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Studies Continue in Search of a Mesothelioma Cure

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Mesothelioma is a disease primarily caused by asbestos exposure and is usually fatal within a short period of time, however studies continue in search of a mesothelioma cure. This is not a simple task, as researchers are still not sure of the reason asbestos fibers encourage cancer in some individuals. With the long latency period between exposure and diagnosis, people will be fighting this disease for many decades to come. That means that new treatments to defeat the disease are urgently needed.

In the past, and currently, treatments often consisted of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery. These have extended the lives of many patients and they still do. However, as noted by the American Cancer Society, there are new studies and treatments that carry the promise that they may do more than extend life for a few months and actually bring about a cure.

What are the latest treatments?

While there are treatments currently in use, they are often limited in their effect and generally extend life a little longer rather than cure the disease. New ideas and studies take place all the time. Some of the newest treatments still under testing are listed below.

Immunotherapy

Clinical trials are underway using a patient’s own immune cells to attack their cancer. These cells are removed from the blood, taken to the lab where they are manipulated to react to tumor cells. They are then put back into the patient’s body through a blood transfusion. The presumption is these transformed immune cells will encourage the patient’s immune system to kill the cancer cells.

One other immunotherapy in trials uses tremelimumab, a drug that encourages the immune system to attack full force as it targets specific immune cells.

Gene therapy

This innovative treatment uses modified viruses and injects them into the cancer cells. Once an infection is created, the virus introduces new selected genes into the cells, which makes the cells easier to destroy. In some tests, the gene present in the virus assists in turning on the immune system to attack the cancer cells.

Virus therapies

Still in the early stages of testing, a specially created virus is put into the pleural space of the cancer cell. In the desired outcome, the virus would directly infect and then kill the cancer cells, or indirectly, the immune system would be encouraged to kill the cancer cells.

Targeted drugs

While chemotherapy has been used for some time but with limited success, there are newer chemotherapy drugs in tests that may do much more. These drugs are targeted to a specific type of cell or protein instead of standard chemotherapy that affects the whole body. This means there are usually fewer side effects.

Photodynamic therapy

While it sounds futuristic, there are a number of clinical trials in process that study the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Veins are injected with a light-activated drug. Once in the body, it spreads into cancer cells throughout the body. After a few days, a tube with a special red light on the tip is placed into the chest, usually after a surgery. The drug is activated by the light producing a chemical change that kills the cancer cells. Because all this happens only within the cancer cells, there may be fewer side effects.

Encouraging progress

The knowledge that studies continue in search of a mesothelioma cure should be an encouragement to anyone diagnosed with the disease or who have a experienced extended exposure to asbestos. Contact your doctor or this link to view current trials and, perhaps, find a new trial that interests you. There is hope, and we need to support those who are researching for ways to combat and kill mesothelioma before it continues its deadly toll.

Mesothelioma Awareness Day and ADAO, the Group that Started it All

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The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, ADAO, was the group that started it all. It began in 2004 when two people, Doug Larkin and Linda Reinstein, who had loved ones suffering from mesothelioma saw a need and worked to find a way to stop this deadly disease. They found it through the ADAO as they began spreading the message about asbestos and mesothelioma.

Today is Mesothelioma Awareness Day, started by ADAO, and a perfect time to look at this amazing organization that makes fighting for past, current, and future victims of asbestos its goal.

The journey

Caring for, and watching their family members die, put the founders in contact with others going through the same painful journey – a journey that could be prevented for the generations to come if the mineral at the heart of it all could be banned. Fourteen years later, it is still not banned in the United States, but is in many parts of the world.

This group started slowly but gathered momentum as other victims and their family members learned of its existence. Today, thanks to people from all walks of life: patients, caregivers, and a host of donors and volunteers, the ADAO boasts a network of over 50,000 people who share in this quest to eradicate mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases from the world.

More than a ban

While the ADAO does strive for a ban, their mission goes beyond that with three initiatives: education, advocacy, and community.

