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Journal Articles on Mesothelioma: Cancer Information for Patients and Families

Archive for November, 2008

November 27th, 2008. The Role of Podoplanin in Tumor Progression and Metastasis

Based on these data, podoplanin might be considered as an attractive therapeutic target for both LVs and tumor cells. Further studies are necessary to investigate differences in the expression of podoplanin in normal and tumor-associated lymphatics, and between the expression of podoplanin in normal non-LECs and tumor cells.

November 27th, 2008. Clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of overexpression of her-2/neu and p53 oncoproteins in gastric carcinoma using tissue microarray

Conclusion: Although, this study failed to show any prognostic effect of p53 and her-2/neu on survival rates, we may suggest that p53 overexpression may play a role in the pathogenesis of intestinal gastric adenocarcinoma. It could also demonstrate the significantly improved survival rates with adjuvant chemoradiation. Also, TMA is a useful technique for rapid identification of protein expression profiles using minimal samples from archived tissues.

November 26th, 2008. Etiology, epidemiology, biology. Occupational respiratory cancers

In contrast, the search for an occupational exposure that should be routine in all cases of lung cancer, is generally more difficult because of the number of occupational aetiological factors and the absence of criteria that allow distinction of an occupational cancer from a tobacco related one. Therefore attention should be paid to the identification of occupational exposure in order to set up primary prevention programmes to prevent exposure still present in the working environment and, on the other hand, to identify the subjects entitled to the acknowledgement of occupational disease and/or to obtain the compensation available to asbestos victims.

November 26th, 2008. Malignant pleural mesothelioma: biology and diagnosis

Despite sometimes a good sensitivity, other potential markers as osteopontin are of little interest for MPM diagnosis because of a low specificity. In conclusion, the present data do not justify the use of biology for MPM diagnosis in routine yet but rather suggest a need for a continuing evaluation of soluble mesothelin in clinical studies and the search for other potential tumor markers.

November 26th, 2008. Mesothelioma: treatment

There are few active cytotoxic drugs in this disease. Currently, based on two randomised trials, the most efficacious chemotherapy regimen consists in a combination of cisplatin and an antifolate agent, pemetrexed or raltitrexed.

November 26th, 2008. Comparison of semiquantitative fluorescence imaging and PET tracer uptake in mesothelioma models as a monitoring system for growth and therapeutic effects

Conclusion: Fluorescence imaging could be used to semiquantitatively monitor tumor size, whereas PET could be used to monitor tumor response to therapeutic treatments, and especially, FLT might be a good marker of the response to anti-folate chemotherapeutics.

November 21st, 2008. Compensator-based intensity-modulated radiation therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma post extrapleural pneumonectomy

Not all linear accelerators can deliver large-field MLC-based IMRT, but most can deliver a maximum conformal field of 40 x 40 cm. It is possible and reasonable to deliver IMRT with compensators for fields this size with most conventional linear accelerators.

November 21st, 2008. Secretion of N-ERC/mesothelin and expression of C-ERC/mesothelin in human pancreatic ductal carcinoma

Although C-ERC/mesothelin was frequently expressed in human pancreatic ductal carcinoma, serum N-ERC/mesothelin concentration of cancer patients was equivalent to healthy controls. N-ERC/mesothelin was not useful as a serum marker of pancreatic ductal carcinoma, but because of frequent expression, C-ERC/mesothelin might be useful as a target of molecular imaging and immunotherapy.

November 21st, 2008. Laboratory investigation of hypercoagulability in cancer patients using rotation thrombelastography

In conclusions, our data demonstrates thromboelastographic signs of hypercoagulability in patients with solid tumors. ROTEM® is able to identify the contribution of fibrinogen and platelets to clot strength in this patient population.

November 20th, 2008. Yang XJ, Li Y, al-shammaa Hassan AH, Yang GL, Liu SY, Lu YL, Zhang JW, Yonemura Y. Department of Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital, Cancer Center of Wuhan University, Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Wuchang District, China.

Eleven patients died, three survived with tumor, and seven survived free of tumor. CRS + HIPEC was well tolerated in our selected patients with PC, some of whom had improved survival.

November 17th, 2008. Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis of the testis without exposure to asbestos

Conclusion: In conclusion, though a rare tumor, malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis of the testis should be considered whenever a paratesticular mass lesion is seen even without a history of trauma or asbestos exposure as is highlighted in this case. Ultrasound findings are helpful and fine needle aspiration of the tumor may assist in arrival at a diagnosis. Surgical orchidectomy remains the modality of treatment.

November 17th, 2008. Lysyl oxidase-like 4 is alternatively spliced in an anatomic site-specific manner in tumors involving the serosal cavities

001) expression compared to primary carcinomas. Our data show differences in LOXL messenger RNA expression as a function of anatomic site and tumor type in cancers affecting the serosal cavities.

November 17th, 2008. Outcomes of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal mesothelioma: the Australian experience

Conclusion: CRS and HIPEC is a treatment option for peritoneal mesothelioma. Patients with epithelioid tumor who undergo complete cytoreduction may potentially benefit from this procedure.

November 15th, 2008. Ectopic decidual reaction mimicking peritoneal tubercles: a report of three cases

Histology revealed extensive decidualisation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of ectopic decidua mimicking peritoneal tubercles.

November 14th, 2008. Outcomes with first-line platinum-based combination chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma: a review of practice in British Columbia

No difference is seen combining platinum analogs with gemcitabine or pemetrexed. Platinum-based doublets might represent a therapeutic ceiling for cytotoxic chemotherapy in MPM.

November 11th, 2008. Role of viral induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production in pleural effusion and malignant mesothelioma

To show the specific effect of viral receptors knockdown experiments with siRNA for TLR3, RIG-I and MDA5 were performed. This finding of viral induced mesothelial VEGF synthesis may indicate a novel link between viral infections and formation of pleural effusions and progression of malignant mesothelioma.

November 11th, 2008. Novel and existing mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor are predictors of optimal resectability in malignant peritoneal mesothelioma

With longer follow-up, mut+ may not only be predictive of survival but may represent a subset of patients whose disease may be responsive to TK-inhibitor therapy. Experiments confirming the activating properties of the novel mutations are warranted.

November 8th, 2008. Effective chemotherapy based on a chemosensitivity test for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Numerous chemotherapeutic agents have been tested in many clinical trials, but the response rate does not exceed 20% for most of the investigated regimens. Here we report a case of MPM in which the chemotherapy based on the chemosensitivity test was very effective on palliation with stable disease for a long time.

November 8th, 2008. Transudates in Malignancy: Still a Role for Pleural Fluid

Conclusions: Cytological examination of pleural fluid in patients with unexplained transudative effusion is essential to rule out malignant processes.

November 8th, 2008. The CREST biorepository: a tool for molecular epidemiology and translational studies on malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other respiratory tract diseases

Conclusions: The CREST biorepository is a valuable tool for molecular epidemiology and translational studies. This structure relies on a network of contacts with local health districts that allows for an active search for patients. This is a particularly efficient approach, especially when the object of the study is a rare cancer type. The CREST experience suggests that the presence of limited resources can be overcome by the biorepository specialization, the high quality of the epidemiologic information, and the variety of samples.