The following videos are from Zevon’s last appearance on the David Letterman show in October 2002, where he was the only guest for the program, a tribute to his life and work. During the interview with Letterman, Zevon quipped that facing death had taught him to “enjoy every sandwich,” a reminder to savor each moment of life.

These videos provide a wonderful portrait of this talented musician. He is greatly missed.

Warren Zevon’s son, Jordan, also a talented musician, is an active advocate for mesothelioma and asbestos disease awareness, and spokesperson for the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

SOURCE: myMeso › Remembering Warren Zevon, 1947-2003

The My Cancer blog inspired thousands of cancer survivors from around the world and boasted upward of 30,000 comments. Sievers also appeared on ABC newsman Ted Koppel’s “Living with Cancer” television special, which was broadcast by The Discovery Channel in May 2007, as well as a special broadcast of NPR’s Talk of the Nation program that addressed the same “Living with Cancer” topic, which aired July 9, 2008, also hosted by Koppel and featuring cancer survivor Elizabeth Edwards.

“Leroy gave voice to a topic that we are very uncomfortable with — death and dying,” Ellen McDonnell, NPR’s morning programming director, said in a statement. “My Cancer had a face and a heart and a smile.”

Sievers is survived by his wife, Laurie Singer.

A memorial fund has been set up to honor Sievers memory and work. Donations can be made to the following address:

Leroy Sievers Memorial Fund
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Patient and Family Services
100 N. Charles Street
Suite 234
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

SOURCE: myMeso › My Cancer blogger has passed away

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.

SOURCE: myMeso › Shadwick CD benefits mesothelioma research

The news comes just a day after Haaretz.com, a leading news outlet in Israel, noted that asbestos-related cancer is 10 times more prevalent in Nahariya, a city of approximately 50,000 located in the North District of Israel on the Mediterranean sea, just south of the Lebanese border at Rosh HaNikra, than it is in the rest of the country. The report is based on data submitted by the chief doctor of the Health Ministry’s Acre District.

The medical report was presented to the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee, which is currently calling for greater action from Nahariya’s government to address the problem. The story quotes Tamar Bar On, head of the Environment Ministry’s Asbestos Department, as saying that “between 70 to 150 thousand cubic meters of asbestos [can] be found scattered across the Western Galilee, mainly in private yards.”

Committee MK Yossi Beilin (Meretz) has been selected by the committee to chair a panel dedicated to addressing the asbestos problem in Nahariya.

Alfacell will manufacture and supply ONCONASE to Megapharm, while Megapharm will be responsible for all activities and costs related to regulatory filings and commercial activities in a defined marketing territory, according to an Alfacell press release.

ONCONASE is a first-in-class therapeutic product candidate based on Alfacell’s proprietary ribonuclease (RNase) technology. A natural protein isolated from the leopard frog, ONCONASE has been shown in the laboratory and clinic to target cancer cells while sparing normal cells. ONCONASE triggers apoptosis, the natural death of cells, via multiple molecular mechanisms of action.

ONCONASE has been granted fast track status and orphan-drug designation for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma by the FDA. Additionally, ONCONASE has been granted orphan-drug designation in the European Union and Australia.

SOURCE: myMeso › ONCONASE expands to Israel as meso concerns there grow

Although Coady didn’t suffer from mesothelioma, he was very much aware of the risks posed by asbestos. His work during his time in the Navy very often put him in contact with the substance, he said, and seven of his friends died from mesothelioma since his retirement. In addition, for 10 years following his retirement, Coady worked as president of the Navy Mutual Aid Association, a non-profit veterans benefit group and life insurance service, where he said he saw what he thought was a disproportionate amount of lung cancer deaths.

When he began investigating lung cancer research efforts, Adm. Coady was shocked at the relatively few dollars spent by the Veterans Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense, considering the number of veterans affected by the disease. He also was disappointed at the overall lack of funding for lung cancer research in comparison to spending on other cancers, especially since lung cancer is the leading cancer killer.

He dedicated himself as Chairman of the Board for the Lung Cancer Alliance, fighting the battle for lung cancer awareness and funding under the organization’s motto “No More Excuses. No More Lung Cancer.” He led efforts in lobbying Congress to make lung cancer a national health priority.

Just last week, Coady saw some of the first fruits of his efforts, when Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate creating and authorizing at least $75 million for lung cancer research. This is the first ever multi-agency, comprehensive program targeted at reducing lung cancer mortality.

Perhaps the best memoriam Adm. Coady could receive is for supporters of lung cancer awareness and research to contact their U.S. Senators NOW and ask them to add their support to S. 3187, the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act. Remember him and take action for those to come after him! You can view his obituary here.

Blessings to Adm. Coady’s family at this time of loss.

SOURCE: myMeso › LCA Chairman Coady has died

Senators Feinstein and Hagel were instrumental in authoring a policy resolution in 2007 to designate lung cancer as a public health priority, which was passed unanimously. The resolution called for research, better treatments, and early detection, with a goal of reducing lung cancer mortality by 50 percent by 2015.

This new bill would establish that comprehensive program under law and authorize funding, according to a release from the Lung Cancer Alliance, which today issued a call to action for its support.

“We have seen great advancements in prostate and breast cancer survival rates and we must commit ourselves to making the same progress with lung cancer,” Sen. Hagel said, noting that lung cancer currently accounts for 28 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States.

Each year, lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, kidney, melanoma and liver cancer, combined.

Senator Feinstein said, “It’s time for the federal government to step up its efforts and make fighting lung cancer a national priority.”

Contact your Senator TODAY!

SOURCE: myMeso › Senate introduces lung cancer legislation

A special focus of this year’s conference was lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Mesothelioma affects the lining of the lungs, and may also affect the abdomen or the pericardium (the sac around the heart).

There was a great deal of hope for a new drug, Erbitux, which doctors hoped would prove to have significant results in prolonging survival for lung cancer patients (it didn’t), as well as review of a currently popular lung cancer drug, Avastin, which in its Phase III trial was shown to help keep the disease from progressing.

But among the reports of facts and figures and products and treatments, was a report by Robert Bazell at MSNBC.com. Why, he wondered, are we not further along in the War on Cancer, which was declared as a national health priority in 1971, when President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act.

The Act, Bazell points out, created the National Cancer Institute as a separate entity from the National Institutes of Health, with a dedicated budget for curing cancer. The NCI started with $230 million per year, and now has a budget of $5 billion.

Certainly, progress has been made, and there have been steady declines in breast, colon and prostate cancers, most due to better methods for early detection, Bazell points out. But, overall, he says, the death toll from cancer has declined only 5 percent between 1950 and 2005. FIVE percent!

What are the challenges? Why are we not winning this war?

Certainly, the nature of cancer itself has something to do with it – there are more than 200 diseases that fit into the definition of “cancer,” uncontrolled cell growth, he points out. And, even though funding has increased, if you adjust that $5 billion budget for inflation, spending on cancer research has actually been falling in recent years, he says.

But I was intrigued by his most compelling argument, which seems so simple. He notes that “it would be very useful to have a discussion on how much we spend on BASIC RESEARCH and PREVENTION, compared to how much we spend on marginally useful treatments.”

Is it possible that we can no longer see the forest for the trees?

SOURCE: myMeso › Why haven’t we won the war?

According to the Duluth News Tribune, the news of the latest mesothelioma diagnosis was discovered as the result of a comparison study done by the Minnesota Department of Health, comparing 72,000 Iron Range miners against the Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System, which is the state’s cancer registry. The paper reports Health Department spokesperson Buddy Ferguson was unable to provide details about the 59th miner diagnosed, including whether or not this case of mesothelioma had resulted in an additional death.

A focus of the five-year study, which is under the direction of the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, is to determine if there is a relationship between mesothelioma and the dust from taconite mining that is a central part of the Iron Range mine operation. Currently, mesothelioma is known only to be linked to asbestos. Because of the long latency period of the disease, usually between 20 and 50 years, it is uncertain whether the mesothelioma cases could be caused by previous asbestos exposure on the part of affected individuals, or taconite dust, or both.

Minnesota Public Radio reported in June 2007 that the Department of Health had conducted a study in 2003 when it found 17 cases of mesothelioma among Iron Range workers, and determined that 14 of the 17 cases had previous exposure to asbestos as well as taconite dust. Between 2003 and 2007, an additional 35 miners were diagnosed with mesothelioma.

According to WDIO-DT and WIRT-DT, ABC affiliates channels 10 and 13 serving the Northland area, approximately 1,200 current and former Iron Range miners will undergo random respiratory and health screenings, beginning next summer, as part of the study. The station reports that this summer researchers will begin analyzing old health studies, and doctors will examine current asbestos exposure controls.

The research study group has been named the Taconite Workers Lung Health Partnership. Read more about the project at its web site.

SOURCE: myMeso › Mesothelioma claims 59th Iron Range miner

Minnesota Public Radio reports that researchers and politicians will meet today to discuss progress in establishing the study. According to the report, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health is assessing the health of active and retired miners, reviewing death certificates, and delving into the 58 deaths from mesothelioma. The Natural Resources Research Institute is analyzing iron ore samples and dust in the air in Iron Range communities, to see how closely they match asbestos dust, says MPR.

According to the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota web site, the industry’s six iron mining and processing operations produce two-thirds of the iron ore used to make steel in the United States. Combined, they represent a $4 billion capital investment and employ nearly 4,000 men and women. These companies contribute over $1.5 billion each year to the state’s economy in the form of purchases, wages and benefits, royalties and taxes.These companies contribute over $1.5 billion each year to the state’s economy in the form of purchases, wages and benefits, royalties and taxes.

Taconite is an extremely hard rock that contains about 25 percent iron, according to an IMA fact sheet. It is found on the Mesabi Range in northeastern Minnesota, which extends 110 miles in a southwesterly direction. After World War II, when natural high-quality iron ore deposits were beginning to be depleted, two companies began making major investments in taconite, and began producing pellets in 1956 and 1957, and a decade later taconite was in production in all of the area’s six mines.

To date, Minnesota mines have produced more than 1.2 billion tons of taconite pellets, IMA reports.

Information about taconite on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources web site says “taconite saved Minnesota’s iron ore mining industry.”

How heartbreaking that Minnesotans are only now finding out the cost.

SOURCE: myMeso › Minnesota examines taconite meso danger

According to the report, the “first wave” of mesothelioma victims were those who mined asbestos, and the second wave affected people who worked with asbestos in factories or manufacturing industries. The next wave, they say, is affecting people who work with asbestos materials, like construction workers.

In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos, which has been used in building materials in Australia for decades, also causes asbestosis and asbestos-related lung cancers.

Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia president Barry Robson is working with government officials for a national approach to education, treatment and compensation for asbestos-related diseases.

SOURCE: myMeso › Australia braces for new wave of mesothelioma cases

This was the fourth time Jordan battled cancer. In the 1980s, he was diagnosed with leukemia lymphoma. About 10 years later, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He also had two battles with skin cancer. In 2000, Jordan wrote a book about his experience with cancer, titled “No Such Thing as a Bad Day,” which provided inspiration to cancer survivors.

He and his wife, Dorothy, founded Camp Sunshine, a nonprofit camp for children with cancer, and Camp Kudzu, a nonprofit camp for children with Type 1 diabetes. Jordan also founded the Georgia Cancer Coalition, a $1 billion organization funded by tobacco settlement money.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published the following statement from Jordan’s family:

The Jordan Family greatly appreciates the overwhelming amount of love and support we have received from our friends during the many difficult years of Hamilton’s illness. We are saddened beyond words at his death, but we are also at peace knowing that he is finally comfortable after years of fighting an incurable disease. A truly unforgettable person, Hamilton will be remembered as a compassionate, brilliant, and selfless human being who touched so many lives with his limitless generosity.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that your donations be sent to any of the following charitable organizations:

The Hamilton Jordan Mesothelioma Research Fund at the University of Maryland-Baltimore Foundation, University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, 100 North Green Street, Suite 600, Baltimore MD 21201

Camp Sunshine, 1850 Clairmont Road, Decatur, GA 30033, enriching the lives of children with cancer through recreational, educational and support programs throughout the year

Camp Kudzu, 4279 Roswell Road, Suite 102, Box 254, Atlanta, GA 30342, providing education, recreation and peer-networking programs for children with diabetes

Community Advanced Practice Nurses, Inc., 173 Boulevard NE Atlanta GA 30312, offering free mental and physical healthcare to the homeless and medically underserved.

A memorial service for Hamilton Jordan, White House chief of staff during the Carter administration, will be held with family and close friends at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 23, at The Carter Center. Seating begins at 1 p.m. President Carter as well as other friends and colleagues over the years, will offer remarks and reminiscences. The event will not be open to press coverage.

SOURCE: myMeso › Hamilton Jordan, Pres. Carter’s chief of staff, dies of mesothelioma

Let me tell you a story about my loving Dad. He was my hero, he was my father. In December 2001 he came down with pneumonia and could never get rid of it. He didn’t really think that much about it at the time, and said the doctors were trying many different medicines to help him.

In February 2002 I got a call from my uncle that they figured my Dad had a stroke. My husband and I rushed from Memphis to Escanaba, Michigan. When we got there, what a shock! My dad had been a construction worker all his life, and was muscular and fit, especially in his upper body. He was a short man, about five-foot-five and 185 pounds. When we saw him in February, he weighed only 134 pounds. My husband and I were just shocked by his appearance, how sick he looked.

The doctor walked into the room and told my Dad, “Well, Warren, all the tests show that you did not have a stroke.” But they didn’t offer any answers about what was wrong with him. I thought, “Ok, what is going on?!” We took him home that day and I stayed with him for a week. He felt sure the doctors would help him, so I reluctantly went back home.

After I had been home in Memphis for about a week, a friend of the family called me and said, “Debi, you better get back here. Warren is not good.” I got on a plane immediately.

Dad lived in the upper part of Michigan where there are no major airports, so I flew into Green Bay, Wisconsin, and drove 2 hours to the house. As soon as I walked in, I saw that my Dad had gotten even smaller. He was down to about 110 pounds! His clothes would not fit him – they just fell off his body. I went to the store and ended up getting him a boys’ size 14, which he was able to wear. I couldn’t believe it. How could this happen? What was going on?

The next day I took Dad to the doctor’s office, and they told me he had pneumonia again. I just didn’t believe this, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. Shouldn’t I trust the doctors? But he just kept getting worse. He was wasting away in front of me.

From December 2001 to May 2002 my Dad had infection in his lungs 22 times. He continued to weaken, until we rushed him to the hospital on May 1. He was admitted, but it was a nightmare from that time on.

On May 10, the doctor came in Dad’s room and admitted he had no clue what was going on. I just lost it! I started yelling, “Look, this man is a veteran, and a retired Union man! He has three medical insurance policies. Get someone in here that can help him and can tell us what is wrong!”

They ended up flying in a doctor from the Mayo Clinic. As soon as he saw my dad and looked at his case history, he told me, “I have no doubt your father has mesothelioma.”

I had no clue what he was even talking about, let alone dealing with the fact that he had a cancer that kills in the end, and no one could tell me anything about this illness. You have to understand that back then, there in the upper peninsula of Michigan, there was very little internet access. I didn’t even know how to begin researching it.

Well, they took a piece of Daddy’s lung out for a biopsy, and on May 15 it came back as stage IV mesothelioma. I was just so mad that all this time had been wasted, while his health just deteriorated. It took me getting mad and fighting with them to even get a diagnosis!

I lost my hero on June 7 from mesothelioma. He died the same day my youngest son was to graduate from college. He missed out on that. We’ve missed out on so many things now. At the time of his death, my father’s weight was 76 pounds. I will never forget the way he looked.

Of course, now my family lives in fear that I will get this also from materials my Dad might have brought home from his work on Navy bases. My husband also is retired from the Navy with 23 years, and we worry about his exposure to asbestos. I already suffer from asthma and we worry what could happen if I contract mesothelioma.

Dad served in the Korean conflict at age 17, and no VA nursing home in the upper part of Michigan would take him because they didn’t know how to deal with his illness. I am on a mission every time this is something going on in D.C., from a trust fund to any bill, you bet this daughter of a Vet is on that hill fighting for the rights of meso victims! I will not stop!

Warren Faubert was 69 when he died of mesothelioma on June 7, 2002. He died less than one month after his official diagnosis.

SOURCE: myMeso › A dad’s tragic death from mesothelioma

My Dad, Bill [Hackett], was a master mechanic and boilermaker from the time he was 25 until he retired on disability at age 61. During this time he dismantled and rebuilt or built boilers to run some of the company’s largest factories and businesses. He started out at Maryland Ship Building and Dry Dock and then went on to become an independent contractor.

Over the years he was exposed to asbestos hundreds of times, not knowing back then that it would be what eventually claimed his life.

From the time he was retired due to this disability until his death in 2004, he suffered tremendously with breathing disorders from mesothelioma. He faced several surgeries and had to have fluid removed from his body numerous times. There were days he could hardly breathe at all, but he kept going. How I will never know.

Because he had been self employed, there was no insurance because he could not afford it. And social security did not pay very much on a monthly basis. Being a decorated WW II veteran, he was entitled to some treatment through the Veterans Administration.

My father was a very independent man and refused to give up or give in to anything that stopped him from doing what he wanted and going where he wanted. And he refused to be a burden on any one, especially his daughters. Until the week he died he continued to serve as Chaplain of the American Legion Post and made arrangements for former veterans’ funerals and assisted their families.

But he never told us about the cancer. He went to all of his chemo appointments and never told us anything. It wasn’t until after his death and the Death Certificate was issued did we know this is what took him. He died alone, 2 weeks before Christmas, in the house where we grew up.

My dad was truly a great man. I believe the reason he never told any of us was because we lost our Mom to cancer when she was 34 and he was 36 and he didn’t want us to have to face losing him to cancer, even though it was a different kind.

Almost 2 years after his death, I found out that I have stage IV lung cancer.

Cancer in any form is life threatening. The more people are aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer, the better off they will be. Annual checkups are vital. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Cancer caught early can be cured. The later the stage, the more intense the treatments and the less chance for remission.

I’d just like to thank Nancy for sharing her Dad’s personal story with us, and for helping to raise awareness and urge for early detection and research. God bless you.

SOURCE: myMeso › A daughter remembers Dad

A couple of days ago I wrote about the closest topic I’ve seen along these lines, which still involved ways to find a silver lining in the struggle. Obviously, it’s a very necessary part of such a diagnosis. But it’s still about hope.

But today I came across an interesting essay, penned by Monica Sanford, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, that is forcing me to look at another reality of mesothelioma. Its title, “Inevitability of death leads to freer living,” was immediately arresting. The author jumped right in with, “I thought I should write about death.” She went on to share that she has recently lost three people very close to her in fairly rapid succession – a paternal grandmother, a maternal great-grandmother, and her dear friend, Marilyn. Marilyn died of peritoneal mesothelioma at age 47.

As she ponders the very different lives and deaths of these people she loved, Monica wonders at a common thread – all knew they were nearing death, two as a result of illness, the other just sensing her time was nearing an end, even sharing with her great-granddaughter just a month before her death that she had walked with God, who showed her a waiting heaven.

That’s a truly unique aspect of this diagnosis. The knowledge, the clarity, the preparation for death. Everyone knows they will one day die, of course, but that day is always a long way off. Illness of this kind brings it into sharp relief.

In the post I wrote a couple days ago about silver linings, most people said the one thing they could credit their disease for was giving them a sense of the value of their time on earth. That knowing their illness was diagnosed as terminal gave them often times a will to fight harder and stay longer, because they saw with new eyes all the things they really wanted before they would be ready to go.

There’s a saying, “live each day as if it was your last.” But in the everyday hustle and bustle, it’s so hard to keep that in mind.

Monica’s essay reflects on faith, traditional Christian faith like that of her great grandmother, as well as her own, different, Buddhist perspective, and observes the different ways that her family members mourn, or celebrate, or deny at a loved one’s passing.

In the end, she finds that, for her, “The one thing I have that helps me cope with death in my life is not faith or family or hope. It is acceptance. Death is. Just like life is. Neither is good nor bad – they just are.”

But still, it hurts to let go.

SOURCE: myMeso › The inevitability of death

The study also will include environmental research.

Funding for the program will come from a special insurance fund overseen by the Department of Commerce.

SOURCE: myMeso › $4.9 million mesothelioma bill signed by Governor

The study, which will be conducted under the direction of the University of Minnesota, will analyze death records and conduct screenings of current and former Iron Range mine workers and their families. To date, 58 Iron Range workers have died of mesothelioma. The study also will include environmental research, and is expected to last 5 years.

Funding for the program will come from a special insurance fund overseen by the Department of Commerce.

SOURCE: myMeso › $4.9M mesothelioma bill past House, to Governor

This week, I found a story that provides even more hope. It seems a Madison, Wisconsin-based biotech firm, Quintessence Bioscience, also has a promising mesothelioma drug in the works that operates along the same lines as ONCONASE, tagged QBI-139. The Quintessence drug is not yet in clinical trials.

