In early September, the drug giant Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay out $37.3 million on yet another cancer case relating to the asbestos found in a talc-based baby powder. Louisville residents should know that the four plaintiffs allegedly used the baby powder and developed mesothelioma as a result: a rare, aggressive cancer with few effective treatment options.
New drug may help relapsed pleural mesothelioma patients
Many pleural mesothelioma patients undergo immunotherapy, but some will relapse. Louisville residents should know that there is a drug called vorinostat that may help relapsed patients. This is according to a study from Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center. Vorinostat is an inhibitor of the enzyme histone deacetylase and can change protein expression in cells as well as boost the immune system.
Chemotherapy improves survival time for mesothelioma patients
Treatment options exist in Kentucky that have the potential to increase survival times for people with mesothelioma. Chemotherapy centered around the drug Alimta has become the standard course of treatment for mesothelioma patients, but a study of 910 people with the disease showed that older patients received this treatment less often than younger people with the diagnosis.
