Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Researchers from the University of Western Australia and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital have further confirmed that higher levels of a particular protein, serum mesothelin, are found in patients with asbestos-related cancer.
Their research has encouraged the use of screening tests such as the MESOMARK
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Although there is no cure for malignant mesothelioma, headway is being made in extending the life span of mesothelioma patients by combining traditional therapy with unique treatments such as immunotherapy.
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. The cancer rarely responds positively to one mode of treatment. Medical professionals have learned that combating the cancer requires more than one mode of treatment. Known as multimodality therapy, this approach combines treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy or some unique form of treatment like immunotherapy to improve mesothelioma life expectancy.
In most cases, the patients who qualify for this aggressive treatment approach are those diagnosed in an early stage of cancer development. Since there is no cure for mesothelioma, researchers have been turning to novel treatments like immunotherapy to improve multimodality therapy.
According to mesothelioma researchers Dr. Sutapa Mukherjee and Dr. Bruce W. S. Robinson (authors of the chapter
