Family takes fundraising, mesothelioma awareness to the streets

In June, Peter Mann passed away of mesothelioma at the age of 69.  This rare cancer of the protective lining of the body’s major organs and cavities is caused exclusively by prolonged exposure to asbestos.  It is believed that Mann was exposed to the toxic mineral when he was working as an apprentice plumber in the mid-1950’s.  Asbestos was commonly used in pipe lagging and variety of other construction materials.

Malignant mesothelioma takes between 20 and 50 years to develop, and often doesn’t become symptomatic until it reaches stage three or four, making the cancer very difficult to diagnose and treat in time.  Mann was diagnosed with asbestos cancer, as the diseases is alternately known, in January 2011.  His wife, Hazel, said that Mann “kept fighting until the end” despite the “horrendous” pain.

“My mother had lung cancer and it was bad, but she was in nothing like the pain my husband was,” explained Hazel.

In honor of Mann, hazel and her family spent the afternoon of Mesothelioma Awareness Day raising money for Mesothelioma UK with a collection bucket, as well as handing out leaflets about the disease in their hometown of Worthing, England.  They raised £350.

“The number of people with mesothelioma will soon reach its peak, and it affects around 2,000 people each year (in the UK),” informed Hazel.  “Although there is less asbestos around, people are still coming into contact with it, and people need to realize you don’t have to work with asbestos to get mesothelioma. There are people who clean the clothes of a partner who get it.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 1:35 pm and is filed under News.

Federal-Mogul trust, insurers battle over mesothelioma claim coverage

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

The Federal-Mogul U.S. Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was created to address asbestos exposure claims after Federal-Mogul completed a six-year Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in December 2007.  The claims against a former division of the Southfield, Michigan-based company were filed by lung cancer and mesothelioma patients who had been exposed to asbestos in brake parts and other automotive components.

Asbestos is a highly toxic mineral fiber that is responsible for a plethora of fatal respiratory illnesses.  Mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen, is caused exclusively by prolonged asbestos exposure.  Because the disease takes between 20 and 50 decades to develop and only becomes symptomatic by stage three or four, it is very difficult to detect in time to save the patient’s life.

In 2008, Federal-Mogul sued Continental Insurance Co. for the company’s unwillingness to cover asbestos cancer claims.  The trust believes that its umbrella policy should cover claims made against Vellumoid Co., a former division that from 1965 to 1981 made gaskets and other asbestos-containing products.  U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow dismissed the case, and now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has upheld that decision.

The bankruptcy reorganization plan reassigned Federal-Mogul’s three primary-level general insurance policies, from Travelers Indemnity Co., Globe Indemnity Co. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., to the trust.  As the trust also holds the aforementioned umbrella policy, Federal-Mogul claims that, now that the Travelers policy is exhausted, Continental must “continue as underlying insurance” on the Vellumoid claims.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2011 at 11:16 am and is filed under News.

Mesothelioma patient celebrates Christmas in July

Friday, July 29th, 2011

There is a house on Voltair Terrace in Port St.Lucie, Florida that has had its Christmas decorations up throughout the month of July.  The house belongs to Meaghan Cottrell and her family, who have decided to celebrate Christmas a little early this year.

In February, Megan’s father, Paul Cano, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the body’s major organs and cavities.  The average mesothelioma prognosis is generally a life expectancy of six months to a year, making it a very real possibility that Paul Cano may not live to see another December.

Cano’s doctors initially only gave him four months to live, but now that he’s survived longer than expected, Cano has chosen to seize his last opportunity to enjoy Christmas.  ”Christmas has always been special. I like it because it’s the only time I can get everybody in one spot. It’s the only thing I have left to give them,” he says.

“It’s very tough,” says Meaghan.  “He’s all we have had in our lives so it will be a difficult transition when we don’t have him.”

The fact that Cano was able to build the family’s holiday decorations, including a computerized system that controls both the music and lights is proof that he is still well enough to enjoy his last Christmas.  “I got my kids all around me. I got my ex-wife with me and my son is flying in from Indiana,” explains Cano happily.  Being with his family and enjoying the time he has left is likely to be the best therapy Cano could have wished for and a fitting way to say goodbye.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 29th, 2011 at 9:38 am and is filed under News.

Nanoparticles could contribute to the early detection of mesothelioma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first-in-human clinical trial of a new technology, which will be a joint effort between Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City.  The trial will study the effectiveness of Cornell Dots, nanoparticles that light up cancer cells in PET-optical imaging.

Already considered a breakthrough in cancer diagnostics technology, Cornell Dots may help identify aggressive cancers sooner.  Mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen caused by prolonged asbestos exposure, is a particularly difficult cancer to detect.  This silent killer takes decades to develop and does not become symptomatic until it reaches later stages.  Malignant mesothelioma is often misdiagnosed and, even when diagnosed properly, it is rarely detected early enough to preserve the patient’s life.  The development improved diagnostic tools absolutely is absolutely essential to winning the battle against mesothelioma disease.

Cornell Dots are the first nanoparticles to meet the criteria necessary to receive FDA approval for a study. The dots have, therefore, proven themselves “tumor selective, nontoxic, and exhibit favorable targeting and clearance profiles.”

