Lawsuit Involving Mesothelioma

Receiving a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma can be quite devastating, since there is essentially no cure for this disease. While treatment of the disease in its earlier stages can help prolong life for more than five years, the prognosis tends to be much shorter. Since the costs of treatment can be quite high, it is a good idea to explore any legal options one might have to help offset medical expenses and lost income.
Mesothelioma is typically caused by a long term exposure to asbestos, and this usually occurs in the work place. Since 1977, it has been public record that some corporations have known of the hazards of asbestos, but suppressed the information. In other cases, the corporation simply did not know of a hazard, but should have.



The first lawsuit involving the effects of asbestos exposure occurred in 1929. While there are no extensive records involving this case, it was the first to put a focus on the dangers of asbestos. In 1970, the Clean Air Act was introduced and the Environmental Protection Agency declared for the first time that asbestos was a pollutant, yet did not enforce a ban. In 1982, facing 16,000 lawsuits, the Johns Manville Corporation filed for bankruptcy. Documents in court indicated that company officers at Manville had knowledge of the hazards associated with asbestos exposure, but suppressed this information from their employees. At the time, this was the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. Following Manville's bankruptcy, many other manufacturers soon followed suit due to the growing number of lawsuits.
As recently as 2010, a Los Angeles woman collected a settlement over $200 million due to negligence regarding asbestos. Several other high profile cases have resulted in significant awards in the last several years.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, then it is a good idea to hire an attorney who has experience in dealing with mesothelioma lawsuits. In many cases, legal precedent and case law will favor the plaintiff. However, it is often that these cases may be drawn it over a period of years. The purpose of these lawsuits is to improve the financial condition of the patient and his/her family, particularly if they are the primary breadwinner of the household.
Malignant mesothelioma cases tend to have a higher success rate than non-malignant conditions such as asbestosis. While this is a positive, it is still necessary that the litigant have all documents in order prior to filing the lawsuit.
The first step is to be sure that all medical records are in order. The defense will go out of its way to show that your illness was not caused by any actions of their client. They will scour your medical records and insurance claims to cast any doubt that asbestos exposure caused your illness by suggesting it may have been your own actions in some way. The reason they do this is because mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure, and many plaintiffs walk away from the lawsuit with a favorable ruling and compensation.
With this in mind, it is imperative that your diagnosis of mesothelioma was from a qualified physician such as an oncologist or cancer specialist. The diagnosis should include chest X-rays, CT scan and a biopsy. The medical records should show beyond a reasonable doubt that your diagnosis is mesothelioma, and you had no prior knowledge of the condition prior to the diagnosis.
Since time is of the essence due to the poor prognosis of many patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, the next step is to immediately hire a qualified attorney. Once you have found such an attorney, they will need all your medical documentation to file a formal complaint with the court. This complaint will then be delivered to each defendant named in the complaint.
Typically, the attorney for the defendant will file an immediate motion to have the complaint dismissed. However, an attorney experienced in such cases will leave little room in the complaint to allow the court to dismiss the case. To help be sure that this is the case with your complaint, your attorney may ask you for specific information regarding your job, your job title, the specific asbestos product that may have been handled in your work place, contact information for co-workers, and signed releases that will allow your attorney to review your medical records.
After the defendants receive the complaint, the will respond, or otherwise risk a default judgment. Once they respond, the discovery phase of the lawsuit begins, and both sides will gather, organize and analyze evidence by reviewing records, interviewing witnesses, etc. Knowledgeable experts may be hired to offer testimony and sworn depositions may be conducted. All evidence and witnesses are then available to the plaintiff and defendant. At some point, you, the patient, may be interrogated by the defense attorneys. This may come during the discovery phase, and again during the trial.
No matter the outcome, and no matter the potential for a favorable judgment, anyone diagnosed with this awful disease should seek legal counsel. As mentioned, the treatment costs are high, and if the prognosis is unfavorable, it may help the family deal with the fateful outcome in a better light. Mesothelioma is a dreadful disease where the primary cause has been asbestos exposure in the work place. Therefore, any patient diagnosed with this disease should seek compensation for themselves to help offset the high costs of treatment and loss of income.

Scott Connolly provides information regarding the causes, symptoms and treatment of the disease as well as information regarding the legal issues surrounding asbestos. For more information, visit here

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Lung Cancer and Lymphoma - DNA Analysis and Molecular Genetics

DNA analysis (i.e., molecular genetics) can be used in evaluating lung cancer, and can reliably separate lung tumors into their morphologic categories of squamous, large cell, small cell, and adenocarcinoma. Gene expression profiling (GEP) may have even more utility in the assessment of patients with non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) and similar histology.

Several investigators have attempted to subclassify these tumors by correlating GEP patterns with clinicopathologic variables.
A series that included 41 lung adenocarcinomas identified three prognostically separate subgroups. The genes involved in this classification included thyroid transcription factor, hepsin, cathepsin L, vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C), and the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1).
In another report of 139 lung adenocarcinomas defined four distinct subclasses. Tumors expressing neuroendocrine-type genes had a significantly less favorable survival than those lacking such characteristics. The genes that defined the neuroendocrine cluster adenocarcinomas included dopa decarboxylase, achaete-scute homolog 1, and the serine protease kallikrein 11.
Others used GEP to predict outcome from surgery in 67 patients with resected stage I adenocarcinoma. A specific group of genes distinguished high-risk from lower risk groups, with significantly different survival. Among the 50 genes comprising the risk index were erbB2, VEGF, S100P, cytokeratin 7 and 18, and fas-associated death domain protein.
In another series of 125 patients from Taiwan with surgically resected NSCLC, 16 genes were identified that correlated with increased or decreased survival. Further RT-PCR validation assay confirmed the microarray findings and showed that survival was significantly associated with five of the 16 genes (DUSP6, MMD, STAT1, ERBB3, and LCK). The five-gene signature was further validated in microarray data from patients of Western population and was an independent predictor of recurrence and overall survival for patients with surgical resection of NSCLC without any adjuvant therapy. This GEP profile is being used to select high risk patients for adjuvant chemotherapy in prospective clinical trials.
Lymphoma - Gene expression profiling (GEP) by means of DNA microarrays is an evolving approach to classification, diagnosis, and prognostication of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL).
As an example, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a clinically heterogeneous disease in which approximately 40 percent of patients with advanced stage disease respond well to combination chemotherapy and are long-term survivors. Using GEP, DLBCL has been subclassified into three distinct molecular subgroups, germinal center B-cell-like (GCB), activated B-cell-like (ABC), and other (type 3), that appear to be derived from different stages of B-cell differentiation, utilize different oncogenic mechanisms, and differ clinically in their ability to be cured by multiagent chemotherapy.
Patients whose tumors express genes characteristic of germinal center B cells (GCB) have a significantly better outcome from chemotherapy than those whose gene expression is more typical of activated B cells (ABC). In one series for example, a clustering algorithm applied to 58 patients with DLBCL receiving cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) chemotherapy separated patients into two groups with very different five-year overall survival rates (70 versus 12 percent).
Although most of the early studies used fresh frozen tissue sections, similar results have been reported with GEP performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material. No formal head-to-head comparisons of GEP from fresh versus archived materials have yet been performed.
GEP has also been used to develop a more precise molecular diagnosis of primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, a clinically unfavorable entity that cannot be reliably distinguished from other types of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. These tumors do poorly with CHOP chemotherapy alone and may need more aggressive therapy than used for standard DLBCL.

