Find out if groundbreaking research on mesothelioma can help you
In February 2010, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) announced that it would award $800,000 to researchers, at top medical centers who are committed to finding a cure for mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos-related disease. “The grants that were selected for funding … have the potential to accelerate development of novel therapies that will have a significant impact on how we treat patients with mesothelioma,” said Raffit Hassan, MD, Senior Investigator at the National Cancer Institute and Chairman of the Meso Foundation Science Advisory Board. Each year, the Meso Foundation funds the top research projects from around the world to inspire the research critically needed to develop treatments for mesothelioma.
MARF received 56 grant applications for 2010. Its scientific peer reviewers picked the top eight based on research design, innovation, and promise. According to a press release by the Meso Foundation the selected studies include:
- Studies of a targeted vaccine expected to yield effective treatment without the side-effects currently associated with traditional mesothelioma treatment;
- A novel study of the role of hormones in malignant mesothelioma; several studies looking at improving the specificity and effectiveness in mesothelioma of drugs already available to cancer patients, while reducing their side effects;
- A study focused specifically on peritoneal mesothelioma, aimed at targeting residual tumor cells after surgical debulking as well as enabling earlier detection.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, please continue to visit this website to find out if any of these treatments can help you. Weitz & Luxenberg is one of the nation’s leading asbestos litigation law firms. We are dedicated to providing the general public with accurate information regarding asbestos, the ailments that can result from asbestos exposure, and what can be done legally if you or a family member has developed mesothelioma. A Weitz & Luxenburg lawyer can help you get the reimbursement you need to help pay for essential medical treatment.
Groundbreaking developments in mesothelioma research
Mesothelioma research is currently concentrated on cause, prevention, and treatment of the disease. Scientists are searching for more information about how asbestos causes mesothelioma, and ways to prevent it. Doctors are working to find improved methods of diagnosing and treating the disease. Although there is still no cure for the deadly cancer, there have been encouraging signs demonstrated in regards to the treatment of patients with mesothelioma. If progress continues, the treatments could at least extend the life span and health of patients, possibly for many years, similar to the advances made in AIDS/HIV treatment.
A lot of research concentrates on discovering exactly how asbestos changes normal cells and their DNA to cause cancers like mesothelioma. Understanding how asbestos fibers produce cancer can help find ways to prevent those changes.
As chemotherapy has not proven very effective in the more advanced stages of mesothelioma, new ideas for treatment are now being studied. These include drugs which destroy cancers by stopping their blood supply, as well as drugs which alter the ability of some cancer cells to grow rapidly. Many of these drugs are now being tested in clinical trials. Treatments that combine chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are now being researched, and may provide the most promising option for some patients.
According to the American Cancer Society, another new method of treatment consists of a type of gene therapy. This treatment utilizes special viruses that have been modified in the lab. The virus is put into the area around the lungs where it infects the cancer cells. After infecting the cancer cells, the virus then injects a gene into the cancer that may help immune system cells to attack the cancer.
Veglin
The Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America is an organization dedicated to fundingresearch that will lead to the fastest cure for mesothelioma. In 2001 the foundation funded the opening of the Mesothelioma Laboratory at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Oncologist and hematologist,Dr. Parkash Gill,heads the laboratory.
Dr. Gill, with the approval the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has conducted clinical trials of a mesothelioma treatment drug called veglin. The Mesothelioma Research Foundation reported that the drug proved successful in the first two phases of the clinical trials. The third and final phase of the clinical trial is expected to happen by the end of 2011. After this trial and the final approval of the FDA, more information on veglin and its availability will be given to the public.
Weitz & Luxenberg has specialized in mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer and asbestosis litigation for over two decades. One of our very first litigations involved a group of men who had developed asbestos related illnesses after working in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during the 1940s and 1950s. Since then, Weitz & Luxenberg has secured numerous other asbestos verdicts and settlements, which reflect our knowledge and expertise in this area.
If you have been diagnosed withmesothelioma, you may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease. If you would like a free consultation or more information about your legal options, please complete the form on this page, and a representative of our law firm will contact you as soon as possible.
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Information for you about pleural mesothelioma