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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query mesothelioma. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query mesothelioma. Sort by date Show all posts
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
IMIG 2014: Dr. Robert Weinberg speaks on Cancer Stem Cell Targeting Therapies
Dr. Weinberg focused on the importance of cancer stem cells in mesothelioma. The concept of a stem cell origin of cancer was first described over fifty years ago as a small subset of cells capable of re-initiating a clonal tumor, and there is evidence for both a stem cell origin of mesothelioma, and a stem cell population in the mesothelioma tumor microenvironment. These cells play an essential role in the invasion-metastasis cascade, they are risk to conventional chemotherapy, and are believed to underlie resistance and relapse in mesothelioma. Click here for a summary of the latest information on cancer stem cells in mesothelioma.
Click here to watch Dr. Weinberg’s Presentation
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment (PDQ®)
Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the lining of the chest or abdomen.
Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the pleura (the thin layer of tissue that lines the chest cavity and covers the lungs) or the peritoneum (the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen and covers most of the organs in the abdomen). This summary is about malignant mesothelioma of the pleura.
Anything that increases your chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get cancer; not having risk factors doesn’t mean that you will not get cancer. Talk to your doctor if you think you may be at risk.
Many people with malignant mesothelioma have worked or lived in places where they inhaled or swallowed asbestos. After being exposed to asbestos, it usually takes a long time for malignant mesothelioma to form. Other risk factors for malignant mesothelioma include the following:
Possible signs of malignant mesothelioma include shortness of breath and pain under the rib cage. |
Related articles
- Asbestos Can Take Your Breath Away, Forever (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Mesothelioma, Other Cancers Higher Among Firefighters (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Georgia-Pacific Reports Show Corporations Can't Be Trusted (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Mesothelioma Asbestos Cancer Claims the Life of Ed Lauter, Prolific Actor (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- That time Big Tobacco sold asbestos as the "Greatest Health Protection in Cigarette History" (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- ADAO Special Report "The USA Asbestos Toxic Trade Continues" (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Monday, March 4, 2013
UK - The Mesothelioma Bill - A Gift to Insurers
Historically compensation programs for asbestos victims have constantly evolved. One of the leading efforts to reform payments for victims has emerged in the United Kingdom. While the City of London continue to maintain in depth effort for employee safety and health to limit asbestos exposure and restrict disease support groups there maintain a close vigilance such as the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK [AVSGFUK]. The following article is authored by Tony Whilston, Chair of the AVSGFUK.
Asbestos victims and their representatives have welcomed the Mesothelioma Bill. After all, it is the first attempt to remedy a long-standing injustice. But, on close examination, it is a gift to insurers who could not indefinitely hide behind their own failures and evade liability for insurance they wrote for so many years. The day of reckoning has come, but at great cost to asbestos victims and with a great discount to insurers. It is in examining the detail of the payment scheme that the true cost to asbestos victims is found. This article sets out the main elements of the scheme and then discusses the Government's rationale for its generosity to insurers.
Background
For decades, insurers wantonly destroyed or simply lost records of employers' liability insurance – insurance which victims of very long latent asbestos diseases, such as mesothelioma, would later come to rely on long after the companies who exposed them to asbestos had ceased trading. Unmoved by the suffering and incalculable loss of life caused by asbestos, insurers persistently refused to accept responsibility for their failure to retain records and turned their backs on dying asbestos victims, who searched in vain for evidence of insurance which might provide some security for the families they would leave behind.
At last, in February 2010, the Labour Government consulted on measures to remedy this gross injustice with a recommendation to set up an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB), similar to the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) which pays compensation in the event negligent drivers are uninsured or insurance cannot be traced. The consultation closed in May 2010 and responsibility for responding to the consultation fell to the Coalition Government Minister, Lord Freud. Two years later, on the 25 July 2012, Lord Freud announced his response.
The Mesothelioma Bill and the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme
Instead of creating an ELIB, the Government has drafted the Mesothelioma Bill to set up a Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (Payment Scheme), funded from a levy on active insurers, which will pay discounted average compensation based on age to mesothelioma sufferers who were diagnosed on or after 25 July 2012. The Bill commenced in the House of Lords where the discounted payment of 70% of average compensation was increased to 75%. The Bill has now commenced its passage through the House of Commons. Royal assent is expected to be given in April 2014 and payments are set to commence in summer 2014.
It is estimated that approximately 3,500 payments will be made by 2024 at a cost of £322 million. Although average compensation in 2012 was £154,000, due to the increasing age of claimants it is expected that average litigated settlements over the first ten years of the scheme will be £124,286. At 75% of this figure, the average scheme payment would be £93,214. However, benefits and lump sum payments would be deducted in full, at an average deduction of £20,480, reducing the average payment to £72,734.
The levy will be collected by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and treated as a hypothecated tax, i.e. public money. Dependants may claim under the scheme, but unlike claims in law, no payment will be made to the deceased's estate if there are no dependants. However, the scheme applies common law rules for recovery of benefits. Peers challenged the Government's very selective application of common law rules, but to no avail.
