Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Mesothelioma is a form of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) caused by exposure to asbestos.  Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.  Last year, almost 90,000 men and 70,000 women died of lung cancer.  An estimated 3,000 of those are mesotheliomas.  The good news is that research continues to increase understanding of mesothelioma which leads to improved diagnostic measures and treatments.

Symptoms of mesothelioma mimic many other less formal illnesses, as well as all types of lung cancer.  The most common symptoms of mesothelioma are:

• Persistent cough
• Trouble breathing and shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Sore throat and hoarse voice
• Recurrent pneumonia
• Fatigue, exhaustion
• Loss of appetite, weight loss for unknown reasons

 If you have a history of working around asbestos or asbestos containing materials (ACMs) and are experiencing any of these symptoms, notify your doctor immediately.  For a referral to a mesothelioma specialist in your area, feel free to contact us at 1-888-855-9052.  An important factor of mesothelioma to keep in mind is that there is a long latency period between time of exposure and onset of symptoms, so even though it may be 10 to 40 years since you worked around asbestos or ACMs, you may very well develop or have this type of lung cancer. 

Mesothelioma is one of the rare diseases that does not yet have a cure.  Treatment focuses on controlling progression and symptoms and helping provide the best quality of life possible.  Standard treatments for mesothelioma are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Because these treatments still often leave behind malignant cells, after the initial treatment, maintenance therapy begins to prevent remaining cells from developing into a tumor.  Maintenance treatment includes the use of drugs, vaccines, and/or antibodies that kill cancer cells or prevent proliferation.

For mesothelioma, maintenance therapy often involves administering drugs after surgery or chemotherapy.  One common maintenance therapy for non-small cell lung cancer such as mesothelioma is the use of Alimta, also known as pemetrexed.  Phase III clinical trials have proven that the addition of Alimta extends survival times.  Other similar drugs are cisplatin, carboplatin, raltitrexed, vinorelbine, vinflunine, gemcitabine, and irinotecan.  Using combinations of these drugs has also been shown to increase efficacy.  The most common combination for both research in clinical trials as well as treatment is pemetrexed plus cisplatin.

The median survival rates for those diagnosed with mesothelioma, as with many forms of lung cancer, are grim, usually less than a year.  To increase survival times and find more effective treatments, numerous novel agents are being explored through clinical investigation, either individually or in combination with others.  Given the amount of progress just in recent years and ongoing research, finding more effective treatments is likely to be developed.