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Journal Articles on Mesothelioma: Cancer Information for Patients and Families

Archive for the 'Symptoms & Symptom Management' Category

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July 10th, 2008. To replace or not to replace? – Partial coning and a sixth nerve palsy secondary due to displacement of a tunnelled intrathecal catheter for pain control

Surgical re-siting of the intrathecal catheter produced good pain relief for many months. Doctors involved in the use of indwelling intrathecal catheters for pain control must be aware of the risk of significant neurological sequelae but should not dismiss re-establishment of intrathecal therapy in the presence of significant neurological complications.

June 28th, 2008. Mesothelioma and Asbestos-Related Pleural Diseases

We summarized the most relevant data for the diagnosis and the management of benign asbestos pleural effusions, pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening and rounded atelectasis. Special attention is dedicated to malignant pleural mesothelioma, given the challenging issues of this disease, the recent advances in its management and the dynamism of research in this area.

June 27th, 2008. Paget disease of the humerus mimicking metastatic disease in a patient with metastatic malignant mesothelioma on whole body F-18 FDG PET/CT

The corresponding CT scan findings of cortical thickening and a "Swiss cheese" appearance were most consistent with Paget disease. The intense FDG uptake in an osseous lesion on FDG-PET in our case reminds us of the variable nature of FDG uptake in Paget disease, the possibility of false-positive findings on FDG-PET in patients with cancer, and the usefulness of the fusion techniques in the evaluation of skeletal lesions, with the potential for discriminating between benign Paget disease and other pathologic bone findings.

June 26th, 2008. Piroxicam and intracavitary platinum-based chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced mesothelioma in pets: preliminary observations

The therapy was able to arrest the effusion in all patients for variable remission times: one dog is still in remission after 3 years, one dog died of progressive disease after 8 months and one cat died due to progressive neoplastic growth after six months, when the patient developed a mesothelial cuirass. The combination showed remarkable efficacy at controlling the malignant effusion secondary to MM in our patients and warrants further investigations.

June 13th, 2008. Pericardial effusion due to metastatic prostate cancer: a case report

He died suddenly because of ventricular tachycardia. At autopsy, the major finding was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the prostate with metastases to the mediastinum.

June 6th, 2008. Long-term mortality from pleural and peritoneal cancer after exposure to asbestos: Possible role of asbestos clearance

The risk for pleural cancer, rather than showing an indefinite increase, might reach a plateau when a sufficiently long time has elapsed since exposure. The different trends for pleural and peritoneal cancer might be related to clearance of the asbestos from the workers' lungs.

June 6th, 2008. Cytomorphologic features of well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma in peritoneal effusion: A case report

The identification of a collagenous ball within these clusters is a useful cytologic finding for the diagnosis of WDPM. WDPM should be suspected when numerous collagenous balls are present by effusion cytology and isolated cells are not.

June 5th, 2008. Response of a Patient with Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma after Second-Line Chemotherapy with Lipoplatin and Gemcitabine

Treatment with lipoplatin-gemcitabine was decided on in November 2006, and the patient showed important improvement in the clinical status and peritoneal effusion. He survived for 36 weeks, with symptom-free survival of 34 weeks.

June 4th, 2008. An autopsy case of diffuse pleural thickening presented respiratory impairment and benign asbestos pleurisy

The autopsy disclosed asbestos-related lung diseases. We suspected that diffuse pleural thickening could be a major cause of fatal respiratory impairment in this case.

June 4th, 2008. Prophylactic radiotherapy for pleural puncture sites in mesothelioma: the controversy continues

thoracoscopic) pleural puncture sites and reserving treatments to symptomatic deposits may be more appropriate. This strategy would optimize patient care and minimize hospital visits, but allow prompt instigation of treatment if symptoms develop.

June 3rd, 2008. Metastases in malignant pleural mesothelioma: A new radiological appearance

This radiological pattern of metastases has never been described before. The patient died from respiratory failure related to extensive parenchymal metastases, an outcome seldom reported with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

May 29th, 2008. Erionite-induced pleural plaques : Exposition to urban pollution in a female Turkish migrant in Germany

Short-term clinical and radiologic control of the patient will be necessary because of the risk of MPM. For epidemiologic considerations discussed referring to current literature, a growing incidence of this type of disease in migrants from high-risk areas must be reckoned with in Germany, even without exposition to asbestos.

May 22nd, 2008. Railways and Asbestos in Japan (1928-1987) -Epidemiology of Pleural Plaques, Malignancies and Pneumoconioses

Two cases of mesothelioma were reported in 1980. Pneumoconioses: Most studies (1928-1975) had relatively low prevalence rates among SL-related workers.

May 21st, 2008. Human Tumor-Derived Exosomes Down-Modulate NKG2D Expression

This hyporesponsiveness was evident even in the presence of IL-15, a strong inducer of NKG2D. Our data show that NKG2D is a likely physiological target for exosome-mediated immune evasion in cancer.

May 20th, 2008. Active symptom control with or without chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MS01): a multicentre randomised trial

Interpretation: The addition of chemotherapy to ASC offers no significant benefits in terms of overall survival or quality of life. However, exploratory analyses suggested that vinorelbine merits further investigation.

May 3rd, 2008. Video-assisted cervical thoracoscopy: a novel approach for diagnosis, staging and pleurodesis of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Conclusions: The benefits of this approach include reduction in postoperative pain, risk of biopsy site tumour seeding, and preoperative delay to radical surgery. VACT is feasible in right-sided mesothelioma but has not yet been validated on the left.

May 3rd, 2008. Dysphagia as an unusual complication of pleural mesothelioma

Abstract Dysphagia is an unusual presentation of pleural mesothelioma and carries a grim prognosis. A case of an elderly patient is presented herein, in whom the diagnosis was confirmed histologically, and the patient was still surviving 6 months after palliation.

May 2nd, 2008. Management of Malignant Pleural Effusion Associated with Trapped Lung Syndrome

Median survival was 126 days (range, 10–175 days). We conclude that long-term placement of a pleural catheter provides effective palliation for malignant pleural effusion associated with trapped lung syndrome.

April 30th, 2008. Malignant mesothelioma with unexpected contralateral mediastinal shift: a case report

Conclusions: This case illustrates mediastinal shift away from the affected side which was caused by mesothelioma tissue itself, rather than by a pleural effusion which is the more usual cause of contralateral mediastinal shift in mesothelioma.

April 30th, 2008. Pleural mesothelioma and venous thrombosis: the eosinophilia link

We describe a patient with mesothelioma who developed peripheral blood eosinophilia followed by deep vein thrombosis despite being on low molecular weight heparin prophylaxis. We discuss the genesis of peripheral blood eosinophilia and thrombosis in pleural mesothelioma.