Finally, GEP has the potential to reveal new therapeutic molecular targets. As an example, the ABC subtype of DLBCL is characterized by constitutive activation of the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling pathway; interference with this pathway selectively kills these lymphoma cells. The ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway and the NF-kappaB axis are intimately involved in the control of apoptosis. Inhibitors of this pathway (eg, proteasome inhibitors) can induce apoptosis in human leukemia cells that ectopically express the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2. One such agent, the synthetic dipeptide boronic acid bortezomib, is a potent promoter of apoptosis in several human tumor cell types.
Summary - The rapidly evolving field of DNA microarray analysis and gene expression profiling has wide-ranging implications for the molecular classification of tumors, refinement of prognostic estimates, and prediction of response to therapy. Despite its exciting potential and significant recent advances, this field remains relatively new, and it is premature to conclude that microarray data can be used as a sole means of classifying cancers or predicting outcomes of treatment.
Among the specific challenges that must be met are the need for larger studies with appropriate validation, standardization of methods and establishment of guidelines for the conduct and reporting of studies, and the formation of repositories and registries where research institutions may deposit data for comparison with independent works involving the same malignant disorder. Finally, DNA microarray-based tests must demonstrate utility in prospectively designed clinical trials before this technology is considered a routine part of clinical evaluation. These studies may eventually establish a new treatment paradigm in personalized cancer therapy in the future.

Dr. Richard Graydon, http://www.medauthor.com, trained as an Oncologist, holding both M.D. and PhD degrees, andspecializes in molecular genetics and cancer research. His education and experience have provided him analytical and clinical skills for keen insight into diagnosis, treatment, and care of cancer patients. See http://www.medauthor.com for further information

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Attorneys For Asbestos Related Cases

Asbestos is not to be taken lightly. It is a very serious matter and lots of people have suffered greatly from it. There are attorneys that are specifically trained in dealing with asbestos cases. Asbestos is a fiber that is used in old buildings as an insulator. The tiny fibers look like little spikes and get down into your lungs and can suffocate a person and cause severe problems and sometimes even death. Medical bills can be rather unbelievable and there is no reason that someone should be stuck with them because a job failed to tell you the health risks and details of the job.
Lawyers that are specifically experienced in asbestos cases see the effects of exposure to it. The suffering that it causes and the lives that have been destroyed is something that touches these people and inspires them to help. Mesothelioma is the disease that is caused by asbestos. So many innocent people are suffering from this as a result of working hard at their jobs. They deserve compensation for their suffering and these lawyers will work hard to make sure they get everything they can for having gone through this.
There are three main types of Mesothelioma; Pleural, peritoneal and pericardial. These are all tumors that start to grow in the lungs. Attorneys are so serious about bringing you justice they can tell you every little tiny detail of asbestos and all of the diseases that come with it. If you are beginning to see symptoms you might want to take precautions or see a doctor and an attorney before it is too late.
It takes 20-45 years for symptoms to start showing, but some of the typical symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing chest pain or pain in the back and other areas, weight loss and fever. There are different symptoms for the different types of Mesothelioma as well. Your attorney can explain everything to you in great detail. There are other diseases that are related to asbestos exposure as well. Attorneys will represent you if you have any sort of related illnesses.
Health hazards of asbestos were recognized in the early 1900s. In the '30s it was already beginning to show up in medical journals that asbestos could cause cancer after a latency period of 15 years or more. Also it was written that it was a progressive disease and yes, fatal. Many asbestos companies kept notes on the danger of the exposure. Even though they knew how fatal it was they continued to keep this information from workers and let them continue to be exposed to it.

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Mesothelioma Litigation - Are You A Victim Of Asbestos Exposure And Don't Even Know It?

Mesothelioma is a unique and a rare form of cancer. It is commonly referred to as malignant mesothelioma. It usually develops from the mesothelium, which is a protective lining covering most of the internal body organs. These malignant cells believed to cause Mesothelioma are abundantly found in the sac and linings of the chest. This is referred to as the pleural mesothelioma because it occurs in the chest area. It may also occur in the abdomen also referred to as the peritoneum. This version of mesothelioma is much less common and is known as the peritoneal mesothelioma.
The latter cells may also affect the pericardium leading to the most rare form of mesothelioma known as the pericardial mesothelioma. In this case, the sac surrounding the heart is usually affected.
Mesothelioma cells are usually of two types namely epithelial and sarcomatoid. Both types of cells can be present in the body but this is usually not common. Sarcomatoid cells are rare and compute to only 15% of the cases usually reported. It usually occurs as a result of poor prognosis.
What causes mesothelioma has been a puzzle but this has been unlocked by technological innovations and continued research. Rarely does mesothelioma originate from benign and non-malignant cells.
Intake of asbestos through breathing has been the main cause of mesothelioma. A high percentage of people with malignant mesothelioma have been involved in jobs where they inhaled asbestos. Exposure to the dust and fiber originating from asbestos has been highly associated with the disease. This is common with workers over the age of 40 years who have had a long duration of exposure to the latter conditions.
Asbestos has been used as a common insulator although its use has been on the decline after these revelations. Men have been the mainly affected since they work in hard labor and this is synonymous with industrial and chemical remnants having asbestos. Many people in their household environments have also suffered from the exposure of asbestos within their localities. This is usually dangerous since most or these people affected have no knowledge of this happening.
Exposure to asbestos can also be through washing the clothes in most cases of a family member who has worked with asbestos. This puts the one at the risk of catching or developing mesothelioma. Inhaling the constituents of asbestos mentioned above leads to some of them reaching the air sacs hence penetrating into the pleural lining. Environmental exposure may lead to swallowing of the fibres. If swallowed, they reach the abdominal cavity contributing to peritoneal mesothelioma. These fibers and dust harm the mesothelial cells eventually causing mesothelioma.
Contrary to the belief that most people have that smoking may induce the latter disease, it has been noted that there is virtually no association between mesothelioma and smoking. However, smoking as a habit has the effect of increasing greatly the risk of other asbestos induced cancers. Zeolite, a chemical related to asbestos has also been seen to cause incidences of mesothelioma upon exposure to body cells. Lastly, exposure to specific types of radiation has also been known to cause mesothelioma.

