One of the many mesothelioma community members on Facebook posted a question today about a clinical trial being conducted at the Mesothelioma Center, located at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. MyMeso discussed this clinical trial in a July post. The clinical trial is a program of targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the lung’s lining almost always caused by asbestos. In response to the Facebook thread, meso survivor and awareness advocate (read: warrior) Debbie Brewer, who many of you know from her story and updates here (thanks Debbie!), mentioned a similar study currently ongoing in Australia.

Debbie provided a link to a story published in November 2009 by ABC News that outlines the work of specialists at Austin Health Centre in Victoria. The treatment, spearheaded by Dr. Malcolm Feigen, a radiation oncologist at the Centre, uses high doses of radiotherapy, concentrated on specific areas of the lining of the lungs to target mesothelioma tumors.

According to the ABC report, 13 patients participated in a pilot program to test this new targeted radiotherapy treatment. Most had some surgery prior to the radiotherapy treatment, and some also had chemotherapy before or after the treatment, although Dr. Feigen believes the patients showed the most benefit primarily as a result of the radiotherapy regimen.

Participants in the U.S. clinical trial at the Mesothelioma Center receive a multi-modality therapy that incorporates surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy in combination.

Listen to the interview with Dr. Feigen about the Australian research, which was broadcast on ABC’s AM morning current affairs program.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that biotechnology company Bionomics is set to begin a Phase II clinical trial of its anti-cancer drug, BNC105, at up to 12 cancer treatment centers across Australia. The company plans to include 60 mesothelioma patients in the drug trial.

According to the Herald report, this Phase II study comes on the heels of a successful Phase I clinical trial of Bionomics’ BNC105, which was administered to patients with advanced cancers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Western Hospital, Austin Health and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Bionomics has contacted the Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group (ALTG) and the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) to conduct the clinical trial. No date has yet been set for the trial start.

BNC105 is described as “a novel anti-cancer agent which is both a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) and an inhibitor of cancer cell proliferation.”

For more information about the Phase II clinical trial of BNC105 for mesothelioma patients in Australia, email clinicaltrials@bionomics.com.au. You can also find out more information about ongoing clinical trials in Australia and New Zealand by visiting the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) at www.anzctr.org.au.

An Australian artist, photographer Chris Ireland, has created an emotional exhibit titled “Breathe,” which captures the feelings of 14 women who have lost their husbands to mesothelioma and other asbestos cancer and disease. Ireland spent time with each woman in an effort to understand her particular story, and to create a photo that would attempt to convey not only her emotions, but a bit of the man she loved.

The exhibit debuted at the Australian Centre for Photography on July 17 (ended Aug. 22) and will next be featured at Latrobe Regional Gallery beginning Sept. 5 and running through October 4.

According to a World News Australia report about the project, Ireland was inspired with the idea for the exhibit after learning about mesothelioma in his mid-teens when a friend’s father passed away from the disease. He feels that the fact that mesothelioma is currently incurable adds to the poignancy of the loss, and says he hopes that by sharing these ladies’ stories, he can help raise awareness about the dangers of exposure to asbestos.

The World News quotes Ireland as saying, “…these ladies have gone through pain, they deserve to be heard and other people should avoid the same process.”

More information about the exhibit, including its striking images, can be found at Chris Ireland’s web site.

The Latrobe Regional Gallery is located at 138 Commercial Road, Morwell VIC. The exhibit will be open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

The results of a study published recently in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery supports the use of extrapleural pneumonectomy-based multimodal therapy in carefully selected patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The Journal is published by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

According to the research summary, the objective of the study was to evaluate the perioperative and long-term outcomes associated with extrapleural pneumonectomy for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma affects the lining of the chest cavity and lungs. Other forms of mesothelioma include pericardial, which affects the lining of the heart and is extremely rare; and peritoneal, which affects the lining of the abdomen. Mesothelioma is atributed almost exclusively to asbestos exposure.

According to the Multimedia Manual of Cardiothoracic Surgery, extrapleural pneumonectomy was introduced in the 1940s for the treatment of extensive infections of the lung and pleural space. Over the past 20 years, the extrapleural pneumonectomy technique has been modified and applied to the treatment of locally advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma, achieving substantial reductions in mortality. The surgery involves the removal of the lung with visceral and parietal pleurae, pericardium and diaphragm.

Researchers selected 70 patients between October 1994 and April 2008 to undergo the procedure. Prognostic factors included age, gender, side of disease, asbestos exposure, histology, positron emission tomography, date of surgery, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, completeness of cytoreduction, lymph node involvement, peioperative morbidity, adjuvant radiotherapy and pemetrexed-based chemotherapy.

The mean age of patients was 55 years. The median survival was 20 months, with a 3-year survival of 30 percent. Analyses showed improved survival for patients with asbestos exposure, negative lymph node involvement, and receipt of adjuvant radiation or postoperative pemetrexed-based chemotherapy.

The study was conducted by physicians from the University of Sydney, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; The Baird Institute for Applied Heart and Lung Surgical; Department of Medical Oncology, Sydney Cancer Center, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; and Department of Radiation Oncology, Sydney Cancer Center, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; all in Sydney, Australia.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) reported this week that the New South Wales Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that it will impose penalties against seven former directors and three executives of  James Hardie Industries Limited. James Hardie is a manufacturer of Fiber Cement Siding and Backerboard. The court said the former Australian listed entity (JHIL) breached the Corporations Act in 2001 when making statements about the adequacy of asbestos compensation funding. The court also ruled James Hardie Industries NV (JHINV, based in the Netherlands) breached its continuous disclosure obligation in 2003.

James Hardie was one of Australia’s largest manufacturers of asbestos building products, and was alleged to have known the dangers of asbestos for decades.

The current proceedings came about as a result of ASIC’s investigation of matters identified by the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation. James Hardie established the foundation, which was intended to compensate families who lost loved ones to asbestos disease, in 2001. The inquiry into the MRCF was established in 2004, and the commission found that James Hardie industries deliberately underfunded the victims’ compensation fund

According to a report by Nonee Walsh of ABC News, who has been following the story since 2003, James Hardie has spent about $25 million so far fighting the ASIC’s case, while asbestos victims and their families have been simultaneously negotiating for new funding for the foundation. Payments to the new asbestos compensation foundation are currently suspended.

Walsh also noted that Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos disease in the world, including asbestos-caused lung cancer, mesothelioma. In 2003, when the sale of all asbestos products was finally banned in Australia, the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission went on record as saying there is no known safe level of asbestos exposure.

The only known cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure, and there is currently no known cure. Mesothelioma most often affects the lining of the chest cavity and lungs, but also may affect the lining of the abdomen or, more rarely, the heart. Asbestos exposure also causes a variety of other diseases, including asbestos, a severe scarring of the lungs.

It is estimated that the levels of asbestos disease will not peak in Australia until 2020, when it is expected that there will be 13,000 cases of mesothelioma and up to 40,000 cases of other asbestos-related lung cancer and disease.

The New South Wales Supreme Court imposed financial penalties totaling $750,000,  and said the company directors and executives named in the case will be barred from serving other boards of directors for between 5 and 15 years.

According to the ASIC, the James Hardie decision underlines the responsibility of companies to assess and check the veracity of statements make to the market. ASIC Chairman Tony D’Aloisio said, “The decision is another important step in improving corporate governance in Australia and that improvement will add confidence to the integrity of our markets.”

The matter will return to the Court on August 27, at which time the Court will make orders reflecting the penalties. The defendants will then have 28 days to appeal the findings.

Bernie Banton, who was the face of the fight against asbestos in Australia, was honored posthumously Jan. 21 with the opening of the Bernie Banton Centre at Sydney’s Concord Hospital. The centre, which is supported by a pledge of $5 million in funding from Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, will study asbestos diseases including mesothelioma.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, the Bernie Banton Centre will be the world’s largest stand-alone asbestos diseases and research institute.

Banton was a leader in the campaign to raise awareness of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in Australia, and a tireless fighter to obtain compensation for workers exposed to asbestos on the job.

The Hills News cites Prime Minister Rudd as saying the death rate among Australians as a result of mesothelioma is increasing, with an estimated 13,000 diagnosed cases expected by 2020. Rudd told the News, “Next year, around 750 Australians will be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. These are bad figures.”

Bernie Banton passed away as a result of mesothelioma in May 2008, at age 61.

Photo by Andrew Quilty, Sydney Morning Herald

About this time last year, Melbourne, Australia, resident Anita Steiner was facing the prospect of terminal cancer. At 45 years old, she had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Her doctor estimated she would have between six and 12 months to live. But after undergoing surgery that removed part of her right lung and its lining, along with one rib, Anita was focused on surviving. That was in May 2007. One year later, in May 2008, she was stunned to learn that she and her partner Patrick Lemmens were expecting a baby. She delivered a healthy baby girl on December 4, 2008, just in time for Christmas.

It is believed that Anita was exposed to asbestos more than 30 years ago, when she watched her father dismantle a shed covered with asbestos.

Even before her cancer diagnosis, Anita had struggled to have a baby, undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) but receiving only about a 1 percent chance to conceive naturally. After the diagnosis of mesothelioma, she had to stop IVF and relinquished her dream of motherhood. After radical surgery and six months of chemotherapy, the notion that she might become pregnant never entered her mind, she writes in her blog, anitalive.com.

It seems Anita is destined to beat the odds in life.

Her oncologist, Ian Haines, who practices at Cabrini Hospital, says Anita is in remission, according to a story in the The Age. He says the news of her pregnancy was “a surprise, to say the least,” and that after all her cancer treatments for Anita “…to become pregnant naturally and then give birth to this perfect baby was an absolute miracle.”

As of Christmas Day, the couple had not yet named the baby.

