A New Zealand asbestos cancer victim whose family claims was near death has seemingly been saved by an ultra-expensive skin cancer drug that has provided a near miraculous improvement in symptoms of the disease.
The drug company Epizyme Incorporation has recently announced that they have dosed their first patient in the Phase II clinical trial for their new mesothelioma drug Tazemetostat for the treatment of adults with mesothelioma that is characterized by BAP1 loss-of-function. It’s a step in the right direction towards more treatment options for those with this rare form of cancer, caused by exposure to toxic asbestos.
If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you probably tend to view asbestos-caused diseases as a United States thing – a problem that abounds in the US due to its once abundant use of the toxic mineral. However, there are countries that have much higher rates of the disease – like Great Britain and Australia – and even little countries like Iceland are concerned enough about mesothelioma to conduct studies on the incidence and rise in mesothelioma cases.
Like many involved in the world of Rock and Roll, Warren Zevon – known for his hard-edged, hard-driving tunes – suffered an untimely death. But though he was an avid partier who had enjoyed his share of drugs, smoking, and alcohol, Zevon didn’t die of an overdose or drink himself to death.
For more than 10 years, Perry Adams worked in a paper pulp mill in Alabama. It was hard work but he earned a decent living. However, about 25 years after his work as a multicraft mechanic had ended, Adams was dead, killed by asbestos-caused cancer, a result of the many years he spent inhaling the deadly fibers.
What do you do when you’re 32-years-old, have just been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and work as a comedian? You joke about your mortality, of course! That’s just want comedian Quincy Jones (not the singer) has been doing since he was told he had Stage IV peritoneal mesothelioma some 11 months ago. Doctors gave him a year to live at time of diagnosis.
If you have any knowledge of the asbestos industry and the dangers posed by the toxic mineral, you may know that executives have been covering up those dangers for more than a century. Way back in 1900, a doctor in London made the first statement about the risks of working with asbestos when he found asbestos fibers in the lungs of a young textile factory worker who died at age 33 from pulmonary fibrosis – or more likely, asbestosis or mesothelioma (though those terms weren’t yet in use).
A study recently conducted by the Loyola University Health System encourages mesothelioma patients who might have heard horror stories about the surgical procedure known as pleurectomy and decortization (PD) to reconsider the surgery as it has proven to greatly improve quality of life for those suffering from this asbestos-caused cancer.
Talcum powder – that fluffy, white, sweet-smelling product women (and some men) have used for years – might just be killing you. Sound harsh? Maybe….but it’s true. For years it’s been evident that inhaling talc on a regular basis may cause lung ailments, but it’s only recently that the truth has been divulged in regards … Read more
In the first loss that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J & J) has faced with their Pinnacle line of artificial hips, a jury in Dallas has ordered the company to pay $502 million in damages to five patients who forged a lawsuit against the company when the devices failed, leaving them with severe pain and facing more surgery because of hip implant failure.