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Tax Lawyers

Tax issues can really cause a lot of mental and financial distress to the people affected. Persistent tax problems are even viewed as a kind of harassment and can cause much anxiety. Many people procrastinate when facing this situation and try to represent themselves without taking appropriate legal help. Tax lawyers are specialized legal professionals that specifically deal with issues relating to tax and the evasion of it. These lawyers typically specialize specific areas of tax such as business tax, income tax, international tax, property tax, tax debt and tax fraud.
Tax attorneys provide a range of services to their clients such as preparation and filing of income tax returns, negotiation of offer in compromise cases, penalty abatement petitions, full audit representations, business strategy sessions, settlement of taxes for the elderly, facilitating affordable installment agreements and filing bankruptcy with the IRS.
Tax lawyers can be hired from various law firms operating in all cities. Law firms have specialized attorneys on their roll for different type of cases. Whenever a new case comes to them for representation, they perform a preliminary analysis and assign the case to a team of attorneys specializing in that area. Tax attorneys typically possess relevant experience and specific information regarding tax cases. They are equipped to represent and secure the rights of their clients.
Tax lawyers charge a specific amount of fee to clients for their legal services. These charges include all the services from the start to the finish of the case. Clients can expect professional and courteous services from most law firms that provide tax attorneys to represent them. Though large law firms charge fees that might not be affordable to all people, it's always safer to retain them than risk losing the case and end up paying even more than that. It's advised to check the authenticity and competency level of tax lawyers through references in order to ensure genuine service. One of the ways of doing that is by checking their membership with the bar association.

Tax Lawyers [http://www.i-taxlawyers.com] provides detailed information on Tax Lawyers, Business Tax Lawy, Income Tax Lawyers, International Tax Lawyers and more. Tax Lawyers is affiliated with Income Tax Attorneys [http://www.i-taxattorneys.com].

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Mesothelioma Lawyers - Find The Right Mesothelioma Lawyers

If you are looking for mesothelioma lawyers then you should look for one with experience so you know you will be in good hands. Most people who have mesothelioma were working at a job where they were exposed to asbestos. The reason you want the top mesothelioma lawyers is so you will get the money you deserve.
Mesothelioma lawyers can be tough to choose between. A great question to ask mesothelioma lawyers is how the fees and expenses will be handles. For example, you need to be certain when you will be paid and when you will owe them their money. This may seem simple but it is a good question to ask.
They need to be tough and willing to fight for you. What you want to look for is a lawyer who has won a mesothelioma case in the past that may be similar to your situation. You can search out your lawyer online and check for these stats. Just find who you think you may want to represent you in your case and search them out online or maybe even try to call friends that have legal experience.
The top question to ask is if they have ever handled a mesothelioma case before. Find out how many they have handled and the results. Is mesothelioma cancer a specialty that they handle or do they provide a range of other services? The best way to make certain you get good lawyers is to ask as many questions as possible.
Mesothelioma can be tough to deal with so you may as well look for the best mesothelioma lawyers possible. For more information check out the top mesothelioma lawyers website.
There is nothing more depressing than hearing that someone you know has this illness except the fact that they may not get any money. Check out the following site to get the best care possible for this illness.
You need and deserve a lawyer who knows what they are doing and can get you the settlement that you and your family deserve. If you need more information then visit the site below and check out the links.
There is nothing better than hearing back from a lawyer that says they will represent you and that you have a good chance of winning the case. But, this will come after you do your research. Only you can choose which attorney to represent you so do your research and find one that is suitable for you and you are happy working with. Mainly you want to find a lawyer who has dealt with what you are going through before and will do the best they can for you.

mesothelioma tax lawyers

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Do I Need a Tax Lawyer?

When you are dealing with tax problems, it brings a lot of stress, especially when you do it on your own. In order to solve your problems, you have to be aware of the taxation process and know how the CRA operates.
You will have to spend a lot of time, learning the complex taxation process and ways to solve tax problems and still there will be no guarantee, because experience is required to deal with the CRA. So, it is wiser to save your time and money and choose a tax audit lawyer. Statements, that you make to your lawyer will not be revealed to the CRA or anyone else. CRA tax investigators are trained to contact a taxpayer's accountant if a tax fraud is suspected. They can even force him to testify against you.
Tax Lawyers are experienced in analyzing tax problems and finding "holes", they can legally use to protect your money. The tax law is really complex. It will be very difficult to do it on your own. The CRA agents may seem helpful and friendly, but when it is about tax debt, they become your enemies. Without professional tax help, you may end up loosing a lot of your money or even criminally prosecuted. This is not a field to take a chance. You should not give up and give them your money. The CRA is concerned with winning the case and you will need a professional tax lawyer with experience, skills and tools to protect you and your family.
The skills like: tax knowledge (tax regulations, tax law, litigation procedures, rulings, audit procedures, tax court cases, appeal procedures, collection procedures), litigation skills, legal knowledge, negotiation skills, business knowledge (financial training, accounting, business training to understand business aspects of your tax case).

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Do You Need a Mesothelioma Lawyer?

When an individual is diagnosed to have the disease mesothelioma, there is a big risk in his health. This can be a very serious situation and there are many considerations that should be done so that the person can be treated well. Aside from learning about the treatment options that you have, there is also a need for a good mesothelioma lawyer that can help you with asbestos claim to pay for your medical bills.
It must be noted that mesothelioma would need that the patient undergoes surgery, treatment and continuous appointment with the doctor. Thus, the expenses for this kind of disease are too big. However, you can get help paying all your medical bills through the help of a mesothelioma lawyer. Mesothelioma is a kind of disease that is caused by a carcinogen, the asbestos. You can claim money from the company or group that have caused you the disease. You can have an asbestos claim and you can have a lesser amount to be paid for the chemotherapy, surgery and other medical needs. When you are able to find a competitive mesothelioma lawyer, you can lessen the stress causing factors and even have an assurance that your family will still be secured financially. Hiring of a mesothelioma lawyer may actually be a big help if you have mesothelioma. However, you should have the right kind of mesothelioma lawyer so that your claims will be enough for your medical needs.
The possible outcome of your case may depend on your mesothelioma lawyer. You will then have to be very careful in selecting the one that you will hire so that you can have a better chance of winning the case and getting higher amount of asbestos claims. Your mesothelioma lawyer will be the one to represent you in court. Thus, he will have to be very careful in setting your needs and make sure that it is achievable. Your lawyer will also need to have the right experience in handling this type of case so that you will feel assured that he knows what will happen as the case progresses.
Having mesothelioma may be a big burden that must be faced. You may not only experience stress because of the illness but also because of the effects that it may cause into your daily life. You may need a mesothelioma lawyer to help you with the legal processes of your case. It is important that the lawyer that you get is someone that has the right experience and knowledge of your case. Also, the legal suit may take a long time but once you have a dedicated mesothelioma lawyer, you will see that there are some improvements in your case and later on, you will get your demands.
There are many mesothelioma lawyers that can offer you the services that you need. What you must do is to make yourself more knowledgeable about your case and search for the type of lawyer that can be the cause of a successful case.