Fifty per cent of asbestos victims are excluded from the scheme, which is limited to mesothelioma sufferers only, even though it would only increase the cost by 20% to include all asbestos victims. Despite the fact that it took two years to respond to the consultation, the Government has refused to accept the modest request to set the eligibility date at the commencement of the consultation, 10 February 2010.
The scheme excludes claims for negligent environmental exposures and contaminated work clothes exposures, and claims from the self-employed. Turner & Newall (T&N) claimants, who are not protected by T&N insurance and are paid just 27% of tariff payments from T&N scheme funds, are also excluded.
The payment scheme is the result of two years' negotiation with insurers held behind closed doors in which insurers drove a hard a bargain, reducing scheme benefits well below the limit of acceptability. With threats of court action and utter intransigence, insurers have bullied and faced down the Government, thereby gaining an overwhelming advantage.
The Government expects to receive £71 million in recovered benefits and lump sum payments in the period 2014 to 2024, of which £17 million is to be given as a gift to insurers to help them out. This is a gift; it is not to be paid back. The Government is also lending insurers £30 million to help to “smooth” the first four years when there will be a spike in claims due to claims coming forward from 25 July 2012. This money will be paid back in years six and seven.
The insurers have insisted that they will pass on levy costs to businesses if the levy exceeds 3% of the annual amount they receive from employers' liability premiums, i.e. Gross Working Premium (GWP). They argue that anything over a 70% payment will exceed 3% GWP. The Government has disputed the insurers' estimates and their figures show that over the initial 10 years of the scheme, 100% compensation could be paid without exceeding 3% GWP. Nevertheless, the Government has accepted the insurers' estimates and the arbitrary 3% threshold and have pledged not to levy insurers above 3% GWP.
For the first four years of the scheme (2014-2018) insurers will have to meet the cost of claims, but the DWP will fund any cost in excess of 3% GWP. After the first four years, the DWP will have to estimate the annual cost of claims and set the levy accordingly. Any shortfall in the levy is the DWP's responsibility and any surplus will be paid into the Government Consolidated Fund. If the estimated levy payment is above 3% GWP the DWP will pay the excess, not the insurers.
Discussion
The Government justifies its concessions to insurers saying the insurers paying the levy are not necessarily the ones who took the premiums paying for untraceable historical policies so they have to be fair to them. But insurers should take collective responsibility for their collective failure. If this is “rough justice” it is nothing compared to the injustice suffered by asbestos victims.
We should be clear about where responsibility lies. The Financial Services Authority (now the FCA) described the long-standing problem of untraced insurance as “… a situation where insurers/policyholders are inappropriately subsidised by claimants ….” According to the Mesothelioma Bill Impact Assessment an estimated 6,000 mesothelioma sufferers have lost approximately £800 million in compensation due to untraced insurance. That is the extent to which mesothelioma sufferers have subsidised insurers. If one includes other asbestos victims we find that asbestos victims have subsidised insurers to the tune of £1 billion. In the face of such financial loss, not to speak of the loss of life, does fairness lie in mesothelioma sufferers continuing to subsidise insurers by 25% and other asbestos victims subsidising them by 100%?
Notwithstanding the Government's uncritical acceptance of the insurers' 3% GWP threshold, there is no certainty whatsoever that insurers will not pass on the cost to businesses at any level of GWP. The Government should not give way to threats of this sort, and certainly should not use taxpayers' money to subsidise insurers in the event of the levy exceeding the insurers' convenient 3% threshold. We have come to a pretty pass when dying asbestos victims are called on to absorb insurers' cost to protect business!
In the face of an obdurate, litigious and self-serving insurance industry, Lord Freud has negotiated a scheme at too great a cost to mesothelioma sufferers. Asbestos victims are entitled to 100% justice. We are asking everyone who is concerned about justice for asbestos victims to write to their MPs asking them to improve the Bill for mesothelioma sufferers and to give a commitment to include victims of other asbestos diseases in the scheme in the future.
Asbestos victims and their representatives have welcomed the Mesothelioma Bill. After all, it is the first attempt to remedy a long-standing injustice. But, on close examination, it is a gift to insurers who could not indefinitely hide behind their own failures and evade liability for insurance they wrote for so many years. The day of reckoning has come, but at great cost to asbestos victims and with a great discount to insurers. It is in examining the detail of the payment scheme that the true cost to asbestos victims is found. This article sets out the main elements of the scheme and then discusses the Government's rationale for its generosity to insurers.
Background
For decades, insurers wantonly destroyed or simply lost records of employers' liability insurance – insurance which victims of very long latent asbestos diseases, such as mesothelioma, would later come to rely on long after the companies who exposed them to asbestos had ceased trading. Unmoved by the suffering and incalculable loss of life caused by asbestos, insurers persistently refused to accept responsibility for their failure to retain records and turned their backs on dying asbestos victims, who searched in vain for evidence of insurance which might provide some security for the families they would leave behind.
At last, in February 2010, the Labour Government consulted on measures to remedy this gross injustice with a recommendation to set up an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB), similar to the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) which pays compensation in the event negligent drivers are uninsured or insurance cannot be traced. The consultation closed in May 2010 and responsibility for responding to the consultation fell to the Coalition Government Minister, Lord Freud. Two years later, on the 25 July 2012, Lord Freud announced his response.
