Louisville residents may be familiar with mesothelioma, a cancer caused usually by exposure to asbestos. The most common type is pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs. This type can be divided into three subtypes. Normally, chemotherapy is used to treat pleural mesothelioma, but new research finds some of these subtypes do not respond so well to the treatment.
CAR T-cell therapy may prove effective in treating mesothelioma
Louisville residents may want to know about a new form of immunotherapy that has been shown to be effective in treating malignant pleural mesothelioma. CAR T-cell therapy involves a laboratory reprogramming of a patient's T cells, a certain type of white blood cell, so that they attack a surface protein in the cancer called mesothelin.
Artificial intelligence may help mesothelioma patients
Mesothelioma is difficult for doctors to diagnose in its early stages. Therefore, patients in Kentucky and elsewhere may have a harder time getting the care that they need to overcome the condition. However, medical professionals are using machine learning that may be able to help them spot the condition sooner. In fact, some believe that the data the machines provide may make it possible to diagnose mesothelioma without their help.
New cancer treatment shows promise for mesothelioma patients
Patients who suffer from mesothelioma in Louisville and across the country may soon have access to a promising new treatment. Every year, approximately 3,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with mesothelioma. When found early, mesothelioma has a 41 percent two-year survival rate. When found in a later stage when a solid mass has formed, the survival rate drops to 17 percent.
Asbestos: How did I get exposed?
You find out that you have mesothelioma. Your doctor tells you that the most likely cause is exposure to asbestos. You probably inhaled the particles repeatedly over a long period of time. Those microscopic particles are nearly indestructible, and they wreak havoc on the human body once they get inside. The end result, for many, is mesothelioma.
Researchers explore more effective mesothelioma treatment
Mesothelioma patients in Louisville may have access to improved treatment in the years ahead based on research into a blood-clotting pathway. Researchers at the Langone Medical Center in New York and the Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center in Haifa, Israel, report that initial results were promising and that additional research is needed, including human clinical trials.