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Smoking, Cancer, and Chemotherapy

Adverse Effects Tobacco Has ON The Brain:
Like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, nicotine increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects the brain pathways that control reward and pleasure. For many tobacco users, long-term brain changes induced by continued nicotine exposure results in addiction, a condition of compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative consequences. Studies suggest that additional compounds in tobacco, such as acetaldehyde, may enhance nicotine's effects on the brain. Studies indicate the adolescents are especially vulnerable to these effects and may be more likely than adults to develop an addiction to tobacco.
Cancer:
When people think of cancers caused by smoking, the first one that comes to mind is lung cancer. Close to 90% of lung cancer deaths are in men, with about 80% in women caused by cigarette smoking. There are several other forms of cancer.
· They include the oral cavity
· Pharynx
· Larynx
· Esophagus
· Bladder
· Stomach
· Cervix
· Kidney
· Pancreas
· And acute myeloid leukemia
· Head and neck
· Tongue
· Lip
· Mouth
Lung Cancer-The Big One:
The association between tobacco use and lung cancer stands as a classic in public health. On average, smokers increase risk of lung cancer between 5 and 10-fold and in developed countries, smoking is responsible for upwards of 80% of all lung cancers. Using American data 24% of men who smoke can expect to develop lung cancer during their expected lifetime.
Lung cancer remains a disease with a dismal prognosis. Although one-year all-stage survival is reported to have increased from 32% in 1973 to 41% in 1994, five year survival has remained unchanged at 14%.
Chemotherapy- One Form of Treatment for Cancer:
Chemotherapy is in general a way of treating cancer. People diagnosed with cancer undergo this therapy for their treatment. It is the most popular way of treating cancer worldwide. Chemotherapy is applied to treat leukemia and lymphoma.
Under chemotherapy, use of chemotherapy drugs or medicines is made to kill the cancer-causing cell or reduce their growth. Chemotherapy drugs are known as cytotoxic drugs.
Whenever a person is diagnosed as suffering from cancer, the possibility of he or she undergo some form of chemotherapy treatment is seemingly inevitable. The only question is how the cancer will be administered.
Chemotherapy treatment takes place in cycles. These cycles normally run between three to four weeks consecutively. Between the cycles, there are intervals of around the same time. The thinking behind this in conventional medicine is to allow the healthy cells to recover and reproduce, and the cancerous cells to die. The chemotherapy course of treatment is completed when the doctors are sufficiently sure that all the cancerous cells have been removed from the patient's body.
The dosage of chemotherapy administered is calculated by measuring the height and weight of the patient. Using this method, the doctors and tailor a program "tailor made" for each patient. However, the dose levels can be reduced or increased based on reactions experienced by the patient and routine tests carried out.

Leslie H. Vanover
Leslie has been interested in finding a better way of taking care of the body and supplying it with supplements that are more natural. The medications we are taking today are full of harmful chemicals that have an adverse affect on our bodies.
While there are many companies that produce health products, I finally found a company that stands in a class of its own as a leader in the wellness industry.

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Pleural Mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of the deadly cancer mesothelioma. This type of disease affects the pleural mesothelium, or thin membrane that surrounds the lungs and secretes the lubrication necessary for them to expand and contract during respiration. Without this vital layer of mucous the lungs would not be able to fill with air or expel carbon dioxide.
Unfortunately, this vital but frequently overlooked part of the anatomy is the place mesothelioma strikes the most, because asbestos particles frequently enter the body through normal respiration processes.
Asbestos fibers are small, jagged, need-like shards frequently kicked up into the air during the myriad manufacturing processes that use asbestos for its heat-resistant and flame-retardant qualities. When the asbestos is processed it releases these small fibers into the air which are easily inhaled by workers, shippers, and can even linger on their hair and clothes and follow them home, potentially exposing their families and friends to pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial mesothelioma.
When a person inhales asbestos, it can begin a cascade reaction that more often than not results in terminal mesothelioma. The jagged asbestos shards enter the lungs where they pierce the through the inner layers of the lungs into the pleura mesothelium. Once these shards pierce the mesothelium they begin to fester and sprout potentially cancerous tumors. Pleural mesothelioma is particularly hard to diagnose because it takes many years for the cancer to develop, and once it does the early symptoms are so subtle that they are often confused with less fatal conditions such as the flu or pneumonia.
Common symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include:
o Chest pain
o Shortness of breath
o Pleural effusion (fluid surrounding the lung)
o Wheezing
o Coughing
o Hoarseness
o Blood Clots
Sadly, because it takes so long for pleural mesothelioma to display symptoms it is usually so entrenched in the lungs that it is impossible to effectively treat. Further complicating this already difficult situation is that it is extremely likely that the cancerous cells from the lungs will easily circulate throughout the bloodstream, where they can spread cancer to other systems and organs.
Pleural mesothelioma is 100% fatal. Most people usually die within six months after diagnosis, some people survive a year, but few if any survive past five years. New treatments can usually tend to focus on preserving the quality of life for the victims of pleural mesothelioma, but revolutionary treatments such as photodynamic, gene, angiogenesis, and immunotherapy treatments offer hope to those stricken with this terrible disease.

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Smoking Soon After Waking Raises Risk of Lung and Head and Neck Cancers

Two new studies have found that smokers who tend to take their first cigarette soon after they wake up in the morning may have a higher risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers than smokers who refrain from lighting up right away. The findings by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Penn State College of Medicine may help identify smokers who have an especially high risk of developing cancer and would benefit from targeted smoking interventions to reduce their risk.

The research was published early online in Cancer, journal of the American Cancer Society.

Cigarette smoking increases one's likelihood of developing various types of cancers. But why do only some smokers get cancer? The researchers investigated whether nicotine dependence as characterized by the time to first cigarette after waking affects smokers' risk of lung and head and neck cancers independent of cigarette smoking frequency and duration.

