Category: Mesothelioma
Targeted Therapy May Soon be Primary Approach for Mesothelioma Treatment
Targeted care optimizes the potential for success of mesothelioma treatment and provides the patient with the assurance that his cancer is being treated according to his unique characteristics. Personalized cancer treatment is gaining popularity among physicians and oncologists, however, it is far from mainstream. If researchers from University of Michigan have their way, however, treatment for all cancers will soon be personalized based on the patient’s biomarkers.
In a new study released from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, the team looked at the DNA sequencing of nearly 500 patients. Of those, almost 75 percent of them had biomarkers that can be targeted by either existing or experimental anti-cancer treatments.
Biomarkers, including EGFR and PD-L1, that are present in mesothelioma and other cancers, help indicate the reason for the growth of the cancers and are the focus of current and experimental treatments used to fight the deadly disease. Many clinical trials are being offered now for mesothelioma patients that pinpoint particular biomarkers. One well-known trial is the Keynote-28 trial, that eight-year mesothelioma survivor Mavis Nye of England participated in, that targeted the PD-L1 marker and put her mesothelioma in remission.
“Availability of biomarker trials is crucial for being able to act on these results,” says Erin Cobain, M.D., clinical lecturer of hematology/oncology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
The value of the study lies in the method used to sequence the genes and the process for developing patient care based on the results of the sequencing. Using “next generation sequencing” the team reports that the genetic sequencing looks at all of the DNA and RNA expressed within a tumor, as well as sequencing the patient’s normal genome to identify genes that may be inherited from the patient’s parents.
Expert Insight
Erin Cobain, M.D., University of Michigan
Sequencing is beginning to have a real impact on treatment recommendations.”
Using MI-ONCOSEQ, the tool developed at the Michigan Oncology Sequencing Center, the test uses a fresh biopsy from the patient, as opposed to frozen tissue samples used by commercially-available tools, allowing the Michigan researchers to perform a more comprehensive analysis. According to the press release, commercial tests analyze only about 350 genes compared to MI-ONCOSEQ’s ability to cover at least 1,700 genes.
Mesothelioma is an incurable, asbestos-caused cancer of the membranes that surround many of the body’s vital organs, including the lungs. The cancer is highly aggressive and is resistant to many cancer treatments making it a difficult disease to treat effectively. Thus, developing a treatment protocol that specifically targets the genetic makeup of the patient’s cancer is vital for improving survival rates.
Mesothelioma Patients Should Heed FDA Warnings Regarding Miracle Cures
In pursuit of its mission to protect the public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent out warning letters to 14 companies claiming their products can prevent, diagnose, treat or cure cancer. The products, none of which have been approved by the FDA, can be appealing to mesothelioma patients or anyone fighting a terminal cancer, but they could lead to severe illness or, potentially, death.
In each of the 14 letters, found on the FDA’s website, the Agency notes that the items being marketed fall under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act due to the intended use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. The letters go on to itemize examples of the claims on the company’s website, product label, social media and other media that provide evidence the products are intended for use as drugs.
It is a violation of federal law to market and sell products that claim to prevent, diagnose, treat, mitigate or cure diseases without first demonstrating to the FDA that they are safe and effective for their labeled uses.
Among the 65 products the FDA cited are claims for a tea with “cancer killing properties”; a vitamin that can “stop cancer cells from multiplying, kill cancer cells, and block their blood supply”; and drugs that are a “chemopreventive agent due to their ability to modulate underlying mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis.”
“Consumers should not use these or similar unproven products because they may be unsafe and could prevent a person from seeking an appropriate and potentially life-saving cancer diagnosis or treatment,” said Douglas W. Stearn, director of the Office of Enforcement and Import Operations in the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs, in the April 25 press release announcing the warnings.
Although there are the rare cases of individuals who have survived mesothelioma through holistic care, the saying “it takes a village” is applicable to the fight against mesothelioma. A mesothelioma care team may include the family physician, a medical oncologist, pulmonologist, surgeon, radiologist, nurses, pathologists, nutritionists, rehab therapists and social workers.
Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation or ingestion of airborne asbestos fibers. In the case of pleural mesothelioma, the fibers lodge deep in tissue surrounding the lungs, causing inflammation that festers for years. Chronic, persistent inflammation is a known cause of cancer, and in the case of mesothelioma, can take decades to develop into a malignancy. Mesothelioma is deemed an incurable cancer, with an estimated survival of less than 18 months after diagnosis.
Many mesothelioma patients turn to holistic treatments as complementary treatments to help relieve symptoms and to ease stress, but anytime a company makes a claim that its product can cure cancer, you can be sure the claim is fraudulent.
“We encourage people to remain vigilant whether online or in a store, and avoid purchasing products marketed to treat cancer without any proof they will work,” said Stearn. “Patients should consult a health care professional about proper prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.”
The companies have 15 days from receipt of the letter to respond to the FDA with information regarding the actions they have taken to correct the violations and to assure violations do not happen again. According to the FDA, failure to correct the violations promptly may result in legal action, including product seizure, injunction and/or criminal prosecution.
Mesothelioma Patients Can See Improved Survival By Reporting Side Effects
Chemotherapy and other treatments for mesothelioma can lead to debilitating side effects such as pain, nausea and fatigue. But patients often suffer in silence with their symptoms which, when left untreated, can lead to severe complications, and even death. Now, researchers say it does not need to be that way, and, in fact, by opening up to their physicians, patients can improve their quality of life and their survival.
Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center followed 766 advanced cancer patients undergoing care at the Center, according to a June 4 report from ABC News (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/emergency-bill-fund-veterans-affairs-department-32742493). Hoping to catch issues before they became severe, researchers gave some of the patients access to an online tool to report to their medical team weekly, or more often if they experienced unusual or severe symptoms. The patients self-reported information on 12 common symptoms including appetite loss, diarrhea, shortness of breath, fatigue and pain.
After just six months, the patients in the online reporting group had an improved health-related quality of life and fewer trips to the emergency room. In addition, overall, they stuck with the chemotherapy treatment two months longer, eight months as opposed to six months in the non-online group.
Surprising even the researchers, median survival of the patients in the online group was nearly six months longer at 31 months versus 26 months for the control group. Researchers believe the survival was tied to early responsiveness to patients’ symptoms that prevented “adverse downstream consequences” and increased tolerance to chemotherapy allowing them to continue on the treatment beyond usual care.
“I was floored by the results,” said the study lead, Dr. Ethan Basch, a researcher at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “We are proactively catching things early.”
When a patient reported a concerning health issue, a nurse responded immediately almost 80 percent of the time. They would get the patient prescription medications, or appropriate care, to handle their specific issues. The tool gave the patients an easy way to report issues without struggling to get through to their doctor or wait for their next appointment.
The researchers concluded, “Electronic patient-reported symptom monitoring may be considered for implementation as a part of high-quality cancer care.” They now plan to launch a larger study to test the online reporting system nationwide.
Mesothelioma is diagnosed in approximately 3,000 Americans each year. Although treatments increase survival, countless mesothelioma patients have said the treatment is worse than the disease. That is not necessarily the case, and patients should not hesitate to reach out to their medical team to help alleviate some of their side effects.
Results of the study were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. Find the full study in the June 4 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2630810).
Mesothelioma Patients May Have Another Treatment Option With FDA Expanded-Use Approval of Lung Cancer Drug
In September, MesotheliomaHelp reported that Italian researchers found the response to ceritinib (Zykadia), an anti-cancer drug, was nearly immediate in non-small cell lung cancer patients who were previously treated with chemotherapy and crizotinib (Xalkori). Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval for expanded use of the drug to include the first-line treatment of NSCLC patients with ALK-positive tumors, opening the door for another treatment option for mesothelioma patients.