The Mesothelioma Bill and the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme
Instead of creating an ELIB, the Government has drafted the Mesothelioma Bill to set up a Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (Payment Scheme), funded from a levy on active insurers, which will pay discounted average compensation based on age to mesothelioma sufferers who were diagnosed on or after 25 July 2012. The Bill commenced in the House of Lords where the discounted payment of 70% of average compensation was increased to 75%. The Bill has now commenced its passage through the House of Commons. Royal assent is expected to be given in April 2014 and payments are set to commence in summer 2014.
It is estimated that approximately 3,500 payments will be made by 2024 at a cost of £322 million. Although average compensation in 2012 was £154,000, due to the increasing age of claimants it is expected that average litigated settlements over the first ten years of the scheme will be £124,286. At 75% of this figure, the average scheme payment would be £93,214. However, benefits and lump sum payments would be deducted in full, at an average deduction of £20,480, reducing the average payment to £72,734.
The levy will be collected by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and treated as a hypothecated tax, i.e. public money. Dependants may claim under the scheme, but unlike claims in law, no payment will be made to the deceased's estate if there are no dependants. However, the scheme applies common law rules for recovery of benefits. Peers challenged the Government's very selective application of common law rules, but to no avail.
Fifty per cent of asbestos victims are excluded from the scheme, which is limited to mesothelioma sufferers only, even though it would only increase the cost by 20% to include all asbestos victims. Despite the fact that it took two years to respond to the consultation, the Government has refused to accept the modest request to set the eligibility date at the commencement of the consultation, 10 February 2010.
The scheme excludes claims for negligent environmental exposures and contaminated work clothes exposures, and claims from the self-employed. Turner & Newall (T&N) claimants, who are not protected by T&N insurance and are paid just 27% of tariff payments from T&N scheme funds, are also excluded.
The payment scheme is the result of two years' negotiation with insurers held behind closed doors in which insurers drove a hard a bargain, reducing scheme benefits well below the limit of acceptability. With threats of court action and utter intransigence, insurers have bullied and faced down the Government, thereby gaining an overwhelming advantage.
The Government expects to receive £71 million in recovered benefits and lump sum payments in the period 2014 to 2024, of which £17 million is to be given as a gift to insurers to help them out. This is a gift; it is not to be paid back. The Government is also lending insurers £30 million to help to “smooth” the first four years when there will be a spike in claims due to claims coming forward from 25 July 2012. This money will be paid back in years six and seven.
The insurers have insisted that they will pass on levy costs to businesses if the levy exceeds 3% of the annual amount they receive from employers' liability premiums, i.e. Gross Working Premium (GWP). They argue that anything over a 70% payment will exceed 3% GWP. The Government has disputed the insurers' estimates and their figures show that over the initial 10 years of the scheme, 100% compensation could be paid without exceeding 3% GWP. Nevertheless, the Government has accepted the insurers' estimates and the arbitrary 3% threshold and have pledged not to levy insurers above 3% GWP.
For the first four years of the scheme (2014-2018) insurers will have to meet the cost of claims, but the DWP will fund any cost in excess of 3% GWP. After the first four years, the DWP will have to estimate the annual cost of claims and set the levy accordingly. Any shortfall in the levy is the DWP's responsibility and any surplus will be paid into the Government Consolidated Fund. If the estimated levy payment is above 3% GWP the DWP will pay the excess, not the insurers.
Discussion
The Government justifies its concessions to insurers saying the insurers paying the levy are not necessarily the ones who took the premiums paying for untraceable historical policies so they have to be fair to them. But insurers should take collective responsibility for their collective failure. If this is “rough justice” it is nothing compared to the injustice suffered by asbestos victims.
We should be clear about where responsibility lies. The Financial Services Authority (now the FCA) described the long-standing problem of untraced insurance as “… a situation where insurers/policyholders are inappropriately subsidised by claimants ….” According to the Mesothelioma Bill Impact Assessment an estimated 6,000 mesothelioma sufferers have lost approximately £800 million in compensation due to untraced insurance. That is the extent to which mesothelioma sufferers have subsidised insurers. If one includes other asbestos victims we find that asbestos victims have subsidised insurers to the tune of £1 billion. In the face of such financial loss, not to speak of the loss of life, does fairness lie in mesothelioma sufferers continuing to subsidise insurers by 25% and other asbestos victims subsidising them by 100%?
Notwithstanding the Government's uncritical acceptance of the insurers' 3% GWP threshold, there is no certainty whatsoever that insurers will not pass on the cost to businesses at any level of GWP. The Government should not give way to threats of this sort, and certainly should not use taxpayers' money to subsidise insurers in the event of the levy exceeding the insurers' convenient 3% threshold. We have come to a pretty pass when dying asbestos victims are called on to absorb insurers' cost to protect business!