The lung cancer analysis included 4,775 lung cancer cases and 2,835 controls, all of whom were regular cigarette smokers. Compared with individuals who smoked more than 60 minutes after waking, individuals who smoked 31 to 60 minutes after waking were 1.31 times as likely to develop lung cancer, and those who smoked within 30 minutes were 1.79 times as likely to develop lung cancer. Read Journal article on Lung Cancer Risk.

The head and neck cancer analysis included 1,055 head and neck cancer cases and 795 controls, all with a history of cigarette smoking. Compared with individuals who smoked more than 60 minutes after waking, individuals who smoked 31 to 60 minutes after waking were 1.42 times as likely to develop head and neck cancer, and those who smoked within 30 minutes were 1.59 times as likely to develop head and neck cancer.

These findings indicate that the need to smoke right after waking in the morning may increase smokers' likelihood of getting cancer. "These smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other tobacco toxins in their body, and they may be more addicted than smokers who refrain from smoking for a half hour or more," said Joshua Muscat, PhD, of the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey and first author. "It may be a combination of genetic and personal factors that cause a higher dependence to nicotine."

Dr. Steven D. Stellman, professor of clinical epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and director of the overall research program under which the data were gathered, stated, "Our finding that time to first cigarette raises the risk of cancer is the latest in a long series of studies that grew directly out of Dr. Ernst Wynder's work, published in JAMA in 1950, which first described the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Research has steadily expanded our knowledge of the hazards of tobacco use."

According to the authors, because smokers who light up first thing in the morning are a group that is at even higher risk of developing cancer than other smokers, they would benefit from targeted smoking cessation programs. Such interventions could help reduce tobacco's negative health effects as well as the costs associated with its use.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Soure

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Genetic Link to Mesothelioma Discovered

Scientists have found that individuals who carry a mutation in a gene called BAP1 are susceptible to developing two forms of cancer -- mesothelioma, and melanoma of the eye. Additionally, when these individuals are exposed to asbestos or similar mineral fibers, their risk of developing mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the chest and abdomen, may be markedly increased.

The study, published online Aug. 28, 2011, in Nature Genetics, describes two U.S. families with a high incidence of mesothelioma, as well as other cancers, associated with mutations of the BAP1 gene. The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and led by scientists at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, and Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia.

Mesothelioma tumors are typically associated with asbestos and erionite exposure. Erionite, a naturally occurring mineral fiber similar to asbestos, is found in rock formations and volcanic ash. Deposits have been located in at least 12 states.

Only a small fraction of individuals exposed to erionite or asbestos actually develop mesothelioma, one of the deadliest forms of cancer that kills about 3,000 people each year in the United States, with half of those diagnosed dying within one year. Additionally, rates of new cases of mesothelioma in parts of the world, including Europe and China, have risen steadily over the past decade.

"This discovery is a first step in understanding the role of theBAP1 gene and its potential utility when screening for mutations in those at high risk," said Michele Carbone, M.D., Ph.D., study co-leader and director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. "Identifying people at greatest risk for developing mesothelioma, especially those exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos and erionite worldwide, is a task made easier by virtue of this discovery."

Joseph R. Testa, Ph.D., study co-leader and Carol and Kenneth E. Weg chair in Human Genetics at Fox Chase Cancer Center, added, "This is the first study to demonstrate that individual genetic makeup can greatly influence susceptibility to mesothelioma. People exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos or erionite, those with a strong family history of mesothelioma, or those who have been previously diagnosed with a rare tumor of the eye known as uveal melanoma, may benefit from this new discovery."

The study found evidence that some people with BAP1 gene mutations also developed breast, ovarian, pancreatic or renal cancers, suggesting the gene mutation may be involved in multiple cancer types. Only about 10 percent of women with an inherited risk of breast or ovarian cancer carry mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2, which are known to be associated with those diseases. Consequently, some inherited risk of breast and ovarian cancer may stem from mutations in BAP1genes. "Also, it appears likely that other genes, in addition toBAP1, will be found to be associated with elevated risk of mesothelioma," said Testa.

The researchers first suspected that mutations in the BAP1gene might underlie mesothelioma in people with a strong family history of the disease after noticing genetic changes in or near other stretches of DNA where the BAP1 gene is located. Looking more closely at two families with unusually high rates of mesothelioma, they saw that every person who had provided a sample and had developed mesothelioma or melanoma of the eye also carried mutations in the BAP1 gene. Further investigation led to sequencing the gene in 26 individuals who had developed mesothelioma but did not have a family history of the disease. Tumors from about 25 percent of this group carried mutations in the BAP1 gene, and in two cases the mutations were inherited. Both of the individuals with inherited mutations had previously developed melanoma of the eye.

"The discovery that the BAP1 gene is involved in a new cancer syndrome characterized especially by uveal melanoma and mesothelioma provides yet another example of the critical importance of the detailed genetic analysis of human tumors," said Donald Blair, Ph.D., NCI. "Such analysis can lead to the discovery of genes involved in the same tumors that arise spontaneously. This is an important advance in developing our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying these tumors."

Another component of NIH, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is continuing to work on this public health problem in a number of critical research areas, including understanding how people, especially children, are exposed to asbestos. Efforts are also under way to improve knowledge of what makes fibers hazardous in terms of their physical characteristics and an individual's susceptibility.

Source :

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110828140940.htm

The Stigma of Lung Cancer Why Are Lung Cancer Patients Treated Differently Than Other Cancer Patients?

Being diagnosed with lung cancer carries a certain stigma.

”How long did you smoke?” “I didn’t know you were a closet smoker.” “Too bad he didn’t quit smoking sooner.” Unlike the unconditional support given to those with other forms of cancer, people with lung cancer often feel singled out, like somehow they “deserve” to have cancer. Where does this stigma come from?

Public Perception of a Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

There is a feeling among the general public, that lung cancer is a self-inflicted disease. Smoking is responsible for 80 to 90% of lung cancers, but let’s put this in perspective: Twice as many women die from lung cancer in the United States each year as die from breast cancer, and 20% of these women have never touched a cigarette. Even for those who smoke and develop lung cancer, why do we attach such a stigma to them? Many cancers, and other chronic diseases, are related to lifestyle choices. We don’t seem to judge as harshly those who overeat, are sedentary or sunbathe extensively.