Ceritinib, marketed as Zykadia by Novartis, is intended for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC in patients who express the abnormal anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. Approximately 3%-5% of people with NSCLC may test positive for the ALK fusion gene. There is a potential that the marker is also present in certain pleural mesothelioma cases making it a new treatment option for the cancer.
In a May 26 press release from Novartis, the company reports that of the 376 patients in the study, those receiving Zykadia as first-line treatment realized a 16.6 month progression-free survival versus 8.1 months in patients treated with pemetrexed-platinum chemotherapy first-line regimen.
“Today’s approval represents the next step in the development of Zykadia as a treatment option for ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC, bringing this important medication to a patient population where a need still exists,” said Bruno Strigini, CEO, Novartis Oncology.
Pleural mesothelioma patients and oncologists keep a close eye on research and breakthroughs that impact NSCLC patients. Although the two cancers have some differences, including the structure of the tumors, patients often follow a similar treatment protocol.
“At Novartis, we are tireless in our pursuit of developing novel medicines to treat lung cancer, and the first-line approval of Zykadia for ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC illustrates our commitment to cancer patients,” said Strigini.
Close to 3,000 patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the U.S. Although survival has improved in recent years, there is still no cure for the asbestos-caused cancer.
To find out if you may be a candidate for Zykadia, talk to your medical professional. Visit the Novartis website for more information.
ADAO Releases PSA to Draw Attention to the Sad Truth of Asbestos Exposure
With a mission to educate Americans, and the world, about the dangers of asbestos, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization often has to present the cold, hard facts of the dangers of asbestos. In a public service announcement released last week, the ADAO does just that by depicting the story of a young girl whose father died from the toxic mineral.
In partnership with Chocolate Moose Media, ADAO developed a 30-second video, “Asbestos: The Killer You Can’t See,” with a goal to spread asbestos awareness to youth, families, and workers around the globe, according to a May 16 press release from the ADAO. The video, that uses hand-drawn animation, depicts a young girl who loses her father to an asbestos-related disease.
http://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/archives/43675
“Our goal was to make an emotional connection to the danger of asbestos rather than overwhelm viewers with statistics,” says Linda Reinstein, mesothelioma widow and President/CEO and co-founder of ADAO. “The simple truth is asbestos kills and prevention remains the only cure.”
Exposure to asbestos is the direct cause of multiple diseases including mesothelioma, asbestos is and lung cancer. Exposure tends to occur among workers in the construction, electrical, plumbing, boiler, auto and maritime industries, particularly during the removal of asbestos materials due to renovation, repairs, or demolition, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
When asbestos fibers become airborne they can easily be inhaled or ingested by workers or others nearby. The human body does not have the ability to break down these fibers, and the fibers can become lodged in the lining of the chest or abdomen, where, over the years, they begin to irritate the tissue, leading to mesothelioma.
The World Health Organization estimates that asbestos causes approximately half of all deaths from occupational cancer. In addition, 125 million people worldwide are exposed to asbestos in the workplace and nearly 107,000 die annually from asbestos exposure.
For this reason, the ADAO is reaching out across the globe and is offering the PSA in English and five other languages— Russian, Hindi, Portuguese, French, and Spanish. According to the press release, it is important to reach people in nations that continue to mine, use, and export asbestos.
Approximately 3,000 Americans die from mesothelioma each year. There is no cure for the cancer, and the only way to prevent it is to avoid exposure to asbestos.
“People are often unaware of the dangers posed by certain substances,” says Firdaus Kharas, founder of Chocolate Moose Media. “The lack of information can lead to deadly consequences. In this compelling hand-drawn video we warn about asbestos.”
Do your part to help ADAO get the word out about the dangers of asbestos. Share the video through your social media accounts.
Watch the PSA Video Here
About the ADAO
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) was founded by Linda Reinstein and Doug Larkin in 2004 and headquartered in Redondo Beach, California. ADAO is the largest independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, eliminating asbestos-related diseases, and protecting asbestos victims’ civil rights through education, advocacy, and community initiatives.
To find out more about ADAO visit its website at http://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.
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