Jim Dykstra recalls a long and successful 26-year career working in the HVAC field for the city of Phoenix. Stationed at the Sky Harbor International Airport, Jim frequently worked with boilers and other systems that required regular maintenance and updates. Unknowingly at the time, his day-to-day tasks frequently exposed him to asbestos within the building itself, as well as the products he was working with.
Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive disease that is most often diagnosed in the later stages, at stage 3 or stage 4. Late-stage diagnoses limit treatment options for the patient, typically eliminating the possibility of radical surgeries. Multimodal therapy is the most common treatment for mesothelioma cancer, consisting of a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. The possibility of multimodal therapy or what combination is used depends on a case-by-case basis.
Asbestos is still not banned in the United States, despite the warnings and concerns of scientists and advisors. Asbestos is known to cause a series of diseases, including malignant mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put various rules and regulations into place to help protect the public and the environment from the dangers of asbestos, however, their recent rule calls their protections into question.
Improving mesothelioma survival rates has been at the forefront of research for years, as the cancer has long been recognized for its poor prognosis due to a number of factors like difficulties in early detection and aggressive cell types. A recent study from the University of Pittsburgh has discovered six factors that they believe are associated with improved survival among mesothelioma patients and can help drive future research efforts to improve patient life expectancy. Currently, most mesothelioma patients live an average of 12 – 21 months following diagnosis. The team from the University of Pittsburgh set out to understand why patient survival varies so widely to help pinpoint research areas and drive future clinical trials.
A California jury reached a $29 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and Cyprus Mines Corporation, a talc supplier. The jury concluded that the responsible companies must pay Teresa Leavitt over $29 million after she was exposed to asbestos through the long-term use of Johnson & Johnson baby powder. Leavitt claims that the talcum powder is the reason that she has developed mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by asbestos.