In the face of an obdurate, litigious and self-serving insurance industry, Lord Freud has negotiated a scheme at too great a cost to mesothelioma sufferers. Asbestos victims are entitled to 100% justice. We are asking everyone who is concerned about justice for asbestos victims to write to their MPs asking them to improve the Bill for mesothelioma sufferers and to give a commitment to include victims of other asbestos diseases in the scheme in the future.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Asbestos Related Deaths in NJ Continue at Record Rates
Source: EWG Fund asbestosnation.org/ |
Read more about "mesothelioma" and workers' compensation:
Feb 9, 2016 ... A recent study indicates that a new physician staging processes by weight and volume of mesothelioma tumors may be helpful in predicting ...
workers-compensation.blogspot.com
|
6 days ago ... Fibro Clay, and its causal relationship to mesothelioma, has been ... Malignantmesothelioma cases among primary school teachers are usually ...
workers-compensation.blogspot.com
|
Jul 20, 2012 ... An increased risk of developing asbestos related disease, including mesothelioma, was identified in a recent study. Asbestos exposure has ...
workers-compensation.blogspot.com
|
Jun 29, 2012 ... Mesothelioma is a rare but highly fatal cancer of the thin membranes surrounding the chest cavity or abdominal cavity. The only ...
workers-compensation.blogspot.com
|
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Friday, April 24, 2009
CDC Warns of New Cases of Malignant Mesothelioma
The CDC has issued a warning that new cases of malignant mesothelioma will occur and should be documented by physicians.
"Malignant mesothelioma is a fatal cancer primarily associated with exposure to asbestos. The latency period between first exposure to asbestos and clinical disease usually is 20--40 years (1). Although asbestos is no longer mined in the United States, the mineral is still imported, and a substantial amount of asbestos remaining in buildings eventually will be removed, either during remediation or demolition. Currently, an estimated 1.3 million construction and general industry workers potentially are being exposed to asbestos (2). To characterize mortality attributed to mesothelioma, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed annual multiple-cause-of-death records for 1999--2005, the most recent years for which complete data are available.* For those years, a total of 18,068 deaths of persons with malignant mesothelioma were reported, increasing from 2,482 deaths in 1999 to 2,704 in 2005, but the annual death rate was stable (14.1 per million in 1999 and 14.0 in 2005). Maintenance, renovation, or demolition activities that might disturb asbestos should be performed with precautions that sufficiently prevent exposures for workers and the public. In addition, physicians should document the occupational history of all suspected and confirmed mesothelioma cases."
"Although asbestos has been eliminated in the manufacture of many products, it is still being imported (approximately 1,730 metric tons in 2007) and used in the United States (3) in various construction and transportation products (6). Ensuring a future decrease in mesothelioma mortality requires meticulous control of exposures to asbestos and other materials that might cause mesothelioma. Recent studies suggest that carbon nanotubes (fiber-shaped nanoparticles), which are increasingly being used in manufacturing (9), might share the carcinogenic mechanism postulated for asbestos and induce mesothelioma (10), underscoring the need for documentation of occupational history in future cases. Capturing occupational history information for mesothelioma cases is important to identify industries and occupations placing workers at risk for this lethal disease."
"Malignant mesothelioma is a fatal cancer primarily associated with exposure to asbestos. The latency period between first exposure to asbestos and clinical disease usually is 20--40 years (1). Although asbestos is no longer mined in the United States, the mineral is still imported, and a substantial amount of asbestos remaining in buildings eventually will be removed, either during remediation or demolition. Currently, an estimated 1.3 million construction and general industry workers potentially are being exposed to asbestos (2). To characterize mortality attributed to mesothelioma, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed annual multiple-cause-of-death records for 1999--2005, the most recent years for which complete data are available.* For those years, a total of 18,068 deaths of persons with malignant mesothelioma were reported, increasing from 2,482 deaths in 1999 to 2,704 in 2005, but the annual death rate was stable (14.1 per million in 1999 and 14.0 in 2005). Maintenance, renovation, or demolition activities that might disturb asbestos should be performed with precautions that sufficiently prevent exposures for workers and the public. In addition, physicians should document the occupational history of all suspected and confirmed mesothelioma cases."
"Although asbestos has been eliminated in the manufacture of many products, it is still being imported (approximately 1,730 metric tons in 2007) and used in the United States (3) in various construction and transportation products (6). Ensuring a future decrease in mesothelioma mortality requires meticulous control of exposures to asbestos and other materials that might cause mesothelioma. Recent studies suggest that carbon nanotubes (fiber-shaped nanoparticles), which are increasingly being used in manufacturing (9), might share the carcinogenic mechanism postulated for asbestos and induce mesothelioma (10), underscoring the need for documentation of occupational history in future cases. Capturing occupational history information for mesothelioma cases is important to identify industries and occupations placing workers at risk for this lethal disease."
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
IMIG 2014: Dr. Ravi Salgia presents “From Chaos to Mitochondrial Functionality”
Dr. Salgia summarized efforts from his group to bring mathematical modeling to the study of malignant mesothelioma and how the rules of this theory can be applied to consideration of mutations associated with mesothelioma, suggesting that DNA acts much likes fractals. He emphasized that the fractal dimensionality of mesothelioma cells is dramatically different from that of normal cells and that mitochondrial networks in mesothelioma can also be modeled with fractal analysis. Click here to learn more about this new approach to understanding mesothelioma and the biology of other cancer cells.
Click here to watch Dr. Salgia’s Presentation
Click here to watch Dr. Salgia’s Presentation
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Sunday, September 21, 2014
Curcumin, special peptides boost cancer-blocking PIAS3 to neutralize cancer-activating STAT3 in mesothelioma
Malignant mesothelioma has received widespread notoriety because it occurs frequently in the lung linings of people exposed to asbestos. However, asbestos does not always cause this particular cancer that kills 43,000 people worldwide each year. Many mesothelioma patients were never exposed to asbestos. "Mesothelioma is a disease that continues to have a significant burden worldwide, and the treatment option is really suboptimal. We must find better ways to treat it," said senior author Afshin Dowlati, MD, Professor of Medicine -- Hematology/Oncology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "We now understand the mechanisms that drive cell proliferation and growth in malignant mesothelioma." The culprit in sparking many cancers, particularly mesothelioma, is the intracellular protein and transcription factor STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3). A signal transducer and activator is a pathway for instructing the growth and survival of cells, and a transcription factor is a protein that controls genetic information directing cells how to perform. STAT3 is notorious for sending signals to trigger the onset of human cancers and to fuel their continued growth. The great neutralizer of STAT3 is PIAS3 (protein inhibitor of activated STAT3). PIAS3 possesses the strength to inhibit and block STAT3's ability to cause cancer. In this study, investigators assessed... |
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
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Monday, October 27, 2014
IMIG: Dr. Constantine Alifrangis Speaks on Next Generation Sequencing in Mesothelioma
Dr. Constantine Alifrangis focused on the study of cancer genomes and how it might be used to identify new treatments and individualize care for patients with mesothelioma. These approaches have identified specific genomic alterations in mesothelioma associated with unexpected drug sensitivities in mesothelioma. As for other cancers, study of cancer genomes in mesothelioma has the potential to guide development of novel therapies for this disease.Click here to hear and see more about this work.
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Monday, March 28, 2016
Pleural mesothelioma reported in a school teacher: asbestos exposure due to DAS paste
The hazardous legacy exposures of school children and art teachers to materials containing asbestos fiber, ie. Fibro Clay, and its causal relationship to mesothelioma, has been reported in a recent medical journal. Today's post is partially shared from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
BACKGROUND:
Malignant mesothelioma cases among primary school teachers are usually linked with asbestos exposure due to the mineral contained in the building structure. Among the approximately 12,000 cases of mesothelioma described in the fourth report of the National Mesothelioma Register, 11 cases of primary school teachers are reported, in spite of the fact that the "catalogue of asbestos use" does not describe circumstances of asbestos exposure other than or different to that due to asbestos contained in the buildings. Four cases in the Brescia Provincial Mesothelioma Register are identified as teachers, without this circumstance of exposure.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
NJ Supreme Court Enhances Workplace Safety and Adopts an Updated Standard for Medical Causation
A divided NJ Supreme Court upheld a verdict for an employee who suffered mesothelioma, a fatal cancer, as a result of a product manufacturer’s failure to warn of the lethal nature of the product in the workplace. The Court acknowledged that even minor exposure to asbestos could cause disease.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Mesothelioma: New findings on treatment options
Today's post is shared from sciencedaily.com/ Treating patients with high-dose radiotherapy after chemotherapy and surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma does not achieve improvements in local relapse and overall survival, according to data from a prospective randomized phase II trial presented at ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid. "Mesothelioma remains a difficult disease to find better treatment options for, so we asked whether high-dose hemithoracic radiotherapy would decrease the rate or delay the time of local recurrence after chemotherapy and radical surgery," says lead author Prof Rolf A. Stahel, from the Clinic and Policlinic for Oncology, at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, and current President of the European Society for Medical Oncology. The multicentre trial included 153 patients with surgically-treatable malignant pleural mesothelioma, who were first treated with three chemotherapy cycles of cisplatin and pemetrexed, followed by surgical removal of affected lung tissue, with the goal of complete removal of the cancerous areas of lung. In a second part of the study, researchers randomly assigned 54 patients to receive either radiotherapy or no further treatment, with the primary endpoint being the duration of relapse-free survival. While there had been preliminary evidence suggesting that the addition of radiotherapy might improve outcomes, the study failed to find any differences in relapse-free survival between patients treated with the additional radiotherapy, and those who were not. ... |
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Friday, November 22, 2013
Overlooked Lymph Nodes in Rib Cage Have Prognostic Power for Mesothelioma Patients
A potential tool to diagnosis and treatment mesothelioma has been reported.