Both drugs target RNA in cancer cells. They are therapeutic ribonucleases (RNases), which WTN News (Wisconsin Technology News) writer Steve Clark describes as “ubiquitous enzymes that destroy RNA.” He explains that researchers including the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Ronald Raines, “discovered that RNases from non-human species sometimes are not regulated inside human cells and can cause cell death. Surprisingly, cancer cells are much more susceptible than normal cells to foreign RNases.”

The ONCONASE product is made from purified frog eggs. The Quintessence drug is 95 percent human, but still kills human cancer cells, Clark reports. Both drugs can kill a wide range of different human cancer types, he says, so its application has broad potential. The ONCONASE clinical trial data is from patients with malignant mesothelioma.

Clark reports that Quintessence is optimistic about its QBI-139 surpassing the positive results of ONCONASE. He says that frog-derived ONCONASE has been shown to cause allergic reactions in some patients, which would be mitigated in the 95 percent human-gene QBI-139. Additionally, he reports QBI-139 is less toxic than ONCONASE, which will allow it to be better tolerated by some patients in larger doses.

Currently, Clark reports, QBI-139 is being produced for use in a Phase I clinical trial, which is set to begin this summer and end sometime in 2009. It is anticipated that the trial will be held at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.

Read the full article at WTN News.

Steve Clark, Ph.D., is a former professor and medical researcher at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and is currently a freelance writer and consultant on biotechnology issues.

SOURCE: myMeso › New mesothelioma drug being developed

About six years after his death, Garmon revisits some of the cancer centers where Larry was treated, and talks to doctors, patients and family members of those suffering from a variety of cancers – pancreatic, lung, breast, prostate.

The documentary explores the complicated maze of cancer treatment, which is so widely varied partly due to the many variations cancer takes within the human body as it mutates genes. It also looks at how cancer affects people’s relationships, with the person battling cancer oftentimes also feeling the pressure to “beat it,” to “win” over cancer, a feeling of pressure that it’s somehow up to them to get well.

Garmon touches on the issue – why are people still dying of cancer? She shows news footage of President Richard Nixon declaring war on cancer. And here we are still fighting.

Larry D’Onofrio built his family’s home, and worked on other construction projects. It is suspected he contracted mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure in that work. Garmon wonders, “why him?” when others who worked alongside him are healthy today.

I write about mesothelioma every day because it’s my job. But I’m touched by the people I meet who share their stories. I’m amazed by the patients who agree to clinical trials even when they understand that there probably won’t be a miracle cure for them, but because they understand that by doing so they might help someone after them.

And I’m touched by the people affected by mesothelioma who work for awareness. To reach out from their place of pain to try to bring the issue to light – that’s strength almost unimaginable. Thank you, Linda, for having the strength to share your story, the story of you and Larry and the hardest battle you ever had to fight.

PBS will air the documentary several more times in the coming weeks. If you missed it last night, I urge you to check your local listings and make a point to see it. It’s powerful, and it’s a message more people need to hear.

SOURCE: myMeso › The Truth About Cancer

During the program, which strives to answer the question “Why does anyone still die of cancer?”, Garmon visits the facilities where her husband was treated, and interviews people who are undergoing treatment for various types of cancer, and interviews doctors and researchers working for a cure.

PBS describes the film as, “Part science, part personal catharsis, part character-driven storytelling, this powerful documentary uncovers the truth about cancer and tell us where we stand in fighting the battle against the disease. ”

The program is slated to air in most markets at 9 p.m. ET. In Montgomery, Alabama, where I am based, the show is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on WAIQ, Alabama Public Television (APT).

Following the film, journalist and breast cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee will host a 30-minute follow-up panel discussion covering topics including the importance of early screening, what to expect if a loved one is diagnosed, and how to live with cancer.

Please check your local listings for this very important program! It is critical to realize that cancer is an issue of national importance in public health, and that much more needs to be done to enhance funding and research for all types of cancer.

Find more information about this program at the official PBS site for the film.

SOURCE: myMeso › PBS film about meso, cancer airs

While undergoing chemotherapy to treat her mesothelioma, Charlene Kaforey had time to explore her options. As a Stage III patient, she was worried about her chances for quality of life or even long-term survival if she underwent surgery.

During this time, she found information about the ITL Alternative Cancer Treatment Clinic, located in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. After talking to patients who reported success, she decided to try this unusual route for her own treatment.

She made her first visit to the clinic January 7, 2008. Mesothelioma patients like Charlene initially complete an 8-week course of treatment, which includes daily blood tests, several injections daily of a serum designed to boost the body’s immune system so that it can fight the cancer, and intravenous vitamin C plus two shots of cancer vaccines, twice per week, she says.

The blood work is to monitor the body for responsiveness to the treatment in order to fine tune it to the patient and set up an ongoing course that is administered by the patients themselves after leaving the clinic, Charlene says. Treatment at ITL is a process that lasts for the rest of your life, she explains.

Now back home in New York, she administers her own shots eight to 12 times per day. She also is continuing the intravenous vitamin C at home, although she says that is optional. She also needed to complete 5 of the 12 weeks of the cancer vaccines at home. Patients return to the clinic every four months for two weeks at a time for re-evaluation and adjustments to their serum regimen. Charlene is scheduled to return in June.

“What they tell you at ITL is that it will not necessarily make the cancer you have go away, but will hopefully prevent it from spreading any further,” Charlene said. “So if they can do that, and give me six years, that would be wonderful. That would be six quality years instead of two miserable years.”

Patients considering ITL need to know that because the facility is considered alternative medicine, it is not accredited by the American Medical Association or other governing boards of that type, and some insurance companies will not cover the cost of treatments.

ITL requires payment at time of services, which, according to the clinic’s web site, for Immuno Augmentive Therapy (IAT) of the kind Charlene receives, run around $7,500 for the first four weeks and about $700 per week thereafter. That cost does not include the vitamin C IV’s or the vaccines. Patients also must cover the costs to travel to the facility, and for accommodations during their eight weeks of treatment.

“Everyone has had different experiences [with insurance],” Charlene said. “I submitted my bills to my insurance company and I’ll just see what they do. Some people get partial payment, some insurance pays nothing,” she says. “But what’s your life worth to you?”

In addition to the financial challenge, there also is the issue of travel and time away from family. Charlene was lucky; she had different family members with her throughout her 8-week stay. They became as much a part of daily clinic life as she did.

“Seeking treatment at the clinic definitely involves family decisions. The cost is a major consideration and so is the time away from home. While the cost is much less than the approximately $200,000 price tag involved with the surgery/chemo/radiation regime, insurance will pay for those debilitating treatments. Plus, knowing you may have limited time remaining, do you want to leave family and friends for 2 months,” Charlene said. “It is a really individual decision. You have to look realistically at what your own choices are and what you need to do for yourself and your family. We viewed this as an investment of time and financial resources for the long term. Two months away is worth it if I get 4-6 more years with my family.”

A big part of Charlene’s experience at ITL was meeting other mesothelioma patients, as well as people with other types of cancer, and sharing stories. Her last week at the clinic, she said there were seven mesothelioma patients there, all around the same age – mostly women in their 40s and 50s, with whom she felt a real connection.

“You talk to real-life people who are there, who are surviving and living quality lives after their doctors had told them there was no hope. The stories are so different and so amazing, and yet you share so much because you’re all going through this. It gives you hope to meet patients who have survived 28, 20 ,12 or even 4 years after being given a death sentence,” Charlene said.

That connection with other patients has led Charlene to explore forming an outreach and support group where she lives, in Rochester, New York, where she plans to work for fund raising for a cure and to raise awareness of mesothelioma.

Alternative medicine is controversial. Its results often do not have a long history of documentation. People who choose this route understand that they are stepping out into largely uncharted waters.

Charlene is happy to share her story with others who are facing mesothelioma in their own lives, either as a patient or as a family member of someone with meso.

If you would like to talk with Charlene, please email wendi@mymeso.org and I will be happy to forward your information to her.

SOURCE: myMeso › Living with Meso – Charlene’s story, Part 4

Perhaps one of the most interesting presentations at the recent Asbestos Awareness Day Conference in Detroit, at least to me, was that of Rebecca J. W. Cline, PhD, a senior scientist in Communication and Behavioral Oncology for the Karmanos Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Family Medicine at Wayne State University.

Dr. Cline recently conducted a community-based focus group investigation in Libby, Montana, on psychosocial issues related to vermiculite/asbestos exposure. She also is currently leading a related population-based survey investigating that community.

She describes asbestos related disease as a “slow-motion technological disaster,” in which community and social responses have a great deal to do with how people fare, mentally and socially.

The basic definition of a technological disaster is a “catastrophic event caused by humans that results in the toxic contamination of the environment.” This includes asbestos contamination, as in Libby, resulting from decades of vermiculite mining, hence “slow moving,” as well as things like oil spills, which can devastate an area fairly quickly.

Libby is the epicenter of what Dr. Cline calls “the worst environmental disaster in the United States,” with multiple generations affected. She examined in particular how stigma associated with asbestos disease can have an impact on what people do.

Dr. Cline said there are two possible responses to technological disaster – the emergence of an altruistic community, or a community in conflict. The latter, she said, is common where there is human culpability, and it was the result in Libby.

The Libby study, conducted in 2006, included focus groups and some individual interviews with adults who lived and worked in the Libby area for at least the past five years. Interview subjects included people with connections to the mine, people with no connections to the mine, people affected by asbestos disease personally, people with family affected by the disease, and people with no disease in family or person.

She found that people fell into three categories – early believers, those who immediately understood the connection of vermiculite to what was happening to the town; late believers, those who initially resisted the idea that the mine made people sick; and those in denial or conflicted, who still did not or would not believe the mine was responsible.

Dr. Cline found that there was a great deal of stigma attached to asbestos-related disease, which created a barrier to social support. People with mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases were often afraid to talk about it, she said, even to close friends.

She said that the stigma came from a variety of sources. Conflicts included concerns about the economic disaster that the loss of the mine signified for the town, for which it was the main industry and source of jobs and security. People feared that if the mine were blamed for illness and deaths in the community there would be a decline in property values, loss of jobs, and a lost way of life.

As a part or a result of that, conflict also grew from a concern about what was the truth. There was a suspicion among neighbors that people claiming illnesses were phony, money-grubbing, greedy or opportunistic, making up illnesses to get a part of a financial settlement from the mining company.

People suffering from asbestos disease personally or within their family were afraid to talk about it out of fear that they would be ostracized and shunned by their neighbors and their community.

