The culprit is the gene, BAP1. Not a very creative name, is it? Why not name genes after Greek gods and goddesses rather than assigning them boring codes made up of capital letters and numbers? The former would better match the mystical powers genes have to determine so much about a person from appearance to temperament to health and beyond. Anyway, the research showed that people with a mutation on the BAP1 gene are more susceptible to developing both mesothelioma cancer as well as melanoma cancer of the eye.

The upshot is that people who are exposed to asbestos are far more likely to develop mesothelioma if they have this mutation to BAP1. The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and led by scientists at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Honolulu, and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. The study results were published in Nature Genetics and reported the outcome of tests within two U.S. families with a high incidence of mesothelioma and other cancers linked with BAP1 mutations.

The study’s co-leader,Dr. Joseph Testa, notes that “it appears likely that other genes, in addition to BAP1, will be found to be associated with elevated risk of mesothelioma.” In the study, every person in the two families who developed mesothelioma or melanoma of the eye did have mutations of the BAP1 gene. The research team went on to look at 26 additional people diagnosed with mesothelioma but with no family history of the disease and found that 25 percent of them also had the BAP1 mutations.

Dr. Michele Carbone, study co-leader and director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, says of the results: “Identifying people at greatest risk for developing mesothelioma, especially those exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos worldwide, is a task made easier by virtue of this discovery.”

This concludes our series on the newest science concerning mesothelioma. These findings are exciting and inspiring of hope that future diagnostic and treatment practices will help people with mesothelioma live longer, healthier lives. Hope is the message we choose to focus on this week following National Mesothelioma Awareness Week.

Mesothelioma

The culprit is the gene, BAP1. Not a very creative name, is it? Why not name genes after Greek gods and goddesses rather than assigning them boring codes made up of capital letters and numbers? The former would better match the mystical powers genes have to determine so much about a person from appearance to temperament to health and beyond. Anyway, the research showed that people with a mutation on the BAP1 gene are more susceptible to developing both mesothelioma cancer as well as melanoma cancer of the eye.

The study’s co-leader,Dr. Joseph Testa, notes that “it appears likely that other genes, in addition to BAP1, will be found to be associated with elevated risk of mesothelioma.” In the study, every person in the two families who developed mesothelioma or melanoma of the eye did have mutations of the BAP1 gene. The research team went on to look at 26 additional people diagnosed with mesothelioma but with no family history of the disease and found that 25 percent of them also had the BAP1 mutations.

Dr. Michele Carbone, study co-leader and director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, says of the results: “Identifying people at greatest risk for developing mesothelioma, especially those exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos worldwide, is a task made easier by virtue of this discovery.”

This concludes our series on the newest science concerning mesothelioma. These findings are exciting and inspiring of hope that future diagnostic and treatment practices will help people with mesothelioma live longer, healthier lives. Hope is the message we choose to focus on this week following National Mesothelioma Awareness Week.

Mesothelioma

Dr. Rachel Ostroff, a clinical research director of Somalogic Inc. presented her initial results of this ongoing study at the Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development. Her results indicated that with the use of aptamer-based proteomics array technology, biomarkers and protein signatures were identified that are characteristic of cancer at an early stage for both mesothelioma and pancreatic cancers.

Aptamer-based proteomics array technology is fairly new in the world of science, developed and refined over the past ten years or so. Aptamers are nucleic acid molecules that bind to certain proteins and were first discovered about 20 years ago. SomaLogic researchers developed a new breed of aptamers called SOMAmers (Slow Off-rate Modified Aptamers), which can be “programmed” for very specific proteins. What this means is that SOMAmers can identify and count specific proteins, or biomarkers, in complex biological samples, thereby identifying potential or inevitable mesothelioma development in people exposed to asbestos.

Ostroff and her colleagues tested blood from study participants – people diagnosed but not yet treated for cancer — to discover the cancer biomarkers. Once discovered, the same technology could be used to spot these cancers at an early stage, where the potential for effective treatment is much higher than in progressed cases.

The goal was met and the researchers found the biomarkers, which they used to make a “signature” biomarker with extreme accuracy for early detection of each form of cancer. As a byproduct of their intended success, they got a little surprise gift: they found high specificity of correct diagnosis, which means the test will be accurate and not lead to disease-free people undergoing unnecessary treatment.

The study is ongoing and validation testing is underway, according to Dr. Ostroff. The research team hopes to have commercially available diagnostic tests that will ultimately yield clinical benefits for patients.