For the first time, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown the predictive power of a group of overlooked lymph nodes--known as the posterior intercostal lymph nodes--that could serve as a better tool to stage and ultimately treat patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Physicians look to lymph nodes to stage essentially all cancers, including mesothelioma. The presence or absence of metastatic cancer cells in lymph nodes affects prognosis and also typically dictates the optimal treatment strategy. But posterior intercostal lymph nodes, which are located between the ribs near the spine, have not been previously used to stage or guide treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma or any other cancer. |
Friday, March 5, 2010
Possible Vaccine for Mesothelioma
A vaccine has been demonstrated as safe for potential use against mesothelioma. The research, conducted by Netherlands scientists was reported in an advance publication of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care.
The scientists concluded that, This study demonstrated that autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell-based therapy is feasible, well-tolerated, and capable of inducing immunological response to tumor cells in mesothelioma patients."
The scientists concluded that, This study demonstrated that autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell-based therapy is feasible, well-tolerated, and capable of inducing immunological response to tumor cells in mesothelioma patients."
Mesothelioma is a rare and fatal malignant tumor associated with asbestos exposure. Asbestos was mined and its fiber used for fire-retartant insulation properties. Asbestos use has resulted in an a legacy of illness and death decades following exposure because of the latent and progressive nature of the disease. Asbestos production is not yet banned in the United States.
Findings indicated that, "Administration of dendritic cells pulsed with autologous tumor lysate in mesothelioma patients was safe with moderate fever as the only side effect.There were no grade 3 or 4 toxicities associated with the vaccines or any evidence of autoimmunity. Local accumulations of infiltrating T cells were found at the site of vaccination. The vaccinations induced distinct immunological responses to KLH, both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, after three vaccinations, cytotoxic activity against autologous tumor cells was detected in a subgroup of patients."
The Study: J. P Hegmans, J. D. Veltman, M. E Lambers, I. J. M. de Vries, C. G. Figdor, R. W Hendriks, H. C. Hoogsteden, B. N. Lambrecht, and J. G. Aerts , Consolidative Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapy Elicits Cytotoxicity Against Malignant Mesothelioma, Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2010 0: 200909-1465OCv1-
More articles about this research:
Health Day: Vaccine for Asbestos-Related Cancer Looks Safe. In tests, novel immunotherapy appears to combat mesothelioma tumors.
Findings indicated that, "Administration of dendritic cells pulsed with autologous tumor lysate in mesothelioma patients was safe with moderate fever as the only side effect.There were no grade 3 or 4 toxicities associated with the vaccines or any evidence of autoimmunity. Local accumulations of infiltrating T cells were found at the site of vaccination. The vaccinations induced distinct immunological responses to KLH, both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, after three vaccinations, cytotoxic activity against autologous tumor cells was detected in a subgroup of patients."
The Study: J. P Hegmans, J. D. Veltman, M. E Lambers, I. J. M. de Vries, C. G. Figdor, R. W Hendriks, H. C. Hoogsteden, B. N. Lambrecht, and J. G. Aerts , Consolidative Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapy Elicits Cytotoxicity Against Malignant Mesothelioma, Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2010 0: 200909-1465OCv1-
More articles about this research:
Health Day: Vaccine for Asbestos-Related Cancer Looks Safe. In tests, novel immunotherapy appears to combat mesothelioma tumors.
Science News: Possible Vaccine for Mesothelioma Proven Safe.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Systematic review of response rates of sarcomatoid malignant pleural mesotheliomas in clinical trials
Systemic chemotherapy treatment for mesothelioma patients has been reported to less effective on patients with sarcomatoid tumors. A recent study has been reported in Lung Cancer.
"Abstract Rationale
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an almost universally fatal malignancy primarily related to asbestos exposure. Based on the differences in immunologic markers and gene expression between histologic subtypes of mesothelioma, and our clinical impression that response rates vary by histology, we decided to examine the reported response rates of mesothelioma subtypes.
Objectives
Our objective was to compare the response rates of sarcomatoid mesotheliomas to the overall response rates in published clinical trials.
Methods
We searched PubMed for “mesothelioma” with the clinical trials filter selected. We included articles published between January 1, 2000 and March 20, 2014 in which subjects received first or second line systemic therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Studies investigating multi-modality therapy including surgery were excluded. Response rates [including 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)] were estimated for the entire patient cohort and then separately for subjects with sarcomatoid tumors.
Measurements and main results
We reviewed 544 publications of which 41 trials met our inclusion criteria. Eleven of these trials did not include patients with sarcomatoid mesothelioma (27% of eligible studies). The remaining 30 publications included 1475 subjects, 1011 with epithelioid tumors (68.5%), 203 with biphasic tumors (13.8%), 137 with sarcomatoid tumors (9.3%) and 124 with unknown subtypes (8.4%). In total, there were 323 responses (21.9%, complete and partial responses, 95% CI: 16.3, 28.8) to systemic therapy across all histological subtypes. In patients with sarcomatoid tumors (n = 137) 19 responses were observed. This accounted for 5.9% of all responses and yields a 13.9% (95% CI: 8.6, 21.6) response rate for patients with sarcomatoid tumors. Multiple biases likely affected this systematic review.
Conclusion
Response rates for different histological subtypes of malignant pleural mesothelioma are infrequently reported. Partial and complete responses to systemic therapies appear to be less common among patients with sarcomatoid tumors.
