Mesothelioma Pages

In 2005 Hooisweng Ow, author and researcher, and Ulrich Wiesner, Cornell Professor of Materials Science and Engineering developed “Cornell dots,”—a new light technology to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. “Cornell dots” will be specifically helpful in early diagnosis of rare and characteristically small-tumor cancers, like mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of abdominal organ lining, most often found in lung lining. Unlike other cancers that affect deeper tissues, malignant mesothelioma tumors are typically much wider than they are deep; growing through the mesothelium—a thin, membranous covering found around inner organs.

Journal of Clinical Investigation published an article detailing “Cornell dots.” Although other attempts have been made to develop the same diagnostic aid, “Cornell dots” are the only product of its class to receive Food and Drug Administration approval. Consisting of silica nanoparticles that have been covered with a polyethylene glycol (PEG), “Cornell dots” do not register as intruders upon entry into the human body, allowing them to travel and attach to cancer cells without being attacked by the bodies protective cells. In response to positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, “Cornell dots” glow—acting as a beacon to guide physicians and medical providers to cancerous cells.

This exciting new technology can aid not only in finding and diagnosing cancers, but also in treatment follow up and tracking growth and spread of tumors. According to the researchers, this tool “enables visualization during surgical treatment, showing invasive or metastatic spread to lymph nodes and distant organs, and can show the extent of treatment response.”

Mesothelioma is caused by toxic chemical asbestos, a natural mineral found in rock deposits. Asbestos fibers begin a mutative process of cancer development once they are inhaled or ingested into the body. There are mesothelioma treatments available, but no known cure.

Mesothelioma is characterized by an extensive latency period—often between twenty and fifty years. Unfortunately, mesothelioma symptoms do not demonstrate until the diseases final and most aggressive stage—well beyond a time that allows for curative treatment. Most mesothelioma patients have no idea they are suffering with cancer until it is too late.

Turmeric is a spice made from rhizomes of a plant in the ginger family, and is often used in cooking to add flavor and color. A recent study by National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers—a partnership between Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine—suggests that turmeric could provide more to the world than culinary flair. Curcumin, a derivative of turmeric, is being tested as a treatment partner for use on mesothelioma cancer.

Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer affecting protective lining of abdominal organs, most often lung lining. Caused by exposure to toxic carcinogen asbestos, mesothelioma is characterized by a long latency period and short life expectancy following diagnosis. About three thousand Americans and twenty thousand people worldwide each year suffer with mesothelioma while asbestos use continues to go unregulated in many countries. Although there are mesothelioma treatments available—in select medical facilities—which include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, these focus on alleviating pain and extending patient life expectancy. There is no cure for mesothelioma.

The curcumin study found that on a cellular level, curcumin elevates amounts of apoptosis inducing proteins—proteins that begin a ‘self-destruct’ process in cells. In included cases of mesothelioma in lab mice and humans, higher curcumin doses translated to higher chemotherapy treatment susceptibility.

National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers continues to research and study new information and treatments related to asbestos and mesothelioma. With ninety thousand annual, worldwide mesothelioma cases estimated for our near future, new treatment options could not come at a better time.

The 1st International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, in Santa Monica, CA, just concluded. Doctors, surgeons and medical experts from around the world gathered to listen and share information on mesothelioma treatments and procedures. Specifically, symposium agendas focused on mesothelioma treatments considered radical, and their benefit, or lack there of, for patients.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer affecting people worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates twenty thousand people suffer from mesothelioma annually and expect that number to rise rapidly if its cause, asbestos exposure, is not stopped or at least greatly curbed.

Asbestos is a type 1 carcinogen known to cause mesothelioma and other severe diseases of the respiratory system.  Asbestos has been used heavily through the world as a construction agent due to its fire resistance and durability. Although relatively safe while contained in stable materials, toxic asbestos fibers can easily become airborne and inhaled, leading to mesothelioma development.

Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer of lung lining. It spreads an irregular pattern of tumors through the mesothelium, protective lining around the lungs, for decades without being detected; often twenty to fifty years will go by without the patient experiencing signs.  During its end stages, mesothelioma exhibits symptoms like that of pneumonia or bronchitis. Once a diagnosis is made, patient life expectancy ranges from six months to several years.

Mesothelioma treatments include surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Radical treatment options often include the removal of an entire lung, all affected areas and lymph nodes, and often parts of the heart lining or diaphragm. This procedure, called an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), has been used for decades and shows a 60% complication rate.

Symposium participants gathered and reviewed data from mesothelioma surgery cases in UK and US. According to event chairman, and director of UCLA Mesothelioma Research Program, Dr. Robert B. Cameron, following discussion of the data doctors present unanimously agreed lung removal is not the most beneficial procedure for mesothelioma patients. Practice of EPPs has already been discontinued in UK.

According to conclusions drawn at the symposium, Dr. Cameron said the “preferred surgical procedure” is a pleurectomy—removal of as many tumors and as much affected tissue as can be safely taken without removing any organs. Pleurectomies are often part of palliative patient care, focusing on slowing mesothelioma tumor spread and extending life expectancy.

Dr. Cameron concluded, “The information presented at this Symposium makes an incredibly strong statement that surgical removal of the lung for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma should no longer be performed anywhere in the world, just like it has been abandoned already in the U.K.”