In the next post of this series, we’ll look at a newly discovered genetic link to mesothelioma and what that means for future treatment options.

Mesothelioma

The New York Times reports that the study, released in the British medical journal The Lancet, reveals that 9/11 firefighters are 19 percent more likely to develop cancer than those who were not at the Trade Center wreckage.

Included in the toxic substances found at the site of the New York 9/11 attacks are asbestos and jet fuel, both of which can cause diseases such as mesothelioma that may take up to 50 years to develop. Given the relatively short amount of time that this study is considering, the findings are but a beginning interpretation of the actual effects.

After the Twin Towers collapsed, an area of several square miles was covered by a cloud of fine powder. As reported in a study released by the Virginia firm HP Environmental in the weeks after the terrorist attacks, the powder creating this toxic cloud contained large quantities of asbestos. In fact, the asbestos particles were so pulverized in the explosion that the majority of them were smaller than what could be detected by the EPA’s standard testing method. After adjusting the test to check smaller fiber concentrations, the study concluded that there was an “overwhelming concentration” of the ultrafine asbestos particles.

“Responders were exposed to a whole soup of carcinogens,” says Dr. Philip J. Landrigan of the 9/11 first responders, who included firefighters, police, and other emergency personnel. Dr. Landrigan is the director of environmental and occupational medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan and a leading expert on asbestos toxicity. He is also the principal investigator of a related report published inThe Lancet on the health effects of the attacks on recovery and rescue workers.

“The smaller the [asbestos] particle, the more easily it can be aerosolized. And the easier job that it has penetrating right down into the very depths of the lungs,” Dr. Landrigan told the Times. He adds that the new findings are but a signal of the results likley to come in the years ahead.

However, Dr. James Melius, administrator of the New York State Laborers’ Health and Safety Trust Fund and one of the peer reviewers of the firefighter study, warns that it “would probably not be enough to persuade federal officials to include cancer as one of the diseases covered under the Zadroga Act.”

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847), called the Zadroga Act, was called into law by President Obama in 2010 and it states that those who have 9/11 related health conditions may be eligible for health care under this law.

If you believe you were exposed to asbestos at ground zero and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to financial compensation. To learn more about your legal options regarding a possible mesothelioma settlement, please contact an asbestos lawyer.

Mesothelioma

A state investigation ensued and six of the eight companies involved in the plant restoration work were cleared of blame. The company that was in charge of labeling the asbestos-containing pipes and products and that was tasked with safely removing asbestos from the building was Hopewell-based Quality Specialties Inc. and they were fined $4,900 for not labeling the pipes. The state has targeted one other company – Dominion Power, the electricity supplier for VA and NC and the owner of the power plant — to take partial blame for the incident but have not released details of their investigation.

A spokesperson for the power plant, Richard Zuercher, attempted to assuage the concern of the exposed workers and their families by asserting there was no danger to them. “Most of the asbestos has been removed and replaced with asbestos-free material, including the area where the workers were,” says Zuercher. “There is some equipment with asbestos at the plant, but it has all been abated.”

Zuercher’s statement was proved false, however, after the State Department of Labor and Industry tested the environment and found asbestos fibers on the clothes of the 12 exposed workers as well as in three of the worker trailers.

Exactly how much asbestos the workers were exposed to is indeterminable because the plant’s owner, Dominion Power, did not have air sampling equipment on site at the time of the incident.

Asbestos

According to local television station FOX 19, Hilltop Elementary School was forced to close its doors last week so workers could get to the building’s roof to reinforce 35 square feet of weakened plaster that is known to contain asbestos. The plaster roofing was weakened during heavy rains that had hit the area during the week.

In order to make sure no asbestos fibers fall into the school during the construction, workers were stationed inside to monitor the building and make sure conditions were safe for students to return the following week.

While it seems the proper precautions were taken to ensure that no students will be exposed to asbestos at this school, it is concerning that schools are still allowed to use construction products that are known to contain asbestos.

Mesothelioma and asbestosis are both deadly illnesses that are caused primarily by prolonged exposure to asbestos fibers. If you were exposed to asbestos while working for a company and have since developed one of these illnesses, it may be worth pursuing a mesothelioma lawsuit that could potentially result in a substantial asbestos settlement.

If you think that a mesothelioma attorney could help prove your illness was caused by a specific entity’s negligence, please contact Sokolove Law for a free legal consultation.

