Mesothelioma Law Blog

Mesothelioma Research Being Done

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School have discovered that a protein thought to ward against the development of cancer can actually cause tumors to spread.

The study revolves around FOXO3a, a transcription factor that acts to regulate gene expression. For years, researchers had believed that activating FOXO3a would help fight cancer growth, which naturally becomes active when cancer cells are deprived of nutrients. But the current research indicates that as cancer cells starve the protein “flips” molecular switches that enable the cancer cells to invade surrounding healthy tissues.

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Mesotheliomma Cancer

From Wikipedia:

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart,[1] the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.[2] Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases risk of other asbestos-induced cancer.[3] Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).

The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.

Report: Australian Mesothelioma Deaths To Continue Rising

A new Australian government report predicts that incidence of mesothelioma in that country will keep rising until at least 2017. The report by Safe Work Australia, which develops national policy on occupational health and safety issues, said the number of new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed annually in the nation down under has been rising dramatically since 1982, when national data first became available.

The number of new cases increased from 156 in 1982 to 597 in 2005, the report said.

Automobile Factory Workers Face an Increased Probability for Cancer

n Detroit and elsewhere, the high rate of cancer and other deadly illnesses in America's auto factory workers continues to be a growing concern.

A link between auto workers and cancer began gaining attention in the 1970s. During this time, asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma began cropping up in an unusual number of industry employees. The cause, as it turns out, is the extended amount of time that auto employees spent working around asbestos-laden brake pads and clutch plates.

Though asbestos regulation enacted in the 1970s and beyond have significantly limited the amount of asbestos exposure current auto workers are exposed to, the number of new mesothelioma cases continues to rise. This is because mesothelioma has a latency period of between 20 and 50 years. As such, retired auto workers who worked in plants prior to the 1980s are only now experiencing the deadly side effects of working among such hazardous materials.

Though asbestos is now regulated, it is not the only hazardous material found in our nation's auto factories. Hazards that are as old as the auto industry itself include paint vapors and solvents, welding fumes, foundry chemicals, die cast components and carcinogens released during patternmaking.

Since the 1980s, a number of studies have been released that correlate the above list of hazards to a growing number of potentially fatal illnesses. For auto workers specifically, the facts can most easily be summed up by a 1994 study titled "Cancer in the Auto Industry." In the study, the author lists a number of illnesses that can be linked to specific jobs in auto factories. These correlations include:

• Assembly plant workers: Hodgkin's Disease and lung, lymphoma, stomach, pancreas and trachea cancer
• Ball bearing production: pancreas and stomach cancers
• Die casting & electro-plating: lympho-reticulo sarcomas and stomach cancers
• Engine plants: liver and bladder conditions
• Engine and foundry plants: stomach and prostrate cancers
• Maintenance: pancreatic cancer
• Mechanics/Repairmen: stomach, bladder, lymphopoietic and lung cancers
• Millwrights: rectum and lung cancers
• Patternmakers: colon, brain, colorectal and stomach cancers
• Spray Painters: colon cancer
• Tool and die makers: digestive and lymphopoetic cancers
• Welders: lung, pancreas and stomach cancers

Source: Energy Publisher

Cancer patient battling to collect charity gamble

A gambler from Milton Keynes diagnosed with cancer stands to win £20,000 if he defies doctors' predictions and lives until June 2010.
Jon Matthews has already collected £5,000 by winning the first stage of his bet.

Doctors diagnosed him with mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, in April 2006, and told him he had only months to live.

In 2007, he approached bookmakers William H

ill and asked them if he could place a bet that he would survive the next three years.

They agreed and Mr Matthews wagered £100 at 50-1 he would live to see June 1 2008.

He put another £100 on at 50-1 he would still be alive on June 1 this year and made a third bet, again of £100 but this time at odds of 100-1, that he will make it to June 1 2010.

Mr Matthews, who plans to share his winnings with the charity Macmillan Cancer Support, said the bet acted as a huge incentive for him to stay alive.

He said: "In a way it's a shame the bet is only valid for three years because the way I feel right now I'm indestructible."

A William Hill spokesman said: "We had never been asked to accept a bet of this nature before, but as Jon approached us directly and was adamant that it would give him an additional incentive to battle his illness, we offered him the bet he wanted.

"Never, in 30 years in this business, have I been so pleased to pay a winning client."

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