Asbestos and Mesothelioma Updates for June

The mesothelioma lawyers at the Simmons Firm have brought together some of this month's headlines highlighting the dangers of asbestos exposure and some important results concerning mesothelioma research.

• microRNA Study: Potential Biomarkers for Pleural Mesothelioma
  A new study led by Dr. Glen Reid and Dr. Michaela KirschnerA of the Asbestos Disease Research Institute (ADRI) has revealed what researchers say could be an important new biomarker for malignant mesothelioma. Researchers were able to “identify a specific microRNA, miR-625-3p, that was present at much higher levels in the blood of mesothelioma patients than in healthy individuals or patients with asbestosis.” Biomarkers are especially important in mesothelioma, whose symptoms tend to mimic other respiratory illnesses until the disease is in its advanced stages. The ADRI’s study is one of the first to look at the potential of microRNAs in the blood as diagnostic markers.

• University of Pennsylvania Surgeon Makes Headway Against Mesothelioma
  This article from the Philadelphia Inquirer recaps the efforts of Joseph S. Friedberg and his team of surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania. During recent years, the group has treated mesothelioma victims and seen some positive results. When treating mesothelioma, “more than two years after treatment at Penn, 27 out of 38 patients - 71 percent - were still alive, including four who had marked five years.” 

• Mesothelioma Update: American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
  The American Society for Clinical Oncology held its annual meeting in early June. This is the largest meeting in oncology each year, with over 25,000 attendees from all over the world. During the meeting several points of interest regarding mesothelioma were covered. This article from the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation offers a summary of some of these main points. 

• Occupational Cancer Linked To 8,000 Deaths in Britain
  A new study, conducted by Dr. Lesley Rushton and recently published by the British Journal of Cancer (BJC), found that nearly 5.3 percent or around 8,000 of all cancer-related deaths in the U.K were attributable to occupations in 2004 and 2005, especially those that required people to work around asbestos and diesel fumes. After asbestos exposure, night shift work, mineral oil, sun exposure, silica exposure and diesel engine exhaust were cited as main work-related risk factors for cancer.

• Asbestos: Still Legal and Lethal in North AmericaThe Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) recently had an article published by the Women and Environments International (WEI) magazine. The article entitled “Asbestos: Still Legal and Lethal in North America” focuses on the effects of asbestos exposure that fall disproportionately on women’s shoulders and attempts to increase awareness to prevent environmental and occupational asbestos-caused diseases.