James T. Symanowskib,
Tobias Peikertc
a Department of Oncology, Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
b Department of Cancer Biostatistics, Levine Cancer Institute Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, NC, United States
c Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
DOI: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2014.08.017 "
"Abstract Rationale
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an almost universally fatal malignancy primarily related to asbestos exposure. Based on the differences in immunologic markers and gene expression between histologic subtypes of mesothelioma, and our clinical impression that response rates vary by histology, we decided to examine the reported response rates of mesothelioma subtypes.
Objectives
Our objective was to compare the response rates of sarcomatoid mesotheliomas to the overall response rates in published clinical trials.
Methods
We searched PubMed for “mesothelioma” with the clinical trials filter selected. We included articles published between January 1, 2000 and March 20, 2014 in which subjects received first or second line systemic therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Studies investigating multi-modality therapy including surgery were excluded. Response rates [including 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)] were estimated for the entire patient cohort and then separately for subjects with sarcomatoid tumors.
Measurements and main results
We reviewed 544 publications of which 41 trials met our inclusion criteria. Eleven of these trials did not include patients with sarcomatoid mesothelioma (27% of eligible studies). The remaining 30 publications included 1475 subjects, 1011 with epithelioid tumors (68.5%), 203 with biphasic tumors (13.8%), 137 with sarcomatoid tumors (9.3%) and 124 with unknown subtypes (8.4%). In total, there were 323 responses (21.9%, complete and partial responses, 95% CI: 16.3, 28.8) to systemic therapy across all histological subtypes. In patients with sarcomatoid tumors (n = 137) 19 responses were observed. This accounted for 5.9% of all responses and yields a 13.9% (95% CI: 8.6, 21.6) response rate for patients with sarcomatoid tumors. Multiple biases likely affected this systematic review.
Conclusion
Response rates for different histological subtypes of malignant pleural mesothelioma are infrequently reported. Partial and complete responses to systemic therapies appear to be less common among patients with sarcomatoid tumors.
Received: June 18, 2014; Received in revised form: August 18, 2014; Accepted: August 22, 2014; Published Online: September 01, 2014
Aaron S. Mansfielda, , ,James T. Symanowskib,
Tobias Peikertc
a Department of Oncology, Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
b Department of Cancer Biostatistics, Levine Cancer Institute Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, NC, United States
c Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
DOI: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2014.08.017 "
Monday, October 27, 2014
IMIG 2014: New Molecules and New Therapies – Advancing Mesothelioma Carehttp://imig.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/fennell.jpg
Keynote, Dean Fennell presents on treatment developments for mesothelioma
Click here to watch Dean Fennell
Click here to watch Dean Fennell
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- Consequences of asbestos: New laboratory installed for research into pleural cancer (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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- Overlooked Lymph Nodes in Rib Cage Have Prognostic Power for Mesothelioma Patients (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Curcumin, special peptides boost cancer-blocking PIAS3 to neutralize cancer-activating STAT3 in mesothelioma (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Systematic review of response rates of sarcomatoid malignant pleural mesotheliomas in clinical trials (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Mesothelioma: New findings on treatment options (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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Sunday, January 7, 2024
Household Contact Awarded $30 Million Verdict for Mesothelioma
Employers have a responsibility not only to their employees but also to their household contacts, individuals who live in the employee’s home. Employees who are exposed at work may carry the toxic substances home on their clothes or their body.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Mesothelioma Compensation Rate 32% in Canada
When combined with a history of occupational asbestos exposure, mesothelioma is often presumed work-related.
In Canada, workers diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by occupational asbestos exposure are often eligible for compensation under provincial workers' compensation boards. Although occupational asbestos exposure causes the majority of mesothelioma, Canadian research suggests less than half of workers actually apply for compensation.
Alberta's mandatory reporting requirements may produce higher filing rates but this is currently unknown. This study evaluates Alberta's mesothelioma filing and compensation rates.
METHODS: Demographic information on all mesothelioma patients diagnosed between 1980 and 2004 were extracted from the Alberta Cancer Board's Cancer Registry and linked to Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta claims data.
RESULTS: Alberta recorded a total of 568 histologically confirmed mesothelioma cases between 1980 and 2004. Forty-two percent of cases filed a claim; 83% of filed claims were accepted for compensation.
CONCLUSIONS: Patient under-reporting of compensable mesothelioma is a problem and raises larger questions regarding under-reporting of other asbestos-related cancers in Alberta. Strategies should focus on increasing filing rates where appropriate.
Cree MW, Lalji M, Jiang B, Carriere KC. Am J Ind Med. 2009 Jul;52(7):526-33. PMID: 19484745 [PubMed - in process]
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Mesothelioma: Two Groundbreaking Trials Into Treatments for Asbestos-Related Cancer
Mesothelioma is causally related to asbestos exposure. Asbestos use is not yet banned in the US. This story is shared from sciencedaily.com.
University of Leicester researchers are leading two major trials into treatments for a type of cancer which affects those exposed to asbestos.
