Sarah B. Goldberg, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, discusses the diagnosis of mesothelioma. This is an extremely rare disease that is usually seen in patients with prior asbestos exposure, Goldberg says. However, mesothelioma can be seen occasionally in patients without prior exposure to … [Read more...]
Avelumab may benefit some patients with advanced unresectable mesothelioma
The anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibody avelumab is well tolerated and shows antitumor activity in some patients with previously treated unresectable mesothelioma, according to results from a single-arm trial. “Immune-checkpoint inhibitors result in clinical benefit in a small subset of patients with mesothelioma, but … [Read more...]
Pleural mesothelioma: tackling a deadly cancer
A new study from the University of Pittsburgh has highlighted six factors that are associated with improved survival in patients with mesothelioma; age under 45 years, female, epithelioid histological subtype, peritoneal mesothelioma, stage 1 cancer, and being treated with both surgery and chemotherapy. This knowledge, together with recent reports … [Read more...]
J&J’s Risk From Tainted-Talc Lawsuits Only Gets Bigger in 2019
Johnson & Johnson paid a steep price this year for claims that its celebrated baby powder was contaminated with asbestos. Problem is, 2019 could be even worse. A jury ordered the company in July to pay $4.69 billion to 22 women who blamed the talc-based product for causing their ovarian cancer. The prospect of similar judgments helped erase … [Read more...]
Jury clears J&J of liability in California talc cancer case
A California jury on [November 14, 2018] cleared Johnson & Johnson of liability in a case involving a woman who alleged that the company’s talc-based products, including its baby powder, contain asbestos and caused her cancer, the company said. The jury in Humboldt County Superior Court in Eureka, California rejected claims by Carla Allen … [Read more...]
Differentiating epithelioid mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma — MUC21 is a novel, negative immunohistochemical marker
A recent medical study investigated the potential usefulness of mucin 21 (MUC21), as a novel, negative diagnostic marker for purpose of differentiating epithelioid mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma. In order to analyze the expression of MUC21 by immunohistochemistry, 70 epithelioid mesothelioma and 70 lung adenocarcinoma cases were examined. … [Read more...]
Early Signs of Efficacy Seen With Mesothelin CAR T-Cell Therapy
Mesothelin-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has shown early evidence of efficacy in a phase I trial of patients with malignant pleural disease and mesothelioma, non–small cell lung cancer, or breast cancer (NCT02414269). Additionally, significant responses were seen in patients who went on to receive subsequent PD-1 … [Read more...]
Current treatments and trials in malignant pleural mesothelioma
Objectives This article aims to review the evidence from recent clinical trials in mesothelioma, and to provide an overview of relevant clinical trials that are currently in progress. Results Since the original trial that demonstrated the efficacy of pemetrexed and cisplatin in mesothelioma, multiple trials have been conducted that have … [Read more...]
Comprehensive immunoproteogenomic analyses of malignant pleural mesothelioma
We generated a comprehensive atlas of the immunologic cellular networks within human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) using mass cytometry. Data-driven analyses of these high-resolution single-cell data identified 2 distinct immunologic subtypes of MPM with vastly different cellular composition, activation states, and immunologic function; mass … [Read more...]
J&J Must Pay Millions Over Banker’s Baby Powder Cancer Claim
Johnson & Johnson and a talc mining company must pay at least $37 million to an investment banker who blamed the companies’ products for causing him to develop a deadly cancer linked to asbestos. Jurors in state court in New Brunswick, New Jersey concluded Thursday J&J and Imerys SA hid that their talc-based products, including J&J’s … [Read more...]