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Category: Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma Doctors Contribute Knowledge To Medical Journals

Libby, Montana Mesothelioma Doctors Contribute Knowledge to Medical Journals

The doctors at Libby, Montana’s Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) know a thing or two about mesothelioma. The town is home to a vermiculite mine blamed for widespread contamination from asbestos exposure and for hundreds of cases of mesothelioma, and CARD has been the hub for care and screening of many of the patients. Now, the medical team is sharing their knowledge of this deadly disease through collaboration on articles for scientific journals.

Dr. Brad Black and Dr. Gregory Loewen, both physicians at CARD, were among the authors in two separate studies published recently in the peer-reviewed journals Inhalation Toxicology and the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM), according to a Dec. 29 article in The Western News. The two provided their expertise into the studies looking at the pulmonary function of miners at Libby’s vermiculite mine.

In the study of 256 individuals who worked at the mine for a minimum of six months, the researchers concluded “eighty-seven percent of miners exposed to Libby Amphibole had pleural abnormalities on CT [computed tomography].” The study was published in JOEM.

“… most doctors probably don’t know about this unique type of asbestos related disease and wouldn’t be able to recognize it in their patients if they didn’t hear about it,” said Dr. Black on why the study is important.

The W.R. Grace vermiculite mine and mill located in Libby, closed since 1990, was found to have an asbestos deposit in the mine and is the site of significant asbestos exposure. According to reports, nearly 3,000 residents and former miners have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, and over 400 have died from mesothelioma. Contamination from the site led the federal government to declare Libby a health emergency.

Asbestos is a known carcinogen and is proven to cause mesothelioma, a serious cancer caused by breathing in the asbestos fibers that then become lodged in the thin membrane that lines and encases the lungs.

The second study followed one individual who worked at the mine from 1969 to 1990 and had no other known exposure to asbestos. The person developed “asbestos-like” pathological features and eventually an adenocarcinoma. According to the authors, “This is to our knowledge the first time such an extensive evaluation has been conducted in a vermiculite miner from Libby, Montana.”

About CARD

CARD’s primary goal is to provide specialty healthcare and screening to those affected by Libby Amphibole Asbestos. CARD’s secondary goal is to stimulate research from around the country to gain further understanding of disease mechanisms, improve early disease and cancer detection and intervention, and develop effective health management strategies in hope of finding answers to improve health outcomes for individuals and communities.

Find out more about the Center for Asbestos Related Disease on its website.

Read the studies in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and in the Oct. 17 issue of Inhalation Toxicology.

Sources:

  • Center for Asbestos Related Disease
    http://www.libbyasbestos.org/
  • Inhalation Toxicology
    http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08958378.2017.1372536
  • Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
    http://journals.lww.com/joem/pages/default.aspx
  • The Western News
    http://www.thewesternnews.com/front_page_slider/20171229/libby_asbestos_clinic_contributes_research_to_two_journals
Paralegals Help with Mesothelioma Case

How Paralegals Help with Your Mesothelioma Case

Paralegals can be found in every area of the law. One of the largest areas to utilize paralegals, though, is the personal injury field. Personal injury law is the field of law devoted to helping those who have been injured unjustly to seek compensation. For those who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos, compensation can be sought from the companies that failed to warn them of the danger.

Paralegals who work in the complex asbestos litigation field assist the attorneys who fight for the rights of victims who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, and other asbestos diseases. These paralegals do a lot of behind-the-scenes work to help build the claim for maximum compensation, whether through litigation or asbestos bankruptcy funds.

Although many asbestos cases end in settlements, there are also many that go to trial, requiring a strong and experienced team of attorneys, paralegals, and other professionals. Paralegals assist attorneys in all aspects of asbestos litigation, from initial client interviews to appeals.

Common tasks performed by a paralegal for a mesothelioma case include:

  • Interviewing clients, doctors, medical specialists, and former co-workers or fellow veterans
  • Gathering medical records and other supporting evidence, such as documentation to pinpoint where and when the patient was exposed to asbestos
  • Aiding the attorney in determining what types of damages a plaintiff may be entitled to recover
  • Communicating with the client and insurance companies
  • Filing legal documents with the court
  • Locating expert witnesses to interview
  • Maintaining a calendar of pretrial and trial order deadlines
  • Preparing pretrial and trial motions

Asbestos litigation paralegals are specifically trained to work in this area of the law. Because of the complexities of mesothelioma cases, these legal professionals must possess a special set of skills and knowledge to assist attorneys and, ultimately, clients.

