Mesothelioma can be difficult to diagnose and treat, with many patients not receiving a diagnosis until the later stages of the disease. Emerging research continues to explore new ways to accurately diagnose and treat the asbestos-related disease as early as possible.
Mesothelioma.com is pleased to announce the winner of the Fall 2019 Scholarship, Karina Stiles-Cox.
This fall, Karina will begin pursuing her doctorate in humanities at Salve Regina University. As Karina explained in her essay, the dream of earning her PhD has been many years in the making and has been derailed numerous times from hardships she has faced, including her breast cancer diagnosis.
Researchers have found that recurrent rates for mesothelioma can vary widely, with some studies finding recurrence rates after treatment ranging from 10 – 72%. Even patients diagnosed in the earlier stages and who are able to undergo aggressive multimodal treatment have been found to experience recurrence. Because of the rather high likelihood of the cancer recurring, a heavy focus of mesothelioma research is finding optimal second- and third-line treatments for patients who have previously been treated and either experience recurrence or their cancer is unresponsive.