Mesothelioma most commonly starts in the inner lining of the chest wall, causing it to thicken, reducing lung capacity -- which in turn puts a strain on other organs including the heart. Since the 1960s, it has been known that the disease can be triggered by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. Despite the UK's ban on asbestos issued in 1985, the number of deaths caused by the disease each year has grown from 153 in 1968 to 2,321 in 2009 -- the highest incidence in the world. This number is set to continue to rise sharply over the next 20 years, with a peak coming in 2020. Two studies involving the University of Leicester aim to test new potential treatments which could improve survival and quality of life for mesothelioma patients. Meso2, a study funded by Synta Pharmaceuticals, aims to test the effectiveness of a drug called ganetespib in preventing mesothelioma tumors. Ganetespib inhibits the action of a protein in cells called heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) -- which is... |
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Thursday, September 30, 2010
New Biomarkers Discovered for Mesothelioma May Lead to Early Detection
Using a novel aptamer-based proteomics array technology, researchers and collaborators have identified biomarkers and protein signatures that are hallmarks of cancer at an early stage for two of the most aggressive and deadly forms of cancer — pancreatic and mesothelioma.
This technology would enable better clinical diagnosis at an earlier stage and may provide insight into new therapeutic targets, said Rachel Ostroff, Ph.D., clinical research director of Somalogic Inc.
“Currently these cancers are detected at an advanced stage, where the possibility of cure is minimal,” said Ostroff. “Detection of these aggressive cancers at an earlier stage would identify patients for early treatment, which may improve their survival and quality of life.”
Ostroff presented results of this ongoing study at the Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development.
Discovered about 20 years ago, aptamers are nucleic acid molecules that bind to specific proteins. SomaLogic has developed the next generation of aptamers, SOMAmers (Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamers), which have superior affinity and specificity. SOMAmers enable a highly multiplexed proteomic platform used for simultaneous identification and quantification of target proteins in complex biological samples.
The goal of this study was to determine if this proteomics technology could identify blood-based biomarkers for pancreatic cancer or mesothelioma in people diagnosed, but not yet treated, for cancer.
Participants in the control group had symptoms that resembled these cancers, but were benign (i.e. pancreatitis or lung fibrosis).
Ostroff and colleagues tested blood from participants to discover the biomarkers specific to those with cancer, which would then be used to identify these diseases at an early stage, where the potential for effective treatment is much higher than in disease that has progressed.
For both forms of cancer, the researchers discovered biomarkers and developed a signature with high accuracy for detection of each form of cancer. Equally important, they found high specificity, meaning few people without disease will be incorrectly diagnosed and thus avoid unnecessary tests or treatments.
“Validation studies are underway, which we hope will lead to the development of diagnostic tests that hold clinical benefits for patients,” Ostroff said.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related pulmonary cancer that causes an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 deaths per year worldwide.
This technology would enable better clinical diagnosis at an earlier stage and may provide insight into new therapeutic targets, said Rachel Ostroff, Ph.D., clinical research director of Somalogic Inc.
“Currently these cancers are detected at an advanced stage, where the possibility of cure is minimal,” said Ostroff. “Detection of these aggressive cancers at an earlier stage would identify patients for early treatment, which may improve their survival and quality of life.”
Ostroff presented results of this ongoing study at the Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development.
Discovered about 20 years ago, aptamers are nucleic acid molecules that bind to specific proteins. SomaLogic has developed the next generation of aptamers, SOMAmers (Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamers), which have superior affinity and specificity. SOMAmers enable a highly multiplexed proteomic platform used for simultaneous identification and quantification of target proteins in complex biological samples.
The goal of this study was to determine if this proteomics technology could identify blood-based biomarkers for pancreatic cancer or mesothelioma in people diagnosed, but not yet treated, for cancer.
Participants in the control group had symptoms that resembled these cancers, but were benign (i.e. pancreatitis or lung fibrosis).
Ostroff and colleagues tested blood from participants to discover the biomarkers specific to those with cancer, which would then be used to identify these diseases at an early stage, where the potential for effective treatment is much higher than in disease that has progressed.
For both forms of cancer, the researchers discovered biomarkers and developed a signature with high accuracy for detection of each form of cancer. Equally important, they found high specificity, meaning few people without disease will be incorrectly diagnosed and thus avoid unnecessary tests or treatments.
“Validation studies are underway, which we hope will lead to the development of diagnostic tests that hold clinical benefits for patients,” Ostroff said.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related pulmonary cancer that causes an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 deaths per year worldwide.
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos related disease.
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Monday, October 14, 2013
Asbestos Can Take Your Breath Away, Forever
Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from blog.saferchemicals.org
The time is now for the Senate to unanimously support the passage of the Safe Chemicals Act (S.847). We need to do more to protect our children from BPAs, fire retardants and other dangerous toxins in our world. What many don’t realize is that asbestos is still legal and lethal in theUnited States, tragically impacting families. I know because it happened to us. I remember the day when my husband AlanAlan Was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma as if it were yesterday. We had never heard of mesothelioma, and we were devastated when we learned that there is no cure. Our daughter was only ten years old when we began our arduous family battle to fight mesothelioma and work with Congress To ban asbestos. |
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