How much do you know about pericardial mesothelioma?

Pericardial mesothelioma is a very rare form of mesothelioma. It affects the pericardium, which is a very thin lining of tissue that surrounds the heart.

Of all forms of mesothelioma cancer, pericardial mesothelioma is the least common.

It accounts for only about 5% of all diagnosed cases nationwide. Why is this so ? Well, asbestos is mostly inhaled (into the lungs obviously) so the most common form of mesothelioma happens to be pleural mesothelioma. The pleura is the lining of the lungs. The method by which these asbestos fibres travel to the lining of the pericardium hasn't been clearly determined.

Symptoms tend to be similar to other forms of cancer but the most common are heart palpitations, and this is why pericardial mesothelioma is sometimes a very difficult cancer to diagnose. As with any form of cancer, early detection is important. Surgery can have extremely effective results if found early enough. Unfortunately, pericardial mesothelioma is diagnosed often too late, leading to a low survival rate in patients stricken with the illness. Due to the usually tardive detection, prognosis can have disappointing results, anything from 6 weeks to 15 months.

If left untreated, pericardial mesothelioma can lead to cardiac arrest, due to the the unnatural constriction of the heart - which arises from an expanded pericardium.

If you have been exposed to asbestos in the past, and are still asymptomatic, it would best best to visit a doctor, preferably a cardiologist. They can then check for any irregularities.

It is possible to get compensation for mesothelioma, and people have been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in past settlements. What's important is to look for the right mesothelioma attorney.

www.pericardialmesothelioma.info

Novel Anti-Mesothelioma Strategy

A drug commonly used to treat kidney cancer may increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy for mesothelioma, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

Temsirolimus, a kinase inhibitor, blocks the action of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a protein that regulates cell growth, which can slow tumor growth. It's used to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma.

But researchers in Austria have found that temsirolimus also may slow the growth of malignant pleural mesothelioma cells. Mesothelioma, a cancer that is usually caused by exposure to asbestos and may not appear until 30 to 50 years after exposure, frequently resists chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

The researchers found that temsirolimus strongly blocked mTOR-mediated signals and had a cytostatic, or growth-stopping, effect on all mesothelioma cells. However, mesothelioma cells that were resistant to cisplatin, a widely used chemotherapy drug, showed hypersensitivity against temsirolimus.

That suggests that mTOR inhibitors like temsirolimus might be a promising treatment strategy either in combination with chemotherapy or as second-line treatment after chemotherapy failure.

"Malignant mesothelioma is a severe human malignancy characterized by a very bad prognosis, with a mean patient survival time of less than one year," said Professor Walter Berger, PhD, of the Institute of Cancer Research at the Medical University of Vienna. "This unacceptable situation is mainly caused by late diagnosis combined with a distinct resistance to all forms of systemic therapy available so far. Mesothelioma is frequently caused by asbestos exposure and unfortunately - based on the long latency period - the incidence peak lies, despite the ban on asbestos, still ahead. Consequently, novel therapeutic options for this devastative disease are urgently needed.

"In our preclinical study, published in the JTO, we were able to demonstrate that inhibition of the major oncogene mTOR is active against human mesothelioma especially after development of chemotherapy resistance both in vitro and in vivo," Berger said. "These results suggest the initiation of clinical trials involving mTOR inhibitors as a novel anti-mesothelioma strategy."

The study was supported by the Medical Scientific Fund of the Mayor of the City of Vienna, Initiative Krebsforschung of the Medical University Vienna, and a Wyeth/Pfizer research grant.

Source:
Renée McGaw
International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer