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  • Home > Blog > Research News > UH Cancer Center Receives Multi-Million Dollar Mesothelioma Research Donation
Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2011

UH Cancer Center Receives Multi-Million Dollar Mesothelioma Research Donation

Michele Carbone, MD, PhD, the country’s premier authority on mesothelioma and director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, now has the benefit of a $3.6 million donation to boost his mesothelioma research budget.  The donation, given anonymously last week, is the second largest gift ever given to the University.  The dollars are designated specifically to finding ways to prevent and treat the disease.

Carbone and his team of researchers have certainly spent plenty of time researching the incurable, asbestos-caused pulmonary cancer.  They have been at the forefront of research on the causes of mesothelioma.  Earlier this year they released a study predicting more than 20 million people in the United States are at risk of developing malignant mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure.  They also answered the age old question of why asbestos causes mesothelioma  – elevated levels of high-mobility group box 1 protein or HMGB1.

Now, Carbone can dig deeper into potential causes of mesothelioma – beyond the known cause of asbestos exposure.  He will use the funds to explore parts of the United States that contain the mineral erionite, another potent cancer-causing mineral fiber, and determine whether it is capable of causing pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma.

During the course of Carbone’s career, he uncovered a link between genetics and a U.S. government-mandated vaccine from the 1950s and ’60s that can increase the odds of contracting mesothelioma. He found that humans had been exposed to SV40 (a DNA tumor virus) through contaminated polio vaccines and that the increase in the incidence of mesothelioma from about zero in 1950 to 2,000 to 3,000 deaths per year presently could partly be attributed to SV40.

UH Manoa Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw says the gift validates the efforts of Carbone’s team and helps them remain at the forefront of thoracic oncology research.   Carbone added that the large donation helps “solidify Hawaii as a leading place in the research of mesothelioma.”

Mesothelioma research requires significant amounts of time and money, and without adequate funding projects may not be completed.  Donations through individuals and private sources are critically important to finding much needed treatments for patients.

To learn more about clinical trials, research and education from the UH Cancer Center, visit their Web site at http://www.crch.org/.

 

Mesothelioma Research Donation