Anita’s story was recently featured on the news in Australia. Watch it here:

What a joy and an inspiration! God bless you, Anita, and your family!

For generations, skilled craftspeople and artisans have passed down their secrets for creating fine handmade furniture. Among the best is Tom Harrington, of the Southern Highlands area of Australia. For more than 16 years, he has passed on his wealth of woodworking knowledge to those up and coming in the art. According to a story in the Southern Highalnd News, Mr. Harrington has taught more than 180 students at the Sturt School for Wood in Mittagong, in addition to making fine furniture.

However, Harrington says he is teaching his last 12-month course at the school, which will be completed at the end of this year. He is discontinuing his role as an instructor after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, the News reports. He says his time spent as an instructor was a “career high.” Mr. Harrington is 57 years old. The news report does not elaborate on his current health or future treatment choices that led him to the decision to stop teaching.

Harrington currently serves as Director for the school, a position he has held since 1992. His biographical information says he trained at the Canberra School of Art under George Ingham and has worked as a studio furniture maker and a commercial cabinetmaker. His work is exhibited regularly in Australia and is represented extensively in private collections.

The Southern Highlands is positioned half-way between Sydney and Canberra on the main southern corridor. Situated 90 minutes from each of these major cities the shire has a population of nearly 37,000 and is maintaining a steady growth rate. The shire consists of several small villages that surround the major retail centres of Bowral, Mittagong and Moss Vale.

Last week, I mentioned that I’d come across an interesting story about a jazz musician and noted writer in Britain, who released a recording of his work begun in 1973. Keith Shadwick was a professional musician in Australia at the time, and he, along with drummer Gary Norwell, had formed a band called Sun, with a few other musicians. The group released one album, but then broke up. Keith and Gary recorded several jazz tracks before going their separate ways, and Keith revived the project off and on, in the mid 1980s and again in 2005 when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

A British record label, Candid Records, agreed to release the CD, and Keith recruited a number of musicians to fill in the gaps on the tracks to finally see the project through. The CD was called Free Time, a name initally selected because the original tracks recorded in 1973-74 were done during a recording studio’s down time, when a friend who worked there was able to lend Keith and Gary the space. But the liner notes, penned by Keith to tell the story of how the recording came together, tend to more solemn reflection.

“Then suddenly completion is in front of you and there is no free time anymore,” he writes, and it’s easy to see the dual implication of a completed project and a completed life.

Keith passed away just as the CD was pressed, and it is unlikely he saw it in its final form.

The special edition release of Free Time is available only through the Candid Records web site, and is shipped from the UK. Cost is £9.99 plus shipping, which totals around $24 U.S. once you figure in the exchange rate. But all proceeds from the sales will go to Bart’s Mesothelioma Research, an organization in Britain dedicated to the treatment of mesothelioma.

I received my CD yesterday. Full of free-spirited modern jazz tunes highlighting Keith on saxophone, the CD is joyful and jamming and sometimes poignant. It is perhaps hardest to comprehend when mesothelioma steals the breath of those who create music, before it steals their life.

Thirty-four years after its original recording, Candid Records has released a jazz CD to honor the memory of noted British journalist and musician Keith Shadwick, with all proceeds from the sale going to Bart’s Mesothelioma Research, a charity based in the UK dedicated to studying the asbestos related disease.

Shadwick, who passed away from mesothelioma on July 28, 2008, was a respected journalist and author whose background as a jazz and rock musician in the 1970s led to a career focus on music and musicians. His credits include books on noted jazz musician Bill Evans, as well as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. He also authored The Jazz & Blues Encyclopedia, the Guinness Guide to Classical Composers, and edited The Gramophone Good CD Guide. Additionally, he was a regular contributor to publications including Jazzwise magazine, The Independent and The Daily Mail.

According to an article published on All About Jazz.com, during his early 20s, Shadwick was a jazz and jazz/rock musician, playing saxophone, flute and piano. He was a founding member of the Sydney, Australia-based group, Sun, which released one self-titled album in 1972 before splitting up. In 1973 and 1974, the story reports, Shadwick and fellow Sun member, drummer Gary Norwell, recorded some jazz tracks with fellow musicians Justin McCoy and Robert Luckey when local Point Five Studio offered them use of its facility during a free downtime.

As a nod to their luck in securing the studio, the musicians named the album Free Time, but it was not completed or released. Shadwick held onto the tapes, and revived work on the recording in 1984, with guitarist Billy Jenkins, and again in 2005, with guitarist Mike Wollenberg.

All About Jazz notes that Shadwick was motivated to finish the album in 2005, when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, and completed the project in 2007, although it is unlikely that he lived long enough to see its official pressing, which was delivered to his home right around the time of his death. The album was produced and released by Candid Records in the UK.

The Special Edition of the Free Time CD is available in limited release through the Candid Records web site, with all proceeds benefitting Bart’s Mesothelioma Research. Cost is £9.99 plus shipping, which totals around $24 U.S.