Dr. Cline told the story of two women, best friends for years, who bumped into each other in the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, which had been established in Libby to test, diagnose and treat patients. “What are you doing here?” one whispered. “I have the asbestos,” the other whispered back. “Me too,” came the whispered response. Best friends, but afraid at the core to admit to having asbestos disease.

On top of this, people who are ill or whose family members are ill fear the health and medical disaster itself, which was already upon them. They said they felt a lack of hope for survival, not just for themselves or their immediate family, but for generations.

Some of those in denial, or conflicted, still refuse to be tested for asbestos disease. They don’t want to know, Dr. Cline says, or they do not believe the mine could harm them.

There appears to be one universal in Libby.

“Across the groups, people felt like the community as a whole had been stigmatized, that everyone ‘knew about Libby’ and it had been given a bad reputation,” Dr. Cline said.

In addition to the physical toll, the mental toll of asbestos disease in Libby has been incalculable, she said.

SOURCE: myMeso › The mental toll of mesothelioma

In the past two days, reports from local television stations in Minnesota representing the three main networks, CBS, NBC and ABC, say that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has spoken out against the bill currently before the state legislature, which would provide $4.9 million toward a study of mesothelioma and asbestos disease.

The news agencies report that Gov. Pawlenty objects to the fact that the proposed funding would come from the state’s Worker’s Compensation Fund. The Northland Newscenter, which operates channel NBC 6 and CBS 3 serving the Duluth area, said the agency in charge of that fund also opposes using money from the fund for the study.

The bill is currently moving through the Senate, and will be up for a vote on the House floor shortly.

SOURCE: myMeso › Minnesota governor questions meso funding

In accordance with the statistical plan for the trial, the company has begun the process necessary to conduct the formal statistical analyses required to complete the final sections of the ONCONASE rolling New Drug Application (NDA).

The trial was designed to show a statistically significant improvement in overall survival for UMM patients who were treated with a combination of ONCONASE and doxorubicin as compared to UMM patients who were treated with doxorubicin as a single agent. Enrollment in the ONCONASE Phase IIIb clinical trial closed on Sept. 30, 2007. A total of 428 patients were enrolled in the trial.

Alfacell has licensed the U.S. commercial rights for ONCONASE to Strativa, the branded product division of Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Strategic marketing and distribution agreements for ONCONASE have been secured with BL&H Co. Ltd. for Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, USP Pharma Spolka Z.O.O., an affiliate of US Pharmacia, for Eastern Europe, and GENESIS Pharma, S.A. for Southeastern Europe.

ONCONASE has been granted fast track status and orphan-drug designation for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Additionally, ONCONASE has been granted orphan-drug designation in the European Union and Australia.

SOURCE: myMeso › ONCONASE on fast track for Meso treatment

Today, on Asbestos Awareness Day, I came across this blog post written by a student at Oregon State, about the death of a beloved uncle. He died just a little over eight months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was only 58 years old.

Take a moment to read this story, and heed the author’s plea to spread the word about the dangers of asbestos – Benjamin’s Musings.

SOURCE: myMeso › Meso breaks another heart

NEW YORK VOLUNTEER CHAPTER OF MESO FOUNDATION HOSTS THIRD ANNUAL5K WALK FOR HOPE

MERRICK, NY: The New York Volunteer Chapter of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) will hold the third annual “5K Walk for Hope” on April 13, 2008 at 10am in Eisenhower Park, located in East Meadow, NY. Over the past two years, the event has raised more than $30K and the volunteer team hopes to build on that success. All proceeds will go to the Meso Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) organization that has awarded more than $5 million in grants for mesothelioma research since 2000.

Mesothelioma is an extremely rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos and most often affects the lungs, although it can also invade the stomach and groin areas. In the United States, 2,500 to 4,000 patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma annually, yet the disease has yet to find the national spotlight for research and funding.

The 9/11 tragedy in New York City demonstrates the continued, long-term threat of mesothelioma. Estimates of the amount of asbestos destroyed in the terrorist attack in Manhattan range as high as 1,000 tons. The impact pulverized this asbestos into tiny, microscopic fibers to which the firefighters, rescue workers, and other heroes of 9/11 were exposed, as well as workers, residents, and school children who returned to the area in the weeks and months following.

After mesothelioma’s long latency period, which is 15-50 years, the risk of cancer among those most heavily exposed could reach as high as one in ten. This year alone has seen the number of reported cases of illness and death of Ground Zero workers increase and unfortunately that number will only continue to rise, which is why more research is needed.

Registration for “5K Walk for Hope” is $15. Those who are interested in participating should contact Janice Malkotsis at (917) 751-2776. For more information about The Meso Foundation, please visit www.curemeso.org.

SOURCE: myMeso › Meso Foundation NY chapter Walk for Hope

The state Health Department in Minnesota has documented close to 60 deaths from mesothelioma in the Iron Range mining area.

According to the story published by The Globe, “The dean of the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health [Professor John Finnegan, Jr.] is calling it ‘the best shot we’ve had in 25 years’ to find answers about a lung cancer that might be connected to mining taconite.”

If approved by the Minnesota legislature, the money would fund a combined study led by the University of Minnesota and including state health, natural resources and pollution control officials. The study would take about five years to conclude.

The Globe reports that the Senate bill has at least one more committee stop, and a House plan is also progressing. It says the plan faces some opposition from the business lobby, which is taking issue with the reliance on a workers compensation fund to pay for the research.

SOURCE: myMeso › Minnesota meso funding moving in Senate

Frustrated, in the fall of 2006 she tried a new medication for a two-week protocol, plus a gluten-free diet for six months, and finally experienced some relief. But then, six months later, the pain and discomfort returned.

Since she had been off Crohn’s medications during the experiment with her diet, doctors decided it would be a good time to try some new tests, and included a CT scan. In March 2007, tests showed nothing wrong with Charlene’s stomach, but something odd at the base of her left lung. The doctor conducting the scan didn’t think it was anything serious, but recommended that she follow up with her primary care physician anyway.

In May 2007, Charlene received a chest CT scan, which revealed three spots on her left lung. Doctors suspected lymphoma. A cardio-thoracic specialist followed up with a PET scan, which showed the same three spots. He recommended a “wait and see” approach, suggesting they could check the area again in three to six months.

“I didn’t want to wait,” Charlene said.

At her request, doctors did a lung biopsy in July, and she was told she has mesothelioma.

The actual number of tiny tumors inside her chest were “too numerous to count,” and obviously most of those had not shown up on her scans.

“I’d never heard of it,” she says. “There are a few commercials on TV, but other than hearing the word, I was not familiar with it. Most people I tell just look at me, and they’ve never heard of it either.”

The diagnosis was particularly surprising, since the average median age of onset of symptoms is 70, according to most studies, and mesothelioma usually affects men more frequently than women. Charlene said she was exposed to asbestos when she was a child, but she cannot discuss the details because she is currently pursuing legal action.

“When you think of the numbers of people that have been exposed to asbestos in their lives, you wonder why there are few people that get [mesothelioma], as compared to other types of cancer. It’s still pretty rare,” Charlene said.

In the U.S. current statistics show between 2,000-3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma each year. However, 10,000 Americans die each year from all asbestos-related diseases, according to statistics compiled by the Environmental Working Group. And, mesothelioma was not tracked as a specific cause of death by federal health officials until 1999, EWG points out, so actual totals for mesothelioma may be much higher.

“There is a possibility that my brother and my parents could be at risk of mesothelioma, because they would have been exposed at the same time as me,” Charlene worries. “You just don’t know what causes you to get it, and not someone else.”

As she continued to research her new diagnosis, Charlene was disheartened to find that the outlook for most mesothelioma patients is bleak. The Center for Mesothelioma and Asbestos-Related Diseases at the University of Maryland Medical Center estimates median survival time between 4-12 months after discovery.

Next: Charlene begins her fight.

SOURCE: myMeso › Living with Meso – Charlene’s story, Part 1

Chairman Coady’s story

Leading the charge for the organization is Rear Admiral Phil Coady, U.S. Navy (Ret.), who serves as chairman of the board of directors. A career Navy officer, Coady was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in early 2005. He underwent surgery to remove the affected lobe and went through chemotherapy. In late 2005, the cancer recurred with metasteses to his bones. Chemotherapy has been successful in slowing the advance of the cancer for the past two years, and Coady is fighting for other lung cancer survivors.

Although Coady doesn’t suffer from mesothelioma, he is very much aware of the risks posed by asbestos. His work during his time in the Navy very often put him in contact with the substance, he said, and seven of his friends died from mesothelioma since his retirement.

In addition, for 10 years following his retirement, Coady worked as president of the Navy Mutual Aid Association, a non-profit veterans benefit group and life insurance service, where he saw what he thought was a disproportionate amount of lung cancer deaths.

He notes that shipboard service in the Navy, particularly during the years he served, routinely involved exposure to asbestos, second hand smoke and other possible carcinogens. Veterans also were at risk from exposure to chemicals such as Agent Orange, sulfur mustard gas, and other battlefield combustion products.

“I had heavy exposure to asbestos in the Navy,” he says. “I spent a lot of my time as an engineer on ships. In the 1960s there were no precautions about asbestos that I recall at all. We tore out asbestos with hand tools. A dust mask might have been our most aggressive protection.”

With a family history of pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs, Coady always had his asbestos exposure in the back of his mind in relation to his health, and had regular CT scans to check for the disease, which he did eventually develop as a result of his exposure. Then, in 2005, the scans also showed lung cancer.

“Ironically, it was really my concern about asbestos that probably saved my life,” Coady said, crediting his regular screenings with catching his cancer early.

Next: The stigma of lung cancer

SOURCE: myMeso › LCA lobbies for lung cancer funding, awareness

However, what they fail to mention is that there is no safe level of asbestos. It merely takes one microscopic fiber to embed itself in your lungs to create serious and lasting health risks. The incredible health risks associated with asbestos exposure were widely known at the time these films were made.

The 1934 Aetna Insurance’s Attorney’s Textbook of Medicine devotes a full chapter to asbestos exposure, noting that asbestosis was ‘incurable’ and usually results in disability followed by death.

Also, here is a 1949 internal Exxon memo marked ‘Company Confidential’ which documents lung cancer caused by asbestos.

SOURCE: myMeso › Early Asbestos Promotional Videos

The story says that Baroni, 73, died of mesothelioma in October 2005. He worked for Fisher Scientific from 1959 to 1994. In addition to the jury verdict, the Baroni family settled with three other companies related to Mr. Baroni’s illness.

Visit the Beasley Allen web site for the full story.

SOURCE: myMeso › Jury awards Pennsylvania family Meso settlement

The Newsday.com article mentions that Reeve worked at a morgue in the toxic dust of Ground Zero following 9-11.