Asbestos

Phase III studies are often randomized and double-blinded. What that means is that patients are chosen at random to get either the standard treatment or the new treatment and neither the patient nor the doctor knows which treatment the patient is getting. Placebos may be used in some phase III studies, but they are never used alone if there is already a treatment available that works.

Phase IV Clinical Trials for Mesothelioma

Phase IV studies are not additional tests conducted by the researchers, but rather a comprehensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review. The treatment is delivered along with a new drug application (NDA) to the FDA for approval. The FDA will review the results from the studies conducted in the first four phases and ask questions, order more tests, or simply approve the new drug. If more tests are ordered, the approval of the new drug can be stalled by up to five additional years. If, on the other hand, the FDA approves the drug in this phase, it becomes the new standard of care which all newer drugs must test against before being approved for use.

For more information on mesothelioma clinical trials and their phases, visit theAmerican Cancer Society.

If you would like to take part in a mesothelioma clinical trial, start by asking your doctor if your clinic or hospital conducts any. ACS has a “clinical trials matching service” available online. You can also get a list of current clinical trials by visiting the National Cancer Institute’s clinical trials Web site at www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials.

Contact Sokolove Law about filing a mesothelioma lawsuit that may result in amesothelioma settlement that could help you and your family get in-home medical care and pay off medical bills, debts, and other expenses.

Mesothelioma

The study, which has been published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, shows that women who took painkillers such as naproxen (the drug used in Aleve) or aspirin during pregnancy were three times as likely to have children with birth defects such as amniotic band syndrome (a condition that leads to clubfoot) or anaphthalmiaand microphothalmia (conditions where children are born with abnormally small eyeballs, or no eyeballs at all), Reuters reported.

Additionally, the study found that the use of these painkillers early in one’s pregnancy increased the risk of spina bifida by 60 percent, and that the risk of developing a cleft palate increased from 30 to 80 percent.

In the study, interviews were conducted with 15,000 women who had given birth to babies with birth defects and 5,500 women who had given birth to babies without defects. The interviews included questions about any painkillers they ingested during the first stage of their pregnancies.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anophthalmia and microphthalmia occurs in one out of every 5,300 U.S. births. Amniotic band syndrome is even rarer, occurring in approximately one out of every in 10,000 births.

Co-author of the study Martha Werler noted that although the results do not prove that painkillers are the sole cause of these rare birth defects, they are a warning sign. She also recommended that further research be conducted.

If you or someone you know has a child who has been harmed by painkillers, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Sokolove Law for a free legal consultation.

Birth Defects

According to the Daily Record, 79-year-old James Howie passed away earlier this month from mesothelioma and a pulmonary embolism. However, some found his death odd because he had never worked in factories or industrial buildings, settings that have led to a number of mesothelioma cases.

“He used to do layer upon layer of paint, always scraping, sanding, cutting it back to paint over it again and again in order to create a certain effect,” she said. “He would keep repeating this process until it resulted in the thing he was looking for.”

She added that, at the time of the article’s publishing, there had still not been final results from her husband’s autopsy to confirm or deny her suspicions.

Whether or not James Howie’s sanding methods ultimately led to the asbestos exposure that caused his mesothelioma diagnosis, his case is nonetheless another example that a mesothelioma diagnosis can happen to anyone, not just factory workers.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos by using certain products or working for certain companies and have subsequently been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there may be legal options worth pursuing to obtain a mesothelioma settlement.

Contact a mesothelioma attorney if you have any questions about the details of asbestos law and what is needed to pursue a settlement from the manufacturer of the asbestos product.

Asbestos

Last week the British government revealed measures that could force personal injury claimants to pay legal costs previously paid by the defendant when found at fault. These measures come as part of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which is the current government’s flagship justice bill.

This would mean that victims of asbestos who suffer from asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis and other ailments, who have already lost their health, might also be on the hook for prohibitive legal fees.

“Mesothelioma sufferers endure pain and suffering and an untimely death because of the risks of exposure to asbestos they had to take. Now they are told that they must carry the risks of suing for compensation – isn’t the risk of losing their lives enough? Where is the justice in making dying asbestos victims bear the burden of legal costs on top of the pain and suffering, while rich and powerful insurance companies enjoy relief from costs which the losing party have, and should, rightly bear,” he said.

Mr Briton has lost many friends and colleagues to asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma cancer, a rare but aggressive cancer that is only known to be caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.

The government has proposed the changes to the legal system in order to reduce costs by reducing the number of people using the courts.

Mesothelioma