Researchers associate a BAP1 gene mutation with a predisposition to several types of cancers, including mesothelioma. In a new study, Italian researchers suggest BAP1 is not the only gene mutation that can cause the deadly cancer. (more…)

The search to reduce the number of deaths caused by cancer is a main focus of the medical research community. Each discovery is a potential life saved, and Dr. Michele Carbone, who was featured in last month’s International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s Lung Cancer News, is one of a team of doctors who uncovered a huge clue in the fight against mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that can affect the lining of the heart, lungs or stomach and is closely associated with the inhalation or ingestion of asbestos, a group of silicate minerals known to cause cancer in humans.

In Lung Cancer News, Dr. Carbone discussed his and his team’s 2011 discovery of the link between a genetic mutation in the BAP1 gene and the development of pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs. (more…)

Thanks to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), more than $3 million in grants were awarded to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) in order to help researchers with finding a cure for the rare and deadly cancer mesothelioma.

The DOD funded the awards as part of the “Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program,” which focuses on aiding those that have made recent strides in cancer research. Unlike many other institutions, the University of Hawaii has been one of the leading researchers in the study of mesothelioma, which has been known to inflict a disproportionate amount of veterans as opposed to other groups of people. (more…)