The silica nanoparticles are coated in polyethylene glycol (PEG) so the body does not target them as an invading or harmful agent. They are then allowed to stick to tumor cells through organic molecules that attach to the PEG shell.  Infrared light caused the dots to light up and serve as a honing beacon for cancerous cells.

According to the researchers, this new technology “enables visualization during surgical treatment, showing invasive or metastatic spread to lymph nodes and distant organs, and can show the extent of treatment response.”

This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 10:17 am and is filed under New York, News.

New helical tomotherapy study shows evidence of success in treating mesothelioma

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Researchers at the University of Paris have discovered that a combination of spiral CT-scanning technology and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), known as helical tomotherapy (HT), is more advantageous than other radiation methods when it comes to treating mesothelioma after surgery.  Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen that is caused almost exclusively by prolonged asbestos exposure and is very difficult to treat.

Helical tomotherapy offers enhanced precision and allows oncologists to specify the radiation dose to the size and shape of the targeted tumor.  Mesothelioma tumors tend to be irregular in shape and spread across large sections of the mesothelium, making it very difficult for doctors to administer mesothelioma radiation without killing large numbers of healthy cells.

The French researchers studied the treatment outcomes of 14 patients with pleural mesothelioma – which specifically affects the lungs – who had undergone HT after receiving extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) surgery.  Two of the patients experienced lung inflammation, known as radiation pneumonitis, but the HT was well tolerated in the majority of the patients.

After treatment, the mesothelioma returned an average of 5.1 months later in six patients, three of whom died shortly after relapsing.  The other eight survived longer than expected, as most mesothelioma patients live no longer than about six months past diagnosis.  The median survival of all the study participants was 18.4 months after diagnosis, and patients treated later in the study tended to fair better than those treated earlier, an effect attributed to the optimization of dosing parameters among the doctors administering the radiation.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 at 2:13 pm and is filed under News.

U.S. government reiterates its stance on asbestos’ carcinogenic properties

For as much as some industrial groups would like to argue the contrary, it has been proven time and time again that asbestos causes cancer.  This highly toxic mineral fiber was used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in a variety of industries, but was banned in the United States and most first world nations in the 1980’s due to its hazardous effect on human health.

Once again Washington, D.C. has weighed in with the 12th edition of the congressionally mandated study of cancer-causing substances, known as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Report on Carcinogens, which reiterates that “asbestos and all commercial forms of asbestos are known to be human carcinogens based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in humans.”

Asbestos has been proven to cause a slew of fatal respiratory diseases, including asbestosis and lung cancer.  Plus it is the only known cause of mesothelioma, a rare and terminal cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen.

Among the people most susceptible to asbestos exposure and of subsequently contracting asbestos cancer are workers in the construction, shipbuilding and breaking, building demolition and automotive brake repair industries. These same workers can also cause the second-hand exposure of their family member by carrying asbestos fibers home on their clothes and bodies. Veteran mesothelioma is also quite common, as the U.S. military used asbestos heavily from the 1940s until the 1970s.

Malignant mesothelioma takes an average of 40 years to develop, and symptoms usually don’t appear until the cancer has reached stage three or four.  Symptoms include persistent cough, shortness of breath, problems swallowing, fatigue, weight loss, profuse sweating and pain in the chest, abdomen or when breathing.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at 9:37 am and is filed under News.

New statistics reveal mesothelioma more prevalent in UK than United States

Great Britain’s Health and Safety Executive has finally released the shocking statistics behind the country’s rate of mesothelioma incidence.  Mesothelioma is a rare and terminal cancer of the protective lining of the body’s major organs and cavities that is caused almost exclusively by prolonged asbestos exposure.  According to the newly released figures, at least 5,000 deaths from mesothelioma a year are expected by 2015.  This is surprisingly higher than the numbers released by Washington, D.C., placing the number of cases of malignant mesothelioma cases detected each year in the U.S. at 3,000.

According to U.K. experts almost every building erected in the country prior to 1999 will have used asbestos in its construction.  This means that even the simplest renovation or repair projects can lead to the creation of a potentially hazardous situation.  Whenever asbestos-containing materials are disturbed, they are likely to release microscopic, carcinogenic asbestos fibers into the air.  These fibers can then be inhaled by anyone in the vicinity, ultimately lodging in the lungs and contributing to the development of pleural mesothelioma – which affects the lining of the lungs – over several decades.

Two of the names most closely linked to the tragedy of mesothelioma in Britain, are those of Chris and Mick Knighton.  Mick was exposed to asbestos while in the Royal Navy.  “The helmet he was first issued with as a gunner and the gauntlets given to him were all made of asbestos,” says Chris, Mick’s widow. “When the Navy realized all the ships were riddled with asbestos, they had them refitted, but the crews helped rip out the piping and bits which were to be removed.  They didn’t wear the proper ­protective clothing, they just got on with the job and many, many of them in effect condemned themselves to death in the process.  While the Royal Navy freely admits this is where Mick was exposed to asbestos and that it led to his developing mesothelioma, no one can sue the Crown, so he wasn’t entitled to any compensation.”

Since Mick’s death of naval-related mesothelioma ten years ago at the age of 60, Chris has managed to raise £1million for the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2011 at 9:42 am and is filed under News.