Author: Fran Mannino

More than half of patients with peritoneal mesothelioma cancer in the United States are being treated at community hospitals, sacrificing the chance to extend survival at an academic/research facility. Too many die sooner than they should. A medical research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has shown that […]

The post Study: Treatment at Academic Facilities Extends Mesothelioma Survival appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

Plaintiff attorneys and congressional leaders have renewed their push against Johnson & Johnson and its allegedly toxic, talc-based powder products, questioning motives and demanding answers, according to various media outlets. A committee of attorneys filed a restraining order in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, July 27, hoping to prevent J&J’s potential plan to unload […]

The post J&J Facing Scrutiny from Congress, Black Women’s Organization appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to ONCOFID-P for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a step toward another potential therapy option for patients. ONCOFID-P is an innovative drug conjugate already in advanced clinical development for the treatment of invasive bladder cancer. The mesothelioma designation is based on preclinical data […]

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Dr. Maurizio D’Incalci already has seen Tumor Treating Fields working for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, and applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the treatment in 2019. He also knows the therapy is only scratching the surface of its vast potential and could be even more effective. He wants to help improve […]

The post Researcher Hopes to Improve Tumor Treating Fields for Mesothelioma appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have uncovered a new, promising treatment option for patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, potentially filling a gaping void that exists today. The immunotherapy drug combination of Tecentriq and Avastin, known generically as atezolizumab and bevacizumab, respectively, showed unusual efficacy in a recent study of 20 patients with this […]

The post New Drug Combination Shows Promise for Peritoneal Mesothelioma appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

A prominent Medicare services collection agency is taking aim at an estimated 60 viable asbestos trust funds, citing a failure to divulge settlement payments and deliver reimbursement to providers for health care services. Asbestos trusts are designed to compensate victims of diseases caused by exposure to asbestos, most notably malignant mesothelioma, a rare cancer with […]

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It comes as no surprise that immunotherapy is the common theme of the latest batch of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s $100,000 grants. Immunotherapy has become the future of cancer care advancements. The foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., has provided more than $10.8 million in funding for mesothelioma research in six countries since […]

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A novel, targeted cancer vaccine combined with the immunotherapy drug Opdivo has shown surprising efficacy for mesothelioma patients whose disease no longer responds to standard chemotherapy. In a phase I clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the galinpepimut-S vaccine, also known as GPS, has produced an impressive, anti-tumor synergy with Opdivo, based upon […]

The post GPS Vaccine Plus Opdivo Shows Promise for Pleural Mesothelioma appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

Mesothelioma specialist Dr. Dean Fennell has strongly endorsed the use of vinorelbine as a second-line treatment for patients with relapsed disease. He was the lead investigator in a recent phase II clinical trial studying the efficacy of vinorelbine for patients whose pleural mesothelioma cancer had progressed after traditional platinum-based chemotherapy. Fennell, who is chair of […]

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The novel immunotherapy vaccine ONCOS-102 may become the answer for the large percentage of mesothelioma cancer patients who fail to respond to a recently approved checkpoint inhibitor combination of treatment. ONCOS-102, a genetically modified oncolytic adenovirus, showed an overall survival rate of between 21.9 and 25 months in a randomized phase II clinical trial when […]

The post ONCOS-102 Vaccine Showing Impressive Results for Mesothelioma appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

Researchers in the Netherlands are touting a novel breath test for mesothelioma patients to better predict response to the immunotherapy combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab that was approved recently for first-line treatment of the disease. They believe exhaled breath analysis using electronic technology – known as eNose – can differentiate between responders and nonresponders before […]

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Under pressure from a multistate coalition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to tighten its data collection process for asbestos, moving the country another step closer to banning the toxic substance. The agreement comes six months after a U.S. District Court judge in California ruled the EPA must improve its ineffective data collection on […]

The post EPA Agrees to Address Asbestos Data-Collection Deficiencies appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request June 1 from Johnson & Johnson to consider overturning a $2.1 billion award to 22 women who blamed the company’s asbestos-contaminated talcum powder products for causing ovarian cancer. With the Supreme Court declining to consider it, a Missouri state court ruling from 2018 that originally awarded $4.69 billion […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court Rejects J&J Appeal of $2 Billion Talc Verdict appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

A retrospective study involving two decades of pleural mesothelioma patients at the heralded University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center failed to demonstrate a definitive survival advantage to support regular use of extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery. The most aggressive surgery possible for this type of mesothelioma – once the surgery of choice – showed no clear […]

The post MD Anderson Examines Aggressive Mesothelioma Surgery in Latest Study appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization delivered on an earlier notice of intent to sue by filing an official complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its ongoing risk evaluation of asbestos. ADAO, a leading nonprofit aimed at preventing asbestos exposure, was joined by five other organizations and several public health experts in asking the […]

The post EPA Facing More Litigation on Legacy Asbestos appeared first on Mesothelioma Center – Vital Services for Cancer Patients & Families.