Physicians’ Attitude Regarding Lung Cancer

Physicians are people too, and the bias we see among the public is present in the doctor's office as well. Joan Schiller, MD, the President and Founder of National Lung Cancer Partnership, and a physician who has done a lot of research on the stigma of lung cancer, surveyed primary care physicians in Wisconsin with some saddening results. Though the physicians stated that the type of cancer was not a factor in their referral decisions, results showed that:

• When hypothetical patients were presented as having advanced cancer, physicians were less likely to refer lung cancer patients to an oncologist than they were to refer breast cancer patients.
• More physicians were aware that chemotherapy improves survival in advanced breast cancer than with advanced lung cancer.
• Breast cancer patients were more likely to be referred for further therapy, whereas lung cancer patients were often referred only for symptom control.

Lung Cancer Patient’s Perceived Stigma

Those who are diagnosed with lung cancer experience more embarrassment than those with prostate or breast cancer, and individuals tend to feel stigmatized whether they smoked or not. Some people have even concealed their diagnosis leading to negative financial consequences and lack of social support.

Funding for Lung Cancer Research vs Other Cancers

Sadly, even though lung cancer kills more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer combined, federal funding lags behind. Funding from the private sector also pales in comparison to fund-raising efforts for some other cancers.

Clearly, lung cancer carries a stigma that extends from the government down to the individual. That said, we won’t move forward by pointing the finger and blaming ourselves, physicians, the public and the government. Each of us can make a difference by supporting those with lung cancer as we would support someone with any other form of cancer. Whether you are a lung cancer survivor, the loved one of someone living with lung cancer or a professional working with those with lung cancer, we need to raise awareness. Those living with lung cancer need and deserve our care and support, not an evaluation of the possible causes.

_Sources:

_{Chapple A, Zieband S, McPherson A. Stigma, shame, and blame experienced by patients with lung cancer: qualitative study. British Medical Journal. 2004. 328(7454).}

_{LeConte NK, Else-Quest NM, Eickhoff J, Hyde J, Shiller JH. Assessment of guilt and shame in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer compared with patients with breast and prostate cancer. Clinical Lung Cancer. 2008. 9(3):171-8.}

_{Wassenarr TR, Eickhoff JC, Jarzemsky DR, Smith SS, Larson ML, Shiller JH. Differences in primary care clinicians’ approach to non-small cell lung cancer patients compared with breast cancer. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2007. 2(8):722-8.}

Identification of Asbestos

Over the years much data have been accumulated about asbestos, which suggests that amphibole asbestos and its nonasbestos analogues possess very different biologic potential. Davis et al demonstrated that although asbestiform tremolite was extremely carcinogenic when
injected into peritoneal cavities of rats, nonasbestiform tremolite samples had little or no carcinogenic potential. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between asbestiform and nonasbestiform amphiboles and types of fibers in bulk, air, and tissue samples. There are some
problems related to the mineralogic techniques necessary to prepare and characterize samples. The designation of the shape and size of fibrous materials can be relatively easily revealed by optical examination. Optics became the technique of choice to investigate the occurrence of inorganic fibrous airborne particulates at occupational sites, in schools, or any buildings, and even outdoors where filters could be set up to obtain a representative aliquot of the air. However, the light (optical) microscope does not have enough spatial resolution and so is not sufficient on its own for positive identification of minerals. It is difficult to identify some fibers such as chrysotile in the tissue samples under the optical microscope because of the small fiber sizes. Since the small fiber size of chrysotile in the tissue samples preclude the use of optical microscopes, morphologic, chemical, and structural identifications are done by combinations of methods in order to makeunambiguous mineral identifications. The crystal chemical range of potentially hazardous inorganic and mineral species should be accurately identified. Morphologic identifications can be performed by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Chemical information is most commonly obtained by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) or wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS), which is an integral part of SEM or TEM. A relative error percentage for EDS is about 10% and for WDS is about 1%. Therefore, EDS provides only semiquantitative information, but WDS provides more quantitative information on chemical composition of the
sample. Crystal structures can be determined by electron diffraction (ED) on samples. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) is a powerful technique providing that enough material is available, but not for a mineral present at low percentage in tissue and air samples. Certain regulations may require specific species of amphiboles; thus, quantitative chemical data may be necessary. For example, substitution solid solution series of amphiboles, such as a tremolite and an actinolite, must be identified. The SEM studies combined with EDS may not be conclusive because of the lack of information on the mineral structure. It is also very difficult to observe chrysotile through the electron microscope because of its beam sensitivity. Analysts tend to measure fibers that are more stable under beam conditions. Lung burden studies indicate that chrysotile is often inhaled as a shorter fiber than amphiboles. Therefore, in a tissue with both amphibole and chrysotile, it is possible to make a misjudgment unless the fibers are identified individually. 

The levels of sensitivity using the high-resolution techniques now available mandate that we follow up the reactions delineated as interference of inorganic materials in the biologic environment. The information on the inorganic fibrous particulates can be matched with the equally high-resolution techniques applied to analyses of tissues, with data gathered at the cellular and molecular levels. The advances in techniques increase the possibilities that we can test hypotheses and, it is hoped, gain greater understanding from the anatomic to the genetic
of the reactions that lead to induction of disease. Coordinating ultramicroscopic levels with the health and mineralogic investigations for a particular geographic area should enable us to refine the possibilities. The exchange of information among the several disciplines is needed to advance our knowledge.

Asbestos Mineralogy and Health Effects

Fibers and fibrous minerals, for example, the asbestos minerals, erionite (one of the many natural and synthetic zeolite species), fiberglass, or other silica forms (diatoms) have been shown to be extremely hazardous. Their airborne character is paramount, and the specific gravity of the species, the size, and an appropriate morphology that permits suspension are of primary consideration. Asbestos as a ubiquitous natural resource refers to several types of fibrous minerals formed by earth processes and made up of microscopic bundles of fibers. The dangers associated with inhalation of asbestos fibers haveeen known for more than 30 years. Asbestos is known as a group A human carcinogen. The potential hazards of exposure to asbestos materials are of concern worldwide. There are several modes of exposure to airborne fibers including occupational exposure and the erosion of natural deposits in asbestos-bearing rocks. Asbestos may also be dispersed in water from a number of sources, including erosion of natural deposits, corrosion, and disintegration of asbestos materials. Governments and industries have introduced regulatory measures requiring safety controls throughout the product life cycle to limit asbestos exposure to the general public and workers. Although asbestos materials have been well documented as to their physical and chemical characteristics, they remain under investigation both by mineralogists studying geologic aspects and by pathologists/epidemiologists studying medical aspects. The term asbestos may be well known,
but the precise definition, safe level of exposure, duration of exposure, and asbestos types of these fibrous materials still raise questions and often lead to differences of opinions and arguments as well as legal disputes.

Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure

It was the Conference on the Biological Effects of Asbestos at the New York Academy of Sciences, organized by Irving Selikoff in November 1964 , that put both mesothelioma and asbestos on the map. Before that meeting, few people in the scientific or general community had much knowledge of either subject. There they learned the nature and numerous essential industrial uses of a group of naturally occurring mineral fibers, collectively known as asbestos, although in fact comprising at least five distinct materials, chemically, physically, and geologically. Of these, chrysotile, a serpentine mineral mined mainly in Quebec and the Ural mountains of Russia, made up over 90%. Of the remainder the two most important were crocidolite and amosite, produced mainly in South Africa and Australia, both amphibole minerals with distinctive qualities valuable for heat insulation, naval marine use, and the production of large-bore cement pipes. Two other amphibole mineral fibers were anthophyllite, of limited production in Finland, and tremolite, little used, though by far the most widespread
geologically. Presenters at the conference stated that within some 20 years of the first industrial exploitation of asbestos in the 1880s, workers heavily exposed to airborne fiber and dust developed a distinctive, seriously disabling and sometimes fatal diffuse pulmonary fibrosis, later termed asbestosis. Little was done to limit exposure until the late 1930s, when after a well-conducted survey of four asbestos textile plants in North Carolina, Dreessen et al (2) and others of the U.S. Public Health Service recommended in 1938 that a workplace dust concentration of 5 million particles per cubic foot (about 15 fibers/mL) should not be exceeded. Mainly because of the Second World War, this recommendation was not implemented; and probably for the same reason it went unnoticed that there were case reports by some German
pathologists of malignant tumors of the pleura and peritoneum in men with asbestosis. Thus it was only in the 1950s that the causal association of asbestos exposure with lung cancer in the United Kingdom, and later with mesothelioma in South Africa , was recognized.

Until that time even the very existence of primary malignancies of the mesotheleum was questioned by reputable pathologists. Looking back, however, a review by Saccone and Coblenz in 1943 had included the identification of over 40 cases in autopsies published since 1870, and referred to two cases of “endothelioma” reported in 1767 by Lieutaud in France among 3000 autopsies. That mesothelial cancers in low frequency probably occurred well before the industrial use of asbestos is discussed more fully later. Indeed, a low background incidence of unknown etiology has almost certainly continued, affecting both children and adults.

Definition of Asbestos

Asbestosis is defined as diffuse interstitial fibrosis of the lung that has been caused by inhalation of asbestos fibers. Clinically evident and radiologic changes of asbestosis are usually associated with prolonged heavy exposures to asbestos, which are far higher than necessary 
to produce mesothelioma. Changes of asbestosis are frequently absent in cases of mesothelioma. If they are present, then there is usually a strong and convincing history of asbestos exposure.
The main histopathologic evidence for asbestos exposure is dependent on the finding of asbestos bodies in light microscopic sections of lung tissue either by conventional or iron stains. Asbestos bodies are golden, brown, club-shaped, often beaded structures that contain a clear pale transparent straight needle-like core. They are formed by the coating of the asbestos fiber with ferritin and protein and take months or years to develop after deposition of the fiber in the lung. If the morphologic criteria are carefully adhered to the majority (greater then 95%) of the
asbestos bodies are found on examination by electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry to contain commercial amphibole (crocidolite or amosite) cores. In some areas of the world with environmental exposures to asbestos they contain tremolite or anthophyllite. Asbestos bodies formed from chrysotile are rare. The finding of one convincing asbestos body by light microscopy in a standard histologic section nearly always signifies an above-background exposure. However, ferruginous bodies that are not formed on asbestos fibers can
occur, for example, on talc, mica, kaolin, coal, carbon, rutile, and iron. These are distinguished by having cores that are yellow or black or platy rather than fibrous. Particular care has to be exercised by the histopathologist when evaluating cases with mixed dust exposures where substantial amounts of sheet silicates (talc, mica, kaolin, etc.) are present; these silicates can be coated to form ferruginous bodies and although these are platy, they can be cut at such an angle as to appear to be fibrous and can be incorrectly identified as asbestos. If the histopathologist finds clusters of asbestos bodies, this usually signifies very high levels of commercial asbestos fibers.

Malignant Mesothelioma Following Radiation

The strong association between asbestos exposure and malignant mesothelioma has been widely accepted since 1960. Although asbestos is the primary etiologic agent for this tumor, a significant number of patients who develop mesothelioma have no known asbestos exposure. Radiation, nonasbestos mineral fibers, organic chemicals, chronic inflammation, and simian virus 40 (SV40) exposure have also been suggested as risk factors for mesothelioma in humans.
Because asbestos is ubiquitous, past exposures are often difficult to quantitate. Past asbestos exposure may be assessed by a standardized questionnaire that collects information on occupational, paraoccupational, environmental, and domestic contact with asbestos from
insulation, mining, milling, heating trades, shipyard work, and construction. However, the long latency period of 20 years or longer from the onset of exposure to the development of malignant mesothelioma likely influences the accuracy of the exposure information obtained. More objective evidence of asbestos exposure includes radiologic findings such as bibasilar fibrosis and calcified pleural plaques, the presence of asbestos fibers in sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage samples, and evidence of interstitial fibrosis or ferruginous bodies in lung tissue. These criteria have been used to try to exclude asbestos as the causal factor in some cases of mesothelioma.
In published case series, the proportion of mesothelioma cases that have an asbestos exposure history ranges from 16% to 77%. Of 668 patients who died of malignant mesothelioma in Canada and the United States from 1960 to 1975, only 50% of men and 5% of women had known asbestos exposure. Occupational asbestos exposure in women and children is rare; therefore, most asbestos exposure in these individuals is thought to come from a household member who is employed in an asbestos industry. The occurrence of malignant mesothelioma in children may not be related to asbestos at all. In a report of 13 children diagnosed with mesothelioma in the United States, the short latency period from the time of exposure to tumor development and the absence of geographic clustering argued against an environmental
cause for this malignancy in children. Therefore, the disease appears to have a “natural” incidence of undetermined origin. Radiation is a possible etiologic agent for mesothelioma that may act independently or may have a synergistic effect with asbestos.

Chemoradiation In Cancer Therapy

Chemoradiation In Cancer Therapy

The medical uses of ionizing radiation have expanded dramatically since Wilhelm Roentgen first discovered it at the end of the last century. In particular, it has proven to be an effective agent in the ongoing battle against cancer. It is presumed that the essential target for radiation is cellular DNA where it acts through the formation of free radicals to directly or indirectly cause double-stranded breaks. It is these doublestranded breaks in the DNA that are felt to be the lethal lesion that malignant cells sustain from therapeutic radiation.