Ways paralegals help mesothelioma patients and their families pursue maximum compensation:

Client Services

Because asbestos attorneys are very busy and cannot perform every function necessary to successfully take on a case, paralegals provide extensive support involving client services. Paralegals help interview and screen potential clients, keep current with case status, and interact with clients and their families in a meaningful way to ensure their needs are being met.

Drafting

Asbestos paralegals must be skilled in drafting and submitting legal documents related to mesothelioma claims. Although the attorney ultimately reviews these documents, the paralegal spends the time drafting them and ensuring they are submitted on time.

Analysis

Paralegals must have specific training or experience in order to handle the medical aspects of a mesothelioma case. The paralegals will ascertain which medical records and bills are needed from the patient and determine what future cost projections or experts are needed. Many paralegals in this field are familiar with how asbestos diseases affect patients. This knowledge allows paralegals to prepare medical chronologies, medical expense itemizations, deposition summaries, and demand packages.

Trial Preparation

Asbestos litigation paralegals play an important role in trial preparation. They perform a variety of tasks to assist attorneys, including jury selection preparation, opening and closing statements, and witness outlines. Paralegals also determine which exhibits will be utilized and ensure that they are properly prepared for trial.

Trial

One of the paralegal’s main jobs is assisting the attorney(s) with the entire voir dire process, including taking notes and helping the attorney strike or select jurors. Once the trial is under way, paralegals pull and pass exhibits to the attorney, act as a liaison to the client, communicate with the bailiff or court reporter if issues arise, bring witnesses into the courtroom when it is their turn to testify, and act as a second set of eyes and ears in the courtroom.

Although this is not an exhaustive list of everything an asbestos litigation paralegal does to assist attorneys in mesothelioma cases, it certainly shows that paralegals play a pivotal role in helping clients pursue maximum compensation for their injuries.  If you would like to learn more about the paralegal profession, visit Fremont College. The school’s website offers a number of resources for those looking for a career as a paralegal.

An ABA accelerated paralegal certificate program that allows you to finish your schooling in just 15 months. Robust education that speaks to essential skills needed for those looking to be successful in the legal field. Lean more about the Paralegal Studies program by visiting http://fremont.edu/ For more information, please visit us at www.fremont.edu or call us at 1-800-373-6668 / 1-800-FRE-MONT

National Mesothelioma Awareness

September 26 Is National Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Each year, the mesothelioma community across the nation comes together for Mesothelioma Awareness Day, a time devoted to raising public awareness about the life-threatening cancer and its cause ─ exposure to asbestos.

Patients, family members, friends, advocates and health care professionals are encouraged to share their personal stories, struggles and inspiration in order to bring attention to the disease and further the search for a cure. 

When Is Mesothelioma Awareness Day?

Mesothelioma Awareness Day is held on Sept. 26. In 2018, September 26 falls on a Wednesday.

In an effort to expand the impact of Mesothelioma Awareness Day, advocates have encouraged patients, caregivers, family and friends to participate in Mesothelioma Awareness Week surrounding Sept. 26, as well as Mesothelioma Awareness Month throughout September.

Mesothelioma Awareness Day History

In 2004, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation organized the original Mesothelioma Awareness Day. Since then, the national nonprofit organization has continued to build momentum by promoting the day as a time for all those touched by the cancer to talk about its impact.

In 2010, Congress joined the effort by establishing Mesothelioma Awareness Day as a time for the nation to recognize that thousands of Americans are diagnosed with the preventable cancer each year. In fact, despite its designation as a known carcinogen, asbestos is still not banned in the United States, and Americans are still at risk of exposure.

The Importance of Awareness Day

The National Mesothelioma Awareness Day resolution asks that the President of the United States issue a proclamation calling for all Americans, federal agencies and departments, state governments, local municipalities, organizations, and news media to properly observe the day.