While her death has not been officially linked to exposure to materials released from the collapsing buildings, there is a great deal of study about the link between the disaster and mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, which affect many of the immediate responders and those who worked on the site in the many days and months afterward.

Today, the official New York City Fire Department web site has the story:

EMS officers, paramedics and EMTs attended the plaque dedication for Paramedic Deborah Reeve on March 11 at EMS Station 20 in the Bronx. Paramedic Reeve died of mesothelioma (lung cancer) on March 15, 2006. “This loss was a great blow to the members of this EMS station, the Department and the City of New York,” said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. “But we hope this ceremony will serve as a reminder to her family that we understand your pain has not diminished and your loss has not been forgotten.” Paramedic Reeve served with the EMS Command for 17 years before her death. She was remembered as smart, hard working and an outstanding paramedic. “She was the strongest person I ever met,” said Reeve’s husband, Paramedic David Reeve, also of Station 20. He recalled how they met at the EMS Training Academy, when she sat behind him in class and made fun of his southern accent. He was joined at the ceremony by their children, Elizabeth, 12, and Mark, 8. “All new members should try to model themselves after Debbie – the commitment and dedication she showed every day,” said Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano. Chief of EMS John Peruggia read the poem “She is Gone” in Paramedic Reeve’s memory, saying it emphasized “the importance of remembering Debbie, who gave so much to this city.” The plaque was unveiled to cheers and tears from her family, friends and fellow EMS personnel. It will be hung at EMS Station 20, located at Jacobi Medical Center in the Morris Park/Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx. “She was an excellent, outstanding paramedic … she really knew her stuff,” said Captain Felipe Periu of Station 20.

SOURCE: myMeso › FDNY honors Paramedic Deborah Reeve

This morning, WorkDay Minnesota published a series of stories about another quest for mesothelioma research in the state. Unrelated to the first grant, a Minnesota House of Representatives committee has approved legislation to allocate $4.9 million – to come from the state’s worker’s compensation special fund in fiscal year 2008 – for a special study of Iron Range mine workers’ deaths due to mesothelioma.

Inforum News writer Scott Wente reported today that the Minnesota Health Department in 2007 linked the deaths of 58 mining industry workers to mesothelioma. The University of Minnesota plans four studies related to the mesothelioma cases and other health issues for taconite industry employees and communities, according to the Inforum News story. Data points to an abnormally high rate of the cancer among the mine workers.

WorkDay Minnesota reports that in 2007, the state Department of Health announced that 35 miners, in addition to 17 previously identified, had died from mesothelioma. The number currently stands at 58 mesothelioma deaths.

The legislation for the funding must go through another House committee before getting to the floor, and the Senate has not yet held a hearing on the bill. If approved, the funding would direct the University of Minnesota to initiate a study this year and complete work by 2013.

The university’s School of Public Health will spearhead the project and already has set up a toll-free nurse helpline for questions on taconite worker lung health (1-888-840-7590) and launched a special website.

In the meantime, WorkDay Minnesota says that Friday the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration issued new rules that increase protections for miners who may be exposed to asbestos.

SOURCE: myMeso › Minnesota proposes $4.6 million Meso study

• At least 741 people have been killed by asbestos since 1979 in Alabama.

• 10,881 people have sought justice in Alabama.

• At least 75 shipments (3,624 tons) of vermiculite went from Libby, MT to 4 locations in Alabama between 1948 and 1993.

About the Map

The dots on this map represent individuals who have died from two signature asbestos diseases, mesothelioma and asbestosis, as confirmed by death certificate records. To protect the identity of the victims, the dots on the map have been randomly placed within the county where the death was recorded.

The map includes just a small portion of all asbestos-related mortality that occurred during the time period analyzed. It does not include a single lung cancer death caused by asbestos, although national estimates of lung cancer mortality from asbestos range from 5,000 to 10,000 per year during that time.

The data also grossly underestimate mesothelioma mortality, the signature asbestos-caused cancer. This is in part due to under-diagnosis of the disease, but in greater measure because mesothelioma was not tracked by the federal government as a cause of death until 1999. Prior to that, scientists estimated mesothelioma mortality by assuming cancers of certain sites (for example, the pleura) were mesothelioma. This resulted in dramatic underestimates of the true mortality rates. When the government began tracking mesothelioma as a cause of death, mortality more than doubled, from 935 in 1998, to 2343 in 1999.

The map also does not include asbestos mortality from gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. The link between asbestos and GI cancer is contested by industry and its insurance companies, but OSHA and the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer all have concluded that asbestos does cause some types of GI cancer (OSHA 1994, WHO 1989). The best national estimates are about 1,200 asbestos-caused gastrointestinal cancers per year.

If the data presented above are corrected to include lung and gastrointestinal cancer and more accurate estimates of mesothelioma incidence, nationwide, the total mortality from asbestos from 1979 through 2001 would be about 230,000 people.

For more information about Asbestos in Alabama, visit the EWG report online.

SOURCE: myMeso › Asbestos Disease in Alabama

Beginning in 2003, ACS started using the 2000 census for its age adjusted statistical analysis. Since that time, the incidence rate for lung cancer in men rose from 86 new cases per every 100,000 of population to 89, and incidence rates for women went from 51.4 to 55.2.

The LCA points out that in research dollars per death, lung cancer is receiving a fraction of the amounts given to breast, prostate and colon cancers.

The five-year survival rate for breast cancer now stands at 88 percent, prostate cancer 99 percent and colon cancer 65 percent, while lung cancer remains at 15 percent.

The ACS credits screening as a major component in achieving high survival rates. So, part of the problem, according to an article published in the Baltimore Sun Feb. 27, is that there is not yet any effective way to screen for lung cancer.

Reporter Stephanie Desmon found that neither physicians nor major medical societies advocate lung cancer screening at this time, because no one has proved that it saves lives.

Studies have shown that screenings find more cancer, but also more lesions and nodules that may or may not be cancer, Desmon’s report said. This leads to confusion about how to treat these spots, or whether to treat them at all. There also are concerns that lung screenings may lead to further tests, biopsies and surgeries, some of which may be unnecessary or harmful to a patient. Scans that produce “watch and see” results also lead to fear and anxiety, and emotional cost to the patient.

In 2002, the National Cancer Institute launched the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), which will compare two ways of detecting lung cancer – spiral computed tomography (CT) and the standard chest X-ray. By Feb. 2004, nearly 50,000 people (smokers or former smokers) had joined NLST at more than 30 study sites across the country.

The trial (now closed to further enrollment) is slated to collect and analyze data for eight years to examine the risks and benefits of each type of screening. The NLST is a randomized, controlled study and is large enough to determine if there is a 20 percent or greater drop in lung cancer mortality from using spiral CT compared to chest X-ray. The trial is scheduled to last until 2009.

SOURCE: myMeso › Lung Cancer Leading Cancer Killer

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma cancer, or malignant mesothelioma, is an extremely rare disease generally affecting the lining of the lungs, and, more rarely, the abdominal cavity and/or the heart. Mesothelioma cancer is most strongly associated with exposure to asbestos, and can remain latent in those exposed for 30 to 40 years.

There are three types of mesothelioma cancer: pleural, in which the cancer affects the lining of the lungs/chest;  peritoneal, which affects the lining of the abdominal cavity; and pericardial, which affects the lining of the heart.

Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of malignant mesothelioma, accounting for approximately three out of every four cases. The pleura is defined as the outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity. Pleural mesothelioma typcially has a latency period of 30-40 years or longer.

Peritoneal mesothelioma generally accounts for about 25 percent of maglignant mesothelioma cases diagnosed each year. It can have a shorter latency period than pleural mesothelioma, developing in 20-30 years or shorter. It affects the peritoneum, which is the lining of the abdominal cavity. Peritoneal mesothelioma generally occurs more often in males than females.

Pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the pericardium, the lining of the heart, is extremely rare. This form of malignant mesothelioma is usually fatal, due to its difficulty in diagnosis and treatment. It is generally diagnosed in a very late stage, and surgical or other treatment options are dangerous and difficult.

Mesothelioma in general is fairly rare in the United States. There are an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma each year in the United States. However, in European countries, especially the UK, as well as in Australia, the rate of mesothelioma is increasing.

For years, mesothelioma was thought to be  rare in people under age 55. Traditionally seen primarily in older men, usually with a background of working in a factory, shipyard, mine or other environment with heavy asbestos exposure, today more and more cases of secondary exposure are being diagnosed, and it is affecting greater number of women.

The average age for someone with mesothelioma used to be around 72, but each year it seems mesothelioma affects younger people, and a greater number of women. Last year, a 3-year-old girl was diagnosed with mesothelioma, stunning the physicians who were treating her.

Mesothelioma is a serious disease. By the time the symptoms appear and cancer is diagnosed, the disease is often advanced. The average survival time is about 1 year. The 5-year relative survival rate is around 10%, but this rate has been slowly improving.

The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is diagnosed. Many of these patients live much longer than 5 years after diagnosis, and 5-year rates are used to produce a standard way of discussing prognosis.

Five-year relative survival rates do not include patients dying of other diseases and are considered to be a more accurate way to describe the prognosis for patients with a particular type and stage of cancer. That means that relative survival only talks about deaths from mesothelioma. Of course, 5-year survival rates are based on patients diagnosed and initially treated more than 5 years ago. They may no longer be accurate. Improvements in treatment result in a more favorable outlook for recently diagnosed patients.

Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Early symptoms of mesothelioma can be very general. Thus, they are often ignored.

Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma (lining of the chest) can include:

* pain in the lower back or at the side of the chest

* shortness of breath

* trouble swallowing

* hoarseness

* cough

* fever

* sweating

* tiredness

* weight loss

* swelling of the face and arms

* muscle weakness

Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma (lining of the abdominal cavity) include:

* belly pain

* weight loss

* nausea

* vomiting

* fluid or a lump in the abdomen

Symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma (lining of the heart) include:

* constrictive pericarditis

* pericardial effusion

* cardiac tamponade

* heart failure caused by myocardial infarction

Of course, these same symptoms can also be caused by other minor ailments. But if you have worked with asbestos and you have any of these symptoms, you should see your doctor right away.

Diagnosing Mesothelioma

Diagnosing mesothelioma is often difficult, because the symptoms are similar to those of a number of other conditions.

Diagnosis begins with a review of the patient’s medical history, including any history of asbestos exposure. A complete physical examination may be performed, including x-rays of the chest or abdomen and lung function tests. As a rule, a chest x-ray is not useful in finding mesothelioma early.

One test being studied is a blood test. This test measures the levels in the blood of a certain protein that is higher in people who have lung damage due to asbestos. It is even higher if the person has mesothelioma.

A CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI may also be useful. A CT scan is a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body created by a computer linked to an x-ray machine. In an MRI, a powerful magnet linked to a computer is used to make detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures are viewed on a monitor and can also be printed.

A biopsy is needed to confirm a diagnosis of mesothelioma. In a biopsy, a surgeon or a medical oncologist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating cancer) removes a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope by a pathologist. A biopsy may be done in different ways, depending on where the abnormal area is located.

If the cancer is in the chest, the doctor may perform a thoracoscopy. In this procedure, the doctor makes a small cut through the chest wall and puts a thin, lighted tube called a thoracoscope into the chest between two ribs. Thoracoscopy allows the doctor to look inside the chest and obtain tissue samples.

If the cancer is in the abdomen, the doctor may perform a peritoneoscopy. To obtain tissue for examination, the doctor makes a small opening in the abdomen and inserts a special instrument called a peritoneoscope into the abdominal cavity.

If these procedures do not yield enough tissue, more extensive diagnostic surgery may be necessary.

If the diagnosis is mesothelioma, the doctor will want to learn the stage (or extent) of the disease. Staging involves more tests in a careful attempt to find out whether the cancer has spread and, if so, to which parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps the doctor plan treatment.

Mesothelioma is described as localized if the cancer is found only on the membrane surface where it originated. It is classified as advanced if it has spread beyond the original membrane surface to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, lungs, chest wall, or abdominal organs.

New developments in Diagnosis of Mesothelioma

A recently published report in the Journal of the American Medical Association holds out hope for earlier detection of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer linked to asbestos exposure.

Researchers compared three types of endoscopic collection for accuracy in detecting cancerous cells in the lymph nodes to determine their accuracy.

Typically, doctors use several different techniques to diagnose lung cancers, including mesothelioma. Those techniques include physical exams, chest X-rays, CT scans and surgical biopsies to examine the cells in the lungs and the lymph nodes.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and the outcomes are typically unpromising. The low survival rates for lung cancer are often attributed to the difficulty of diagnosing the disease early enough for effective treatment.

This is especially true of mesothelioma, a disease that affects the tissues of the lining between the chest wall and the lungs. Often, by the time mesothelioma is detected, the cancer has reached untreatable stages.

Because of this, researchers are increasingly turning to new methods of detection that may identify deadly cancers at earlier stages when chemotherapy, surgery and other treatments may be effective.

The most accurate methods of diagnosis to date involve collecting cell samples from the lungs or lymph nodes for examination under a microscope. The most common method for collecting these cells is a mediastinoscopy, which is an invasive surgery that involves anesthesia and incision. The surgeon makes an incision at the top of the breast bone and inserts a thin, lighted tube into the chest cavity to withdraw cell and fluid samples.

Mediatinoscopy is typically used to determine whether fluids in the chest cavity contain cancerous cells or asbestos fibers.

In the past few years, doctors have developed less invasive procedures to collect tissue samples from the chest. These procedures use an endoscope, a small medical device that consists of a camera mounted on a flexible tube. Ultrasound probes, needles and other instruments can be inserted through the tube to remove samples for biopsy. These endoscopic procedures are far less invasive than more traditional methods, reducing the risks to patients who undergo them.

In the study reported in JAMA, researchers compared three different procedures using an endoscope, each of them considered minimally invasive:

• Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA)

• Endobronchial ultra-sound guided fine needle aspiration (EBUS-FNA)

• Transesophegeal endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy (EUS-FNA)

In each procedure, an endoscope was used to remove tissues or fluids with a fine needle. The researchers then compared the findings among the three methods to determine which was the most sensitive for detecting the presence of cancerous cells in the lymph nodes of the chest.

The study consisted of tests taken on 138 patients in the U.S. who were believed to have lung cancer. Each patient underwent all three procedures in sequence.

The results of the study showed:

- 30% (42) of the patients had malignant lymph nodes

- EBUS-FNA detected 29 of the cancers. TBNA only detected 15

- EUS-FNA and EBUS-FNA used in combination detected 93% of the cancers.

The combination was also able to detect malignancies in patients who would not have been identified by CT scans of the chest. The results of the study suggest that the minimally invasive procedures may be a viable alternative to more invasive standard procedures for evaluation patients believed to have lung cancer.

The lower risks associated with the procedure will make the diagnostic process more comfortable for patients and provide for a shorter recovery time.

Reference: Wallace, M, Pascual, J, Raimondo, M, et al. Minimally invasive endoscopic staging of suspected lung cancer. Journal of American Medical Association. 2008. 299(5) 540-546. Source: www.asbestos.com

New System May Give Lung Cancer Patients Hope

The Associated Press Aug. 31, 2007 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20533486

Thousands more lung cancer patients each year could be offered surgery or other aggressive therapy under a new system that classifies many tumors as more treatable than in the past.

It is the first big overhaul of a decades-old method used to predict survival and help determine whether a lung cancer patient will have surgery, chemotherapy or be treated at all.

The new guidance is to be presented at a conference of lung cancer specialists in Seoul, South Korea, that starts Saturday. It is expected to be adopted by policy-making groups in the next year. Lung cancer is the world’s top cancer killer, claiming 1.3 million lives each year.

In the United States, 213,380 new cases and 160,390 deaths from the disease are expected this year. Nearly 60 percent of people die within one year of diagnosis, and nearly 75 percent die within two years, American Cancer Society statistics show.

In treating it, doctors use a formula called tumor staging. It is based on a tumor’s size, how far it has spread and other factors to predict a patient’s survival odds and to guide treatment.

More precise sorting

The current system was developed from about 5,000 tumor samples from University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston decades ago — before improved scanning technology was available to evaluate a cancer’s spread.

The new plan is based on 100,000 tumor samples from around the world including Asia, where lung cancer rates are projected to climb because of trends in smoking, unhealthy lifestyles and aging populations. It keeps four broad groupings but sorts people more precisely based on refined understanding of tumor characteristics.

The result: “There will clearly be shifting of patients from categories not operable to operable” — as many as 10,000 a year in the United States, said Dr. David Johnson, a lung cancer specialist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He reviewed the plan, which was partly published in a medical journal recently.

The stage of the tumor at diagnosis is the best predictor of survival. Only 20 percent of cases are diagnosed in Stages 1 or 2, when tumors are small and confined to a lung, Johnson said. About 30 percent to 40 percent are found in Stage 4, after they have widely spread. The rest are in the middle.

Five-year survival rates are 47 percent for Stage 1 and 26 percent for Stage 2, but only 8 percent for Stage 3, and 2 percent for Stage 4, according to the American College of Surgeons.

Most lung cancers are the type called ”non-small cell,“ which is covered by the new staging system. The system was developed by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, a group of lung cancer specialists from around the world.

Changing groupings

Dr. Peter Goldstraw, a surgeon at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, led the project, and Canadian scientists independently validated the recommended changes by comparing survival across geographic regions.

Among the changes: creating more sub-stages for tumor size, reassigning some large tumors to a more advanced stage, reclassifying tumors that have spread into the fluid surrounding the lung, and recognizing that spread to certain lymph nodes is more dangerous than its spread to others.

“By changing some of these groupings, some patients will get moved to an earlier stage of disease for which we tend to be more aggressive” in treatment, said Dr. Joan Schiller, a lung cancer specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas .

“Before, a patient may have only been offered chemotherapy. They may now be offered chemotherapy and radiation,” or more intense radiation, she said. Conversely, some people thought to have earlier-stage tumors now will be grouped with those whose tumors have widely spread, and discouraged from undergoing therapies that have little chance of helping them.

“In some cases, patients were getting inappropriately aggressive treatment,” Schiller said.

Some people with very small tumors may get away with less therapy — taking out just a segment of lung instead of an entire lobe, said Dr. Stephen Swisher, a chest surgeon at M.D. Anderson.

The impact of the changes in Europe and Japan is unclear because doctors in those countries tend to remove whole lungs rather than lobes to treat lung cancer, Johnson noted. Doctors hope that ultimately survival will improve, but that won’t happen “unless we get patients into the right hands” and they get correct treatment, Johnson said.

Revising the staging system also will do little good if doctors don’t do the right tests to properly stage a tumor, said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. Staging for lung and other types of cancer should become even more precise in the near future as biomarkers and gene tests are developed to better sort patients, he added.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Risk Factors for Mesothelioma

The main risk factor for developing mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos refers to a family of fibrous minerals made of silicate. Asbestos was once used in many products such as insulation, floor tiles, door gaskets, soundproofing, roofing, patching compounds, fireproof gloves and ironing board covers, and even brake pads.

As the link between asbestos and mesothelioma has become well known, the use of this material has almost stopped. Most use stopped after 1989, but it is still used in some products. Experts have linked this drop in asbestos use to the fact that the rate of development of mesothelioma is no longer increasing [in the U.S.].

Still, up to 8 million Americans may already have been exposed to asbestos. Exposure to asbestos particles suspended in air and building materials is much less hazardous except when they are being removed.

Since asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, it can also be found in dust and rocks in certain parts of the United States as well as the world.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as many as 733,000 schools and public buildings in the country today contain asbestos insulation. As many as 10% to 15% of schools in the United States may contain asbestos insulation.

People who may be at risk for occupational asbestos exposure include some miners, factory workers, insulation manufacturers, railroad workers, ship builders, gas mask manufacturers, and construction workers, particularly those involved with installing insulation.

Several studies have shown that family members of people exposed to asbestos at work have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, because asbestos fibers are carried home on the clothes of the workers.

The incidence rate for mesothelioma in men is dropping, probably because they are no longer being exposed directly to asbestos in their work. But the incidence rate for mesothelioma in women is steady, which suggests that they are being exposed in a way that is not directly tied to work, but more to their environment either at home or work. One example would be asbestos in buildings where they work or live.

A study from California also links mesothelioma to naturally occurring asbestos deposits in mountains.

Another important point about asbestos and mesothelioma is that the risk of mesothelioma does not drop with time after exposure to asbestos. The risk appears to be lifelong and undiminished.

There are 2 main forms of asbestos — serpentine and amphiboles. Serpentine fibers are curly and pliable. Chrysotile is the only type of serpentine fiber and it is the most widely used form of asbestos. Amphiboles are thin, rod-like fibers. There are 5 main types — crocidolite, amosite, anthrophylite, tremolite, and actinolyte. Amphiboles (particularly crocidolite) are considered to be the most carcinogenic (cancer-causing).

However, even the more commonly used chrysotile fibers are associated with malignant (cancerous) mesotheliomas and should be considered dangerous as well.