Education

The ADAO has gathered a built an extensive library that is shared throughout the globe, along with a website brimming with information about asbestos and what you can do. There are speakers at conferences and events around the world presenting opportunities to interact and share information with others on similar missions. Each year, the ADAO hosts its own conference, the International Asbestos Awareness Conference where the latest information on the status of prevention and treatments is shared. In 2019, the conference will be in Washington, D.C. on April 5-7.

Advocacy

Since 2004, the ADAO has presented 13 staff briefings for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. They’ve created and sponsored a bill, the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act, that is supported by both the House and the Senate. This bill would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finally – and permanently – remove the possibility of all human or environmental asbestos exposure.

Community

Caring for someone suffering from mesothelioma is an isolating experience. Linda Reinstein experienced that as she cared for her husband and knew it was an important part of the ADAO mission to support those with the disease and those caring for them. There are groups throughout social media to provide contacts and support without leaving home, there are campaigns, like “Share Your Story” and “6 Word Quotes” that educate about the dangers of asbestos and unite those living with the aftermath of exposure.

The fight continues

Until asbestos is banned throughout the world and there is no one suffering any longer from this disease, the ADAO will continue to fight to educate, support, and bring the issues of exposure to those in government who can make a difference.

You can sign a petition to the EPA for a final ban on asbestos, follow the ADAO on Facebook and Twitter, and get their eNewsletter – all ways to stay informed.

On September 26th We Remember Asbestos Victims and Push Forward for a Ban

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The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) takes asbestos exposure seriously as they have heard the stories of thousands who have died, and so each year on September 26th they remember asbestos victims and push forward for a ban on this deadly mineral.

While many countries around the world have banned the use and import of asbestos, it is still legal in the United States. It is proven to be a cancer-causing substance for those exposed as there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

Mesothelioma Awareness Day

This year the ADAO has moved from a Mesothelioma Awareness Day on September 26th to proclaiming September a Mesothelioma Awareness Month to increase the reach to people that can be educated to the threat of asbestos use and the need for caution when working with any material that may contain asbestos.

How can we remember asbestos victims and push forward for a ban?

• Right now you can sign a petition to ban asbestos. By clicking this link, you’ll be directed to a page where you can sign. The more legislators who see the interest of citizens for a ban, the more they can push the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase the current rules, recognize the dangers, and get to the point of an outright ban.

• Join the chat on Twitter September 26th, from 12-1 PM ET. Go to #ENDMeso – for that hour, you’ll find questions about asbestos awareness as well as comments from people personally affected by asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, a deadly disease directly connected to exposure. The purpose is to create a global conversation between experts, victims, advocates, and anyone concerned about the dangers and the long delay in stopping the use of asbestos in the US.

• Light a candle on September 26th for the Mesothelioma Warriors lost to the disease and those who continue to fight for their lives.

• Participate in the 9th Annual Miles for Meso 5K Race and 3K Walk/Fun-Run. Last year $30,000 was raised to help fund awareness and education efforts. The race in in Alton, Illinois, but is available to anyone through the ADAO’s Virtual Team where you can join in from the front of your computer.

The urgency of a ban

Mesothelioma is a disease that often takes decades to appear after exposure. It currently has no cure. Because of the long lag between exposure and diagnosis, people exposed today may not develop the disease until 2050! This cycle needs to stop now and asbestos must be banned to stop it.

In addition to the steps you can take outlined above, you can donate to the ADAO as a partner in the fight for a ban. You can directly contact the EPA and your legislators. You can be an advocate for the health of many by adding your voice to stop the import and use of asbestos now.

EPA Under Trump May Allow for New Asbestos Use

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After bipartisan passage to improve the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 2016, asbestos was one of several initial chemicals that would come under review again. In the face of overwhelming scientific consensus established by more than a half century of research, it was widely anticipated that the TSCA review would finally result in a ban on the use of asbestos in the United States. Two years later, and a very different result is unfolding.