The Congressional Declaration outlines these key facts about malignant mesothelioma as reasons for promoting awareness of the deadly asbestos cancer:

  • Although workers who were exposed to asbestos on a daily basis over a long period of time are most at risk of developing mesothelioma, even short-term exposures can cause the disease. In fact, exposure to asbestos for as little as one month can result in mesothelioma 20 to 50 years later.
  • Asbestos materials were used in the construction of virtually all office buildings, public schools, and homes built before 1975. Still today, asbestos is used in more than 3,000 products being sold in the United States.
  • The National Institutes of Health reported to Congress in 2006 that mesothelioma is a difficult disease to detect, diagnose and treat.
  • For decades, the need to develop treatments for mesothelioma was overlooked. Still today, even the best mesothelioma treatments usually have a very limited effect, with the expected survival time of 8 to 14 months.
  • It is believed that many of the firefighters, rescue workers and police officers from Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, may be at increased risk of developing mesothelioma in the future due to asbestos exposure at the site.

Every year, about 3,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with mesothelioma. Around the world, an estimated 38,400 people die each year from the devastating asbestos illness.

Unfortunately, those numbers are not dwindling. Mesothelioma statistics indicate an increase in deaths in recent years, with an 8 percent increase in fatalities in the United States for the 10-year period that ended in 2015.

These facts point to the importance of Mesothelioma Awareness Day in educating people about the dangers of asbestos and promoting the need for continued research into more effective treatments.

Paint the World in Mesothelioma Awareness

Just as breast cancer is associated with the color pink, support for mesothelioma awareness is often represented by a colored ribbon. The mesothelioma awareness color is blue or pearl.

Friends and family members of patients typically don pearl or blue ribbons in a show of solidarity with their loved ones who are fighting the life-threatening disease.

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation also encourages people to participate in its “Paint the World in Mesothelioma Blue” campaign to raise awareness by wearing blue and sharing photos of themselves on social media.

How You Can Show Support on Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Since its founding, the nonprofit Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has advocated for patients and families while coordinating fundraising events to support research efforts related to the disease. This national organization is committed to finding a cure for mesothelioma and ending the suffering it causes.

One way to show your support on Mesothelioma Awareness Day is to make a donation to the Meso Foundation. Your contribution will help fund the organization’s efforts to support mesothelioma patients and the ongoing search for a cure.

You may also choose to show your support by wearing (and asking others to wear):

  • Mesothelioma awareness ribbons
  • Mesothelioma awareness pins
  • Mesothelioma awareness bracelets
  • Mesothelioma awareness wristbands
  • Mesothelioma awareness shirts

At Mesothelioma Help Cancer Organization, we aim to raise awareness year-round, in particular through our Mesothelioma Awareness Scholarship Contest. As part of this contest, students submit essays sharing their own experiences with mesothelioma as well as their efforts for raising awareness of the dangers of asbestos. We encourage the students to share their essays on social media to help spread the word.

Quick Facts to Share on Mesothelioma Awareness Day

  • Asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma. It has also been shown to cause lung cancer.
  • Asbestos was commonly used on Navy ships and in shipyards. Veterans account for approximately one-third of mesothelioma diagnoses.
  • Industrial workers and construction workers are at an increased risk of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases.
  • Family members of those who worked with asbestos may have faced secondhand exposure through fibers brought home on clothing or skin.
  • Although the U.S. government has safety regulations in place, it has not banned the use of asbestos.
  • There is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
  • Renovation projects on older homes and demolition of older buildings can put people at risk of asbestos exposure.
  • Never try to remove asbestos materials on your own. Contact an asbestos abatement professional.
  • Companies that made asbestos products understood the health risks but failed to warn the public.
  • Mesothelioma patients and families may be entitled to compensation for damages due to asbestos exposure.
  • Even if an asbestos company has gone out of business, funds may be available in a bankruptcy trust for mesothelioma victims.

 

Sources:

  • Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
    https://www.curemeso.org/get-involved/get-involved-events/mesothelioma-awareness-day
  • Make a Donation
    https://www.curemeso.org/donate
Pleural Mesothelioma Patient - Trimodal Therapy

Study Shows Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Live Longer With Trimodal Therapy

One of the biggest challenges in pleural mesothelioma care is determining which treatments to use on patients.

Oncologists are faced with deciding if a patient will benefit from surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, or a combination of the three.

Although each case is different, when mesothelioma patients are candidates for all of the options, which approach is the best?

Researchers report the results of a recent in-depth review of thousands of mesothelioma patient records points to the best survival when all three therapies are used.

A team of researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center selected 20,561 malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patient records, from the National Cancer Database for the years from 2004 to 2014, to evaluate patient survival. Noting that MPM is an “aggressive and rapidly fatal disease,” the team set out to determine the key predictors of mesothelioma patient survival.