When asbestos fibers are inhaled, most are cleared in the nose, throat, trachea (windpipe), or bronchi (large breathing tubes of the lungs). Fibers are cleared by sticking to mucus inside the air passages and being coughed up or swallowed. The long, thin, fibers are less readily cleared, and they may reach the ends of the small airways and penetrate into the pleural lining of the lung and chest wall. These fibers may then directly injure mesothelial cells of the pleura, and eventually cause mesothelioma.

Asbestos fibers can also damage cells of the lung and result in asbestosis (formation of scar tissue in the lung), and/or lung cancer.

The risk of lung cancer among people exposed to asbestos is increased by 7 times, compared with the general population. Indeed, asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer are the 3 most frequent causes of death and disease among people with heavy asbestos exposure.

Peritoneal mesothelioma, which forms in the abdomen, may result from coughing up and swallowing inhaled asbestos fibers. Cancers of the larynx, pancreas, esophagus, colon, and kidney may also come from asbestos exposure, but the increased risk is small.

The risk of developing a mesothelioma is related to how much asbestos a person was exposed to and how long this exposure lasted. People exposed at an early age, for a long period of time, and at higher levels are most likely to develop this cancer.

Mesotheliomas take a long time to develop. The time between first exposure to asbestos and diagnosis of mesothelioma is usually between 20 and 50 years.

Other Asbestos-Related Cancer

Asbestos Related Lung CancerLung cancer, or bronchial carcinoma, occurs in several forms. The most common causes of lung cancer are smoking and asbestos.

This web site has focused on the most lethal of the lung cancers – mesothelioma. Not every asbestos-related lung cancer, however, is a mesothelioma. Other thoracic carcinomas, such as adenocarcinoma, are also caused by exposure to asbestos.

The connection between asbestos exposure and lung cancer was noted as early as 1925, and confirmed over the next 70 years by many epidemiologic studies of asbestos-exposed workers.

The four main types of commercially used asbestos, chrysotile, amosite, anthophyllite, and mixtures containing crocidolite, have all been associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. About one in seven people who suffer from asbestosis, a lung disease resulting from high exposure to asbestos, eventually develop lung cancer.

Asbestos is estimated to account for 3,400 to 8,500 new lung cancer cases in the United States each year. Like mesothelioma, the latency period between asbestos exposure and the development of asbestos related lung cancer may be two, three, four, or even more decades.

Very often, asbestos-related cancer victims also suffer from asbestosis, a scarring of the lung tissue caused by asbestos exposure. About one in seven people with asbestosis will eventually develop lung cancer.

Although commonly associated with lung cancer, adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer that develops in cells lining glandular types of internal organs, such as the lungs, breasts, colon, prostate, stomach, pancreas, and cervix.

Another type of adenocarcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, accounts for only 10-15% of all adenocarcinomas and is particular to aggressive carcinomas that are comprised of at least sixty percent mucus. Non-small cell lung cancers make up over three quarters of all new lung cancer cases in the United States.

While there is only one type of small cell lung cancer, there are three types of non-small cell lung cancer. The three types of non-small cell lung cancer are squamous carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma. When adenocarcinoma develops in the lung’s air sacs, it is called bronchioalveolar adenocarcinoma. About forty percent of all lung cancer cases diagnosed today are adenocarcinoma.

The progression of adenocarcinoma is quite unpredictable. In most cases, adenocarcinoma spreads slowly and causes very few lung cancer symptoms. But it can also be extremely invasive, aggressively spreading through the body and causing death before it can be treated. Given the disease’s variability, the five-year prognosis for patients with adenocarcinoma is dim: most are given only a 10 percent chance of survival.

Sometimes, tumors spread to the liver, adrenal glands, and bones, making adenocarcinoma much more difficult to treat. Symptoms of adenocarcinoma lung cancer may include shortness of breath, the coughing up of blood, fatigue, chest pains, and unexplained weight loss. Adenocarcinoma is usually treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

SOURCE: myMeso › What is Mesothelioma?

Ten thousand Americans die each year – a rate approaching 30 deaths per day – from diseases caused by asbestos, according to a detailed analysis of government mortality records and epidemiological studies by the EWG Action Fund. Asbestos kills thousands more people than skin cancer each year, and nearly the number that are slain in assults with firearms, they found.

Another scary statistic shows that mesothelioma was not tracked as a cause of death by federal health officials until 1999. Prior to that time, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) tried to estimate the number of deaths due to malignant mesothelioma by using surrogate measures with tumors related to mesotheliomas.

The report states that scientists now know that estimates of mesothelioma based on surrogate indicators dramatically underestimated the number of deaths due to mesothelioma. The EWG Action Fund found the first year that federal officials began tracking mesothelioma as a distinct cause of death, official mortality more than doubled! In 1998, the last year surrogate indicators were used, the estimated number of mesothelioma deaths was 935. One year later, when malignant mesothelioma was specifically coded as a cause of death, the number of deaths was 2,343.

The EWG also estimates that we may not see the peak in U.S. asbestos disease for another 10 years or more.There was widespread use of asbestos in the United States by the mid-1970s. The EWG estimates that more than 3,000 consumer and industrial products on the market at that time contained asbestos; asbestos product factories were polluting nearby neighborhoods; asbestos workers were heavily exposed on the job and were bringing home substantial amounts of asbestos dust to their wives and children; and asbestos was commonly used in public buildings and workplaces for soundproofing, fireproofing, and insulation.

Awareness of the dangers of asbestos to health didn’t develop until the beginning of the 1980s, and safety measures weren’t implemented across the board even then. Asbestos is still not totally banned today. The EWG points out that it remains heavily used in brake shoes and other products, and millions of people are exposed at home or in their workplace by the monumental quantities of asbestos that remain in the built environment — the attic insulation in 30 million American homes, for instance — following decades of heavy use.Asbestos diseases have a 20 to 50 year latency period, meaning that a substantial portion of individuals exposed in the 1960s and 1970s are just now showing up as disease or mortality statistics.

The magnitude of this public health crisis raises profound questions about the wisdom and fairness of doing anything to cut off any avenue that might provide assistance or protection to the tens of thousands of Americans who become sick and die from asbestos exposure.For more information, visit http://www.reports.ewg.org or http://www.ewg.org.

SOURCE: myMeso › Asbestos: A Looming Crisis in Public Health

Asbestos is Leading Risk Factor for Mesothelioma

The main risk factor for developing mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. Asbestos refers to a family of fibrous minerals made of silicate. Asbestos was once used in many products such as insulation, floor tiles, door gaskets, soundproofing, roofing, patching compounds, fireproof gloves and ironing board covers, and even brake pads. As the link between asbestos and mesothelioma has become well known, the use of this material has almost stopped. Most use stopped after 1989, but it is still used in some products.

Experts have linked this drop in asbestos use to the fact that the rate of development of mesothelioma is no longer increasing [in the U.S.]. Still, up to 8 million Americans may already have been exposed to asbestos.

Exposure to asbestos particles suspended in air and building materials is much less hazardous except when they are being removed. Since asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, it can also be found in dust and rocks in certain parts of the United States as well as the world. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as many as 733,000 schools and public buildings in the country today contain asbestos insulation. As many as 10% to 15% of schools in the United States may contain asbestos insulation.

People who may be at risk for occupational asbestos exposure include some miners, factory workers, insulation manufacturers, railroad workers, ship builders, gas mask manufacturers, and construction workers, particularly those involved with installing insulation. Several studies have shown that family members of people exposed to asbestos at work have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, because asbestos fibers are carried home on the clothes of the workers.

The incidence rate for mesothelioma in men is dropping, probably because they are no longer being exposed directly to asbestos in their work. But the incidence rate for mesothelioma in women is steady, which suggests that they are being exposed in a way that is not directly tied to work, but more to their environment either at home or work. One example would be asbestos in buildings where they work or live. A study from California also links mesothelioma to naturally occurring asbestos deposits in mountains.

Another important point about asbestos and mesothelioma is that the risk of mesothelioma does not drop with time after exposure to asbestos. The risk appears to be lifelong and undiminished. There are 2 main forms of asbestos — serpentine and amphiboles.

Serpentine fibers are curly and pliable. Chrysotile is the only type of serpentine fiber and it is the most widely used form of asbestos.

Amphiboles are thin, rod-like fibers. There are 5 main types — crocidolite, amosite, anthrophylite, tremolite, and actinolyte. Amphiboles (particularly crocidolite) are considered to be the most carcinogenic (cancer-causing). However, even the more commonly used chrysotile fibers are associated with malignant (cancerous) mesotheliomas and should be considered dangerous as well.

When asbestos fibers are inhaled, most are cleared in the nose, throat, trachea (windpipe), or bronchi (large breathing tubes of the lungs). Fibers are cleared by sticking to mucus inside the air passages and being coughed up or swallowed. The long, thin, fibers are less readily cleared, and they may reach the ends of the small airways and penetrate into the pleural lining of the lung and chest wall. These fibers may then directly injure mesothelial cells of the pleura, and eventually cause mesothelioma.

Asbestos fibers can also damage cells of the lung and result in asbestosis (formation of scar tissue in the lung), and/or lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer among people exposed to asbestos is increased by 7 times, compared with the general population. Indeed, asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer are the 3 most frequent causes of death and disease among people with heavy asbestos exposure.

Peritoneal mesothelioma, which forms in the abdomen, may result from coughing up and swallowing inhaled asbestos fibers. Cancers of the larynx, pancreas, esophagus, colon, and kidney may also come from asbestos exposure, but the increased risk is small. The risk of developing a mesothelioma is related to how much asbestos a person was exposed to and how long this exposure lasted. People exposed at an early age, for a long period of time, and at higher levels are most likely to develop this cancer.

Mesotheliomas take a long time to develop. The time between first exposure to asbestos and diagnosis of mesothelioma is usually between 20 and 50 years.

Asbestosis

asbestosis – Asbestosis is a breathing disorder caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. Prolonged accumulation of these fibers in your lungs can cause scarring of lung tissue and shortness of breath. Asbestosis symptoms can range from mild to severe, and usually don’t appear until years after exposure.

According to information provided by the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of asbestosis include shortness of breath, initially only with exertion but eventually even while resting; decreased tolerance for physical activity; coughing, chest pain, and even finger deformity (clubbing) in some cases.

Asbestosis may cause such a reduced flow of oxygen as to be disabling or even fatal. It can also lead to complications like high blood pressure in the lungs, heart problems, lung cancer, other lung damage including those affecting the lining of the lungs and chest cavity, the pleura. These include pleural thickening and hardening (pleural plaques), and abnormal accumulation of fluid between the layers (pleural effusion).

