, more resources, and increased public awareness to improve quality of life for cancer survivors,” said Shipp.

Sources:

• National Cancer Survivors Day
  http://www.ncsd.org/about-us
• National Cancer Institute
  http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/features/when-a-friend-has-cancer
• National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation
  http://www.ncsd.org/_blog/Front_Page_News/post/Press_Release-May2013/

Don’t Wait To Make A Doctor’s Appointment

• Joseph Belluck
• Faces of Mesothelioma, Uncategorized

Many people have aversions to going to the doctor. When my Dad began having trouble breathing in the summer of 2011, we urged him to make an appointment. He said, “I’m fine, I’m just having some trouble catching my breath. It’s really hot outside, don’t worry about me!” The symptoms began getting worse and then other symptoms started to arise.

I remember when he went to the doctor and they said he had fluid on his lung. It seemed like it could be an infection; that would have been very treatable. Then they found a shadow on his lung. Then he needed the fluid drained. After that came a procedure that finally gave him the awful diagnosis of mesothelioma.

If you think that you have been exposed to asbestos and are experiencing symptoms of asbestos-related diseases like shortness of breath, coughing, weight loss, etc., please consider getting checked out. It’s important to know what you’re up against if it is mesothelioma. It can allow your medical team to create a treatment plan that will be best for you. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones!

Mesothelioma Nurse Recaps Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s Houston Symposium

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

This year the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is having three conferences “on the road.”  The first of the series was held in Houston, Texas on May 20.  I have had the pleasure of attending a few Meso Foundation conferences over the past years, and it is my impression that each one is better than the one before. This conference did not disappoint.

Houston is home to two cancer centers with mesothelioma specialty centers:  M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.  Anderson’s mesothelioma program is headed by Dr. Anne Tsao, a medical oncologist, and Dr. David Rice, thoracic surgeon.  Baylor’s mesothelioma program is headed by Dr. David Sugarbaker, an international expert on mesothelioma.

The mesothelioma community at these conferences is represented by patients, family members, caregivers,  medical experts, health care workers, advocates, and members of the legal community.  Attendees can watch presentations by researchers on their latest findings, they can ask questions of the experts, and they can network and meet others who are also dealing with mesothelioma.

My takeaways from the Houston conference include:

• Clinical Trials are showing the way to a personalized approach to treating mesothelioma.
• The goal is to get to a point that mesothelioma is a manageable, chronic disease.
• This spring has brought breakthroughs for the future treatment of mesothelioma.
• The feeling among the researchers was that they are progressing towards a cure.
• Some studies have shown promising results for the four subtypes of mesothelioma.

Nationwide, the number of cancer patients who participate in clinical trials is between 3-5% for adults.  The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation reports that mesothelioma patients consistently reach out to them to ask about clinical trials, and the number who participate in mesothelioma trials is over 55%. This is one of the tangible, impressive services that the Meso Foundation provides for the mesothelioma community.

The doctors who presented were passionate about helping patients with mesothelioma.  It was evident that the next generation of researchers who presented have the passion to continue the work towards a cure.

Collaboration, research, clinical trials, awareness, advocacy, are the keys to further progress towards a cure. Patients and families were encouraged to get involved and to request more money for research for this cancer from the government and other sources.

The next two conferences for mesothelioma are being held in San Francisco on September 16, and in Chicago on October 7.  Get involved- knowledge is power!