EPA proposed a “significant new use rule” for asbestos

On June 1, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency under Scott Pruitt announced a proposed “Significant New Use Rule” (SNUR) for asbestos. SNURs are a tool under the TSCA that mandate EPA approval when a chemical is used in a significantly new way. To hear former Administrator Pruitt state it, he took an unprecedented stand by requiring importers to receive EPA approval before importing or using asbestos in the manufacture of products.

A look inside the SNUR

A closer look, however, establishes a twofold problem posed by the SNUR which may undercut the EPA’s conclusions at the end of its three year TSCA review of asbestos.

First, the EPA could have used the 2016 TSCA overhaul – which began under Obama and has continued under Trump – to ban any new uses of asbestos. Instead, with the SNUR, the EPA has laid the groundwork to expressly allow new uses of asbestos after evaluation based on “risk evaluation, select studies and use of the best available science.”

Secondly, the way in which the EPA will evaluate that risk is problematic. In May 2018 , the EPA published a “Problem Formulation of the Risk Evaluation for Asbestos” which the EPA will use in evaluating these new uses of asbestos. Importantly, the problem formulation will not include information from existing, or “legacy” uses of asbestos – all of the ways in which millions of Americans have been, and will continue to be, exposed to asbestos from existing asbestos products and asbestos in place. This approach will ignore decades of scientific research establishing an overwhelming scientific consensus about the health risks from the legacy uses of asbestos such as exposure to drywall joint compound, plaster, floor tiles, pipe covering and many other existing, in place asbestos products.

This may serve to severely limit the types of exposures the EPA will include in formulating the potential risk of new asbestos uses.

As reported by the New York Times, such limits on the EPA’s review will necessarily create a flawed analysis of the threat posed by asbestos under the EPA TSCA re-evaluation. “It is ridiculous”, said Wendy Cleland-Hamnett, former EPA scientist, speaking to the New York Times. “You can’t determine if there is an unreasonable risk without doing a comprehensive risk evaluation.”

EPA may allow new asbestos use

While the EPA’s re-review of asbestos is still in the second year of the three year process, the limitations the current administration have already placed on the review will likely result in an outcome that does not protect human health – the core mission of the agency. Instead, by not considering the existing, wide-body of scientific evidence concerning asbestos, the ultimate EPA conclusion will likely find lower levels of risk and as a result impose fewer restrictions or prohibitions. Hopes for a U.S. ban on asbestos – one of the most widely recognized human carcinogens – are sadly diminishing.

You’re Not Alone: Information on Malignant Mesothelioma Clinical Trials

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Malignant mesothelioma clinical trials are an option if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with this serious disease. A common misconception says only those people with no other options remaining can participate in a trial. On the contrary, there are trials for people in all stages of the disease.

What are clinical trials?

Before any humans are used in a trial, many years of research have gone into the effects of the treatment – in the lab and on animals. Researchers want to know the effect on the cancer cells and if there may be side effects. Once they think they have a possible treatment, it’s time to involve people in the trial to truly know if this is a treatment worthy of further development.

Each trial is planned in detail by a highly trained expert before anything happens. Why conduct this trial? Who can participate in the trial? How many people? Explicit directions on the drug used, the dose, the timing, and other treatments that may be involved are created. There will also be a plan for all tests that will be performed and the interval between tests. Another important component is to know details about the people taking part and what information will be gathered from them.

Why conduct clinical trials?

It is a fact that many lives have been saved, or lifespans increased, due to the knowledge gained in clinical trials. Not only do trials test the effectiveness of the new drug or treatment, but also the safety. Past trials have found new ways to detect and prevent cancer.

When you, or a loved one, participate in a clinical trial, you are adding to the knowledge that may help you, but may also add to the arsenal of weapons to fight cancer for other patients. Clinical trials are vital for the advancement and future elimination of cancer.

Where are current malignant mesothelioma trials?

There are currently 38 trials specifically geared toward treatment of malignant mesothelioma supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI.) Click here for the list.

Talk to your doctor to determine if any are right for you.