Asbestosis itself does not increase your risk of developing mesothelioma, but it indicates that you were exposed to asbestos and therefore are also at risk for developing malignant mesothelioma.

Adenocarcinoma

adenocarcinoma (A-den-oh-KAR-sih-NOH-muh) – Cancer that begins in cells that line certain internal organs and that have gland-like (secretory) properties.

Although commonly associated with lung cancer, adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer that develops in cells lining glandular types of internal organs, such as the lungs, breasts, colon, prostate, stomach, pancreas, and cervix. Another type of adenocarcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, accounts for only 10-15% of all adenocarcinomas and is particular to aggressive carcinomas that are comprised of at least sixty percent mucus.

Non-small cell lung cancers make up over three quarters of all new lung cancer cases in the United States. While there is only one type of small cell lung cancer, there are three types of non-small cell lung cancer. The three types of non-small cell lung cancer are squamous carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma. When adenocarcinoma develops in the lung’s air sacs, it is called bronchioalveolar adenocarcinoma. About forty percent of all lung cancer cases diagnosed today is adenocarcinoma.

Like other cancers, adenocarcinoma is the growth of abnormal cells. These cancerous cells multiply out of control and form a tumor. In the lung, as the tumor grows, it destroys parts of the lung. Eventually, the tumor’s abnormal cells can spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body, including the local lymph nodes in the chest and the central portion of the chest, called the mediastinum; the liver; the bones; the adrenal glands; and other organs, including the brain.

Adenocarcinoma is more likely than other types of lung cancer to be contained in one area of the body. If it is truly localized, it may also respond better than other lung cancers to treatment, especially surgical removal of the tumor and draining lymph nodes.

Adenocarcinoma is the most common form of lung cancer. Most of this type of cancer is found in smokers. However, it also is the most frequent type of lung cancer seen in nonsmokers. It is the most common form of lung cancer seen in women and people younger than 45.

As with other forms of lung cancer, you are more likely to get adenocarcinoma if you:

• Are exposed to asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that is used in home insulation, fireproofing, tiles for floors and ceilings, automobile brake linings, and other products. It is believed that asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer. People at risk of lung cancer include workers who are exposed to asbestos on the job (miners, construction workers, shipyard workers and auto mechanics who work with brakes), and people who live or work in buildings in which building products that contain asbestos are deteriorating. In addition to the adenocarcinoma type of lung cancer, individuals who have been exposed to asbestos, and particular types of asbestos, are also at a significant greater risk of developing a specialized type of lung cancer called mesothelioma.

• Are exposed to other carcinogens in the workplace. These include uranium, arsenic, vinyl chloride, nickel chromates, coal products, mustard gas, chloromethyl ethers, gasoline, diesel exhaust and high levels of talc dust.

• Smoke cigarettes. Smokers have 13 times more risk of developing lung cancer than nonsmokers. Cigarette smoke is associated with most cases of adenocarcinoma. Smoking is by far the leading risk factor for lung cancer, substantially more significant than all the other risk factors combined.

• Breathe cigarette smoke. Nonsmokers who inhale the cigarette fumes of smokers have an increased risk of lung cancer.

• Are exposed to radon gas. Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that is formed in the ground. It seeps into the lower floors of homes and public buildings and can contaminate drinking water. Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer. It’s not clear whether elevated radon levels contribute to lung cancer in nonsmokers. However, research has shown that radon exposure contributes to increased rates of lung cancer in smokers and in people exposed to higher levels of radon, such as miners. You can test the levels of radon in your home and surrounding area by using commercially available radon testing kits.

Your doctor will ask you whether you smoke or whether you live with a smoker. If you smoke, your doctor will ask you how much you smoke and how long you have smoked. Your doctor also will ask whether you have worked in an industry where you may have been exposed to asbestos or other carcinogens.

Call your doctor promptly if you have any of the symptoms of lung cancer, especially if you are a smoker or you have worked in an industry with high exposure to asbestos.

The outlook depends on the stage of the cancer and the overall health of the patient. In general, the prognosis is poor, especially if the lung cancer has spread to areas outside of the chest wall or has involved the lymph nodes of the mediastinum. This cancer can only be cured when surgery or radiation therapy can completely remove the tumor. However, many lung cancers are diagnosed at a stage when this is not possible. About 17 percent of people with adenocarcinoma survive more than 5 years after diagnosis.

Asbestos exposure increases the risk of lung cancer by nine times. A combination of asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking raises the risk to as much as 50 times.

A person who has had lung cancer is more likely to develop a second lung cancer than the average person is to develop a first lung cancer.

Repeated respiratory infections, such as bronchitis or pneumonia, can be a sign of lung cancer.

Asbestos Information

Asbestos and asbestos containing materials are responsible for causing asbestos cancer and asbestos disease cases around the world. Two of the most dangerous forms of asbestos disease are mesothelioma and asbestosis. Asbestos has been used in thousands of products for more than a century because it is highly versatile, abundant, and relatively cheap. Since asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, it requires no manufacturing. Instead, asbestos only has to be mined, crushed, and added into products during the manufacturing process. Since asbestos is basically a rock, it is highly impervious to heat. It also happens to be chemically inert. Since its basic mineral structure is shaped in long, thin fibers, it can be broken down into these fibers to add strength and flexibility to nearly any product. A characteristic of asbestos is what is known as tensile strength. It allows products to be flexible yet strong while not adding excessive weight. Asbestos is one of few minerals that can actually be woven. Asbestos was commonly woven into materials that made excellent insulators, but were too brittle to be used by alone because they would crumble. Asbestos made insulation products flexible and durable since it was not affected by heat. Asbestos is not a very effective insulator by itself. All these qualities add up to a very useful and inexpensive product but some of them also make asbestos toxic to those that inhale asbestos fibers. There are six forms of asbestos characterized by differences in structure and color. Asbestos is also divided into two categories: serpentine and amphibole asbestos. Serpentine asbestos is made of curly fibers and amphibole asbestos is made of long, straight fibers. Both types of asbestos are considered dangerous, though it is thought amphibole asbestos forms, including crocidolite and amosite, may be more dangerous to humans.

Asbestos Exposure

Unfortunately, there are many opportunities for asbestos exposure since asbestos was used so abundantly in both industrial and consumer products. Most people that develop asbestos cancer and other asbestos diseases, including mesothelioma and asbestosis, usually have a history of chronic exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is somewhat unique in this respect, as mesothelioma cases have developed in people with limited asbestos exposure. As a result, there is no established “safe” level of asbestos exposure. Workers are exposed to asbestos when the substance or products containing asbestos are cut, crushed, sanded, drilled or otherwise disturbed. When left undisturbed, asbestos-containing materials can be relatively safe. In cases where asbestos materials are mined, installed, removed, demolished, or serviced, exposure can be a risk unless strict asbestos abatement techniques are employed. When inhaled, microscopic asbestos fibers can make it past the body’s natural defenses and deep into the lungs causing asbestos disease. Once within the lungs, the fibers can irritate lung tissue leading to asbestos cancer. If asbestos fibers make their way to the alveoli or air sacs in the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange takes place, they can cause irritation and scarring called asbestosis. Asbestos fibers that pass through the alveoli and into the pleural mesothelium, can eventually lead to asbestos cancer in the form of tumors and malignant mesothelioma.

Asbestos Products

The following is a list of products that commonly contain asbestos:Roofing shinglesFelt and tar joint compoundCement pipesWall boardCeiling tilesSiding gasketsLaboratory hoodsMastics and sealantsBrake liningsFire doorsInsulation on some wiringCooling towersPaintTaping compound (thermal)Flexible duct connectorsGreenhouse materialsAppliance insulationSheet vinyl floor coveringPlaster sprayed-on fireproofingRefractory cement chalk boardsInsulation on steam pipesHeat resistant gloves and suitsAsbestos blankets Cork Board

Asbestos History

Asbestos was first discovered to be dangerous at the beginning of last century. It has been known as a carcinogen since the 1960s and was subsequently banned in more than 30 countries under grounds that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Mining and manufacture of most asbestos products has been ceased in the U.S., yet we continue to import more than 30 million pounds of asbestos in foreign products each year. A new recommendation by an EPA-sponsored panel of asbestos industry members and other experts on the topic called for a ban of all importation, manufacture, and mining of asbestos and asbestos containing products in the U.S. Although this may be a good sign, it also means that new risks of asbestos exposure are still developing. Since asbestos cancer and asbestos diseases take years and even decades to develop, many more cases of asbestos disease will be diagnosed.

Asbestos Legislation

On March 1, 2007, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced S. 742: Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007 to the 110th Congress. This is an act to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce the health risks posed by asbestos-containing materials and products having asbestos-containing material, and for other purposes. The bill is an effort to ban all production and use of asbestos in America , launch public education campaigns to raise awareness about its dangers and expand research and treatment of diseases cause by asbestos. Murray’s legislation, which was first introduced in the 107th Congress, will also authorize additional studies to determine which commercial products today still contain asbestos, increase funding for asbestos-related diseases, and call for a national mesothelioma registry to help public health professionals track this deadly asbestos-related disease. Studies estimate that during the next decade, 100,000 victims in the United States will die of an asbestos related disease – equaling 30 deaths per day. The bill passed in the Senate on Oct. 4, 2007 by Unanimous Consent.

Currently, the companion to this bill, H.R. 3339, the Bruce Vento Ban Asbestos and Prevent Mesothelioma Act of 2007, is in committee in the House of Representatives. The House bill toughened the legislation, under the direction of the Environment and Hazardous Material Subcommittee of the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee, eliminating an exception for asbestos present at 1 percent or less by weight, making the ban a matter of federal statute rather than EPA regulation, and adding enforcement provisions. The bill must pass committee to make it before the full House for a vote.

Critically needed medical research funding provisions from Sen. Murray’s and Congresswoman McCollum’s legislation have not yet been added to the Committee Print. Supporters are urged to contact their Representative in Washington, DC, to urge inclusion of the research funding and swift passage of the complete bill once the funding is in place.

SOURCE: myMeso › Mesothelioma and Asbestos

However, the study showed that while the rate of cancer deaths decreased from 2004 to 2005, there was an increase in number of actual deaths (5,424) during the same time period.

The ACS says decreases in the cancer death rates can be attributed to more people quitting smoking, and an increase in regular screenings for colorectal, breast and cervical cancer – prevention, early detection and treatment.

However, the report also estimates that in 2008 approximately 1,437,180 new cancers will be diagnosed and 565,650 people will die of the disease. About one-quarter of all deaths from cancer in women in 2008 will be from lung cancer, and lung cancer is the leading killer in men over the age of 40 and women over age 60.

SOURCE: myMeso › How About a Little Good News Today?