It’s nice to see actual advancements made in mesothelioma treatment and monitoring. We keep a close eye on mesothelioma treatment developments, so we often get excited over news of new potential treatments or tests only to never hear anything about them again. This past week, we’ve actually seen some positive study results and an FDA approval of a new mesothelioma test.
The Test
An NYU study confirmed the usefulness of a new blood test called the Mesomark Assay, which can allow us to track the progress of mesothelioma much more easily than we have ever been able to. This bodes well for current mesothelioma sufferers as well as for the thousands of people we are expecting to see diagnosed with mesothelioma in the coming years.
According to the manufacturer, Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc, the test works by testing the levels of soluble mesotheline-related peptides (SMRPs) in the blood stream. These SMRPs are produced by mesothelioma cells and are a strong indicator that mesothelioma is present if you have found them at abnormal levels.
The FDA has recently approved the new test as a Humanitarian Use Device (a device that will be used by less than 4,000 American patients per year).
The test is not a treatment in itself, but it can help mesothelioma sufferers in two major ways:
- It allows doctors to track mesothelioma progression which can help doctors determine how aggressively it needs to be treated
- It gives doctors another tool to employ in early mesothelioma diagnosis, which may lessen our dependence on complicated, expensive, and somehwat dangerous biopsies for mesothelioma diagnosis
See Mesomark’s press release here.
More Mesothelioma Research Findings
This week has seen the release of other positive mesothelioma study results as well.
A Japanese study found that boysenberries reduced the incidence of mesothelioma by 50 percent after one year in lab rats who were exposed to asbestos. The researchers suspected it was the high concentrations of polyphenol (an antioxidant) in the boysenberries producing the results. More info here.
Another study has confirmed that mesothelioma patients being treated with pemetrexed and cisplatin in combination with vitamin B12 and folic acid lived an average of nearly three months longer than other patients who were treated with cisplatin alone. More here.
