Mesothelioma & Asbestos Exposure
Information
Alaska, (AK) - Alaska Mesothelioma Attorney
Mesothelioma is a form
of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.
In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective
lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common
site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it
may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or
the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).
Most people who develop mesothelioma have
worked on jobs where they
inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust
and fiber in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family
member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos
cement products. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking.
If you, or a family member, have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, one of the most
important steps you can make is to contact medical professionals who are
trained in and experienced with the latest
mesothelioma treatments. While there is currently no known cure for mesothelioma, medical
researchers and scientists around the country are working with patients
through
clinical trials to develop innovative and improved treatments.
Mesothelioma Treatment Facilities, Listed by State
Most mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos in the workplace and
were never told of its dangers or given proper protective gear.
The great tragedy of mesothelioma is that it was preventable. Many of the
corporations that manufactured and profited from the sale of
asbestos-containing products were aware of the hazards of asbestos. These
companies did not warn of the risks or protect workers. It is their legal
duty to know about about their products, to test them for any potential
hazards. If a potential hazard does exist, the company has a responsibility
to warn workers of the hazards. In many cases, they
hid the knowledge they had in order to protect themselves from liability or
having to find a new business model. The result is that many workers have
unnecessarily developed mesothelioma.
Alaska, (AK) News Updates
Radiation Company Grant Recipient to Focus on Mesothelioma Treatment - Tue, 09 Feb 2010 TomoTherapy, a company that provides radiation treatment equipment, has named their recipients for the 2009-10 Clinical Investigation Grants. The grant program supports research on the clinical benefits of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for improving cancer care.
Klaus Herfarth, M.D., of University of Heidelberg, Germany will use the grant to examine whether treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma with helical TomoTherapy can reduce the Belluck & Fox, and Michael Pietrykowski of San Francisco will co-chair the thirteenth annual National Asbestos Litigation Conference in September 2010. The conference, first held in 1998, is the companion conference to HB's Emerging Trends in Asbestos Litigation Conference, being held in March.
Belluck and Pietrykowski also co-chaired the conference in 2009. While the agenda has not been finalized for the 2010 conference, topics last year included information on mesothelioma cases, asbestos exposure risks, and settling pleural mesothelioma among French men has begun a slight downward trend. For women, however, the incidence of mesothelioma has shown a significant increase. The findings covered data from 1980 to 2005, and were reported in the International Journal of Cancer.
Pleural mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that is almost always caused by asbestos exposure and is most commonly found in the outer lining of the lungs called the mesothelium. Although there is n... Continue >
Chemotherapy Option for Mesothelioma Patients - Wed, 03 Feb 2010 The most common chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma is a combination therapy of cisplatin and pemetrexed. This combination is used as a first-line treatment in patients for which resection (surgery) is not an option, as well as in adjuvant chemotherapy treatment after surgery. This combination is effective, yet it can be toxic with a range of side effects including decreased kidney function.
Malignant Peural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a form of lung cancer that is caused by inhaling airborne asbestos fibers and affe... Continue >
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