The success of chemoembolization in the treatment of our friend Debbie Brewer’s mesothelioma has been featured in national press in the UK, covered by BBC News and picked up by The Press Association. In the report, Debbie calls for the pioneering treatment to be brought to the UK. Currently, she must travel to Frankfurt, Germany, for the treatments.

Readers of myMeso have been following Debbie’s story for a while now, and know that the chemoembolization treatment has been successful, resulting in an overall 53 percent reduction in the size of her tumor, which she humorously nicknamed Theo. Her last visit to the clinic was Dec. 12, when she received the great news that she is now in partial remission as a result of the tumor shrinkage.

Chemoembolization is traditionally used to treat liver cancer. Debbie says the Frankfurt program sees a 60 percent success rate in the treatment of mesothelioma using the process, which introduces chemotherapy drugs directly into the tumor.

Diagnosed with mesothelioma in November 2006, Debbie was initially told she had only a few months to live. It is believed that Debbie contracted mesothelioma from contact with asbestos on her father’s clothes when he unwittingly brought the substance home from work. Determined to beat the odds, she began researching mesothelioma treatments. In addition to the chemoembolization, Debbie uses mistletoe therapy, injecting the extract twice a week.

Read more about Debbie at her blog, Mesothelioma and Me.

BBC Radio reporter Andrew Hosken spoke with residents in the industrial northeast of England, where mesothelioma deaths have been steadily increasing during recent years. The report estimates mesothelioma could be responsible for up to 100,000 deaths over the next 20 years.

Experts interviewed for the story say mesothelioma is the “biggest public health disaster the world has ever seen.”

Many people in the area of study were exposed to asbestos through their employment in industries including ship building and steel manufacturing.

Listen to the BBC Radio report.

In June, we reported the wonderful news that our friend in the UK Debbie Brewer’s mesothelioma tumor had shrunk by 10 percent following an initial round of a special treatment called chemoembolization, which she is undergoing in Germany.

She had her first round of chemoembolization therapy in May, and a second in June. Since the June treatment, her tumor is now 18 percent smaller! Debbie returns to Germany for another round of treatment this month, and is hopeful that the tumor has continued to shrink.

In July, the BBC featured Debbie in an interview, talking about chemoembolization. She hopes to spread the word about this treatment so that more people might explore it’s possibilities for mesothelioma. Click here to view the BBC video.

Debbie shares her mesothelioma story on her blog, www.mesothelioma-and-me.com. She was diagnosed with meso in November 2006. It is suspected that she contracted meso as a result of being exposed to asbestos dust on her father’s work clothes as a child. He was a lagger and would often scrape asbestos from pipes during his day’s job.

According to the web site www.radiologyinfo.org, chemoembolization is a combination of chemotherapy and a procedure called embolization, to treat cancer. Debbie is being treated by Dr. Thomas J. Vogl, Chairman, Department of Radiology, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology – University Hospital, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, University of Frankfurt am Main.

In this procedure, Dr. Vogl catheterizes the tumor and administers localized chemotherapy directly into the arteries feeding the tumor. Once the chemo has been administered, other agents can be administered to block off the blood supply to the tumor.

We look forward to another stellar report following Debbie’s visit to Germany this month!