Specifically, the team wanted to assess the difference in patients who first had mesothelioma surgery, then went on to have chemotherapy and/or radiation versus patients who did not have surgery.

The team narrowed the number of patients evaluated down to 6,645 from the initial selection and compared the results of patients with the following breakdown of treatment approaches:

  • 2,166 underwent no therapy
  • 2,015 underwent chemotherapy alone
  • 850 underwent cancer-directed surgery alone
  • 988 underwent surgery with chemotherapy
  • 274 underwent trimodality therapy

The remaining 352 patients underwent another combination of surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.

Although the researchers found that while any of the treatments alone were associated with improved survival, when chemotherapy and radiation followed cancer-directed surgery the” largest estimated effect was realized.”

Most importantly, patients diagnosed with epithelioid mesothelioma, the most common and treatable histological subtype of mesothelioma diagnosed in more than half of all mesothelioma cases, who received trimodal care had a median survival of 23.4 months vs. 14.5 months.

The team concluded that for mesothelioma patients, “Surgery-based multimodality therapy was associated with improved survival and may offer therapeutic benefit among carefully selected patients.”

MD Anderson’s Mesothelioma Program is comprised of a team of more than 30 experts representing medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists and pathologists who work closely together to customize the best treatment for each patient.

Everyone on the team is considered an expert in their field and in mesothelioma. The Center cares for more patients with mesothelioma than almost any other center in the U.S., according to its website.

Read the full study in the Aug. 17 issue of Journal Of Clinical Oncology.

Biomarker Drug for MesotheliomaTreatment

Drug Targeting Biomarker Could Bring New, Personalized Treatment to Mesothelioma Patients

Last month, MesotheliomaHelp reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s first-ever approval of an immunotherapy drug that targets a particular biomarker, regardless of cancer type. Now, researchers report they have developed another anti-cancer drug that targets just one biomarker and that it has shown “dramatic antitumor effect” across all 17 cancer types tested.

In a report presented by David Hyman, M.D., Chief of the Early Drug Development Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting, researchers found that when the tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) biomarker was targeted by the experimental drug larotrectinib (LOXO-101) “the vast majority of both adults and children whose tumors have this [TRK] mutation” responded to the treatment.

Across three pivotal clinical trials covering 17 tumor types, larotrectinib resulted in a 76% overall response rate in 55 adult and pediatric cancer patients with the TRK mutation. According to the report, of those who responded, 89% were progression-free at the time the data were analyzed, indicating that the cancer had not gotten worse in those patients since starting treatment. These positive results “are potentially practice changing,” said the researchers.

“We are seeing the true potential of precision medicine come to life,” says Dr. Hyman, in a June 3 press release announcing the findings. “It’s groundbreaking to have such a consistent response across multiple cancer types.”

Dr. Hyman said that this is the first cancer therapy to be developed simultaneously in adults and children. He also added that in patients with a cancer carrying the TRK fusion, “it’s found in every cancer cell in that patient.”

Personalized medicine is considered one of the best ways to combat mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer. Tailored care ensures a mesothelioma patient’s unique disease characteristics, including the cancer’s genetic makeup, are targeted when being treated. Research has shown that with targeted therapy success of the treatment is higher.

According to a 2014 article in ScienceDaily, the TRK gene was first identified in 1982, but researchers are only now focusing on the family of biomarkers as a target to treat cancers. The family of TRK genes, including NTRK1, NTRK2 and NTRK3, have shown up in many cancers, including lung, breast, and melanoma.

Dr. Hyman notes that the TRK fusions are rare within most individual cancers. Mesothelioma patients should work with their oncologist to determine if they are TRK positive and if there is a clinical trial that could work for them.

Both the FDA and European Medicines Agency have granted orphan drug designation for larotrectinib (LOXO-101) for treatment of patients with soft tissue sarcoma.

For more information about the LOX-101 clinical trials visit Loxo Oncology’s website, or read more about the NAVIGATE clinical trial at ClinicalTrials.gov.

 

Sources

  • ClinicalTrials.gov
    https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=%22malignant+mesothelioma%22&recr=Open&pg=1
  • Loxo Oncology’s website
    https://www.loxooncology.com/patients-caregivers/our-clinical-trials
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
    https://www.mskcc.org/blog/asco17-drug-targeting-genetic-mutation-works-across-all-tumor-types

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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