It was in the period of World War II that it was possible to induce lasting remissions

and potential cures of hematological malignancies with nitrogen mustard (1), which was

really the first chemotherapeutic agent put to widespread use in the treatment of malignant

disease. Since that time, a multitude of other drugs have come and gone in the search

for a cure. A few drugs appear to have found a more lasting place in the therapeutic

armamentarium, including doxorubicin, cisplatinum, cyclophosphamide, and 5-fluorouracil.

A new generation of drugs with varied mechanisms of action has appeared in

the last decade and also has the potential to remain as key in the treatment of cancers.

These agents include paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, and vinorelbine.

Although oncologists and researchers have often tried to cure cancers with radiation

alone or with various chemotherapeutic strategies, in general these have been met with

limited success for any number of reasons, which will be outlined below. The strategy of

integrating different treatment modalities into a more comprehensive approach to both

local control and the treatment of micrometastatic disease, often referred to as combined

modality therapy, has been met with some success. Although the delivery of neoadjuvant

and adjuvant chemotherapy may contribute to improved local control, it is less clearly

demonstrable than with concurrent therapy. This chapter will focus on combined modality

therapy with an emphasis on concurrent chemoradiation. It will attempt to set the

background with an examination of the rationale and the difficulties that are inherent with

concurrent therapy from the point of view of both the delivery of radiation and of chemotherapy.

Beyond this it will illustrate some of the gains achieved in therapy using a

concurrent treatment approach. Finally it will focus on the potential for the future that lies

in an increased understanding of the molecular players in neoplastic processes as well as

the response of malignant cells to therapy with radiation and chemotherapy. The integration

of new agents that are aimed against more specific cellular targets than either

radiation or traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy may significantly influence the success

of combined modality therapy in the future.

TREATMENT PARADIGMS

Surgical therapy as a sole modality often fails because micrometastatic disease is

already present at the time of surgery or because malignant cells are present beyond the

surgical margins of the resection. Radiation therapy is sometimes added before or after

surgical resection to decrease the possibility of local recurrence when it is felt that there

is a high enough probability of residual malignant cells being present after surgery.

However, radiation therapy as both a sole modality of treatment or as an adjuvant or

adjunctive therapy may fail to sterilize tumors because of micrometastases or because the

dose of radiation that can be safely delivered is limited by the tolerance of the surrounding

normal tissues. Certainly the explosion of new technology in the current computer age

has improved our ability to deliver further radiation in a more conformal fashion. However,

in those malignancies that have a high propensity for distant spread of disease,

delivery of higher doses of conformal radiation may not prove to be a satisfactory approach

to the problem. Unfortunately chemotherapy rarely proves to have a curative role on its

own in the treatment of solid tumors.

BIOLOGY COMPLICATES THE DELIVERY OF RADIATION
The delivery of therapeutic radiation is limited by the tolerance of the surrounding
normal tissues. Data have been compiled over many years that suggest which structures
are able to tolerate certain doses with acceptable amounts of toxicity (2). This model for
thinking about how to plan the delivery of radiation has changed considerably with the
advent of new computer- and automation-driven technologies that allow for the more
conformal delivery of dose to the gross tumor and to the clinical target volume. New
analytical tools called dose volume histograms, which allow for a definition of the dose
delivered to a percentage of an organ, have begun to replace more traditional concepts of
normal tissue tolerance. Although these technology-related advances allowfor the delivery of higher doses of radiation, this may only be an effective strategy in those
tumors whose biology makes them amenable to a local therapy as the sole modality of
treatment. Those tumors that have a predilection for the early dissemination of
micrometastases cannot be effectively treated by a local therapy alone. However, those
tumors that tend to remain localized for longer periods of time may have several biologic
reasons that underlie their resistance to radiation.

Tumor Hypoxia

Tumor Hypoxia

The equally intriguing phenomenon of tumor hypoxia has been documented to occur in a number of tumor types including cancers of the uterine cervix , head and neck , bladder as well as in soft tissue sarcomas . This is the result of inadequate blood supply to tissues that leads to the compromise of biological function and in the case of cancers this is usually related to abnormal or inadequate blood vessels, anemia, or the formation of methemoglobin or carboxyhemoglobin that will reduce the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood in smokers.

There have been several observations collected over the last few decades that suggest that tumor hypoxia plays a key role in outcome. These observations are as follows: tumors often have lower median partial pressures of oxygen than their tissues of origin ; the presence of tumor hypoxia cannot necessarily be reliably predicted by factors like stage, size, histology, or grade; tumor-to-tumor oxygen variability is often greater than intratumor oxygenation

differences , and recurrent tumors often are more poorly oxygenated than their corresponding primary tumor.

While the controversy about the exact role that anemia plays in determining outcome from radiation therapy is age old, i.e., big tumors bleed more and are more likely to spread vs tumors in anemic patients tend to be more hypoxic and hence more resistant to therapy, evidence is accumulating to suggest that reality is firmly rooted between both views. Radiosensitivity is known to be significantly limited when the partial pressure of oxygen is less than 25–30 mmHg.

It has been known for years that molecular oxygen will increase radiation-induced DNA damage through the formation of oxygen free radicals that act to inflict “indirect” damage beyond the “direct” effects of radiation on DNA . There is also substantial evidence obtained over the last few years that tumor hypoxia induces genomic changes with subsequent upregulation of genes that are linked to radiation resistance . Equally compelling are the experiments that have revealed that presence of tumor hypoxia is linked to an increased incidence of metastatic disease .
The microenvironmental signals in a hypoxic tumor environment are such that there is greater genomic instability and selection pressure to maintain those cells with increased angiogenic potential and decreased apoptotic potential. Improved understanding of this interesting phenomenon will ultimately lead to improved potential for therapeutic targeting of tumors.

Treatment Options for Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a pernicious human that is directly linked to asbestos danger. By the quantify this someone is diagnosed the disease is ordinarily fine progressive. Signs and symptoms may not materialise until 20 to 60 age after being unprotected to asbestos. If diagnosed with Mesothelioma, it is insistent to become knowing nearly the divers forms of Mesothelioma treatment due to the offensive spatiality of this disease.
Mesothelioma attacks the mesothelium or the conserving application that covers and protects more of the body's intrinsic organs. One grade of this venomous sign is Peritoneal Mesothelioma. It invades the peritoneum or the unhealthy application that houses the tum, liver, spleen, pancreas and intestines.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma accounts for less than a human of all Mesothelioma cases. It is the merchandise most vernacular taxon of Mesothelioma after Pleural Mesothelioma. Symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma include, but are not specific to, abdominal discomfit, weakness, departure of appetency, coefficient failure, abdominal swelling and bowel obstructer.
In organisation for halal Mesothelioma communicating to begin, several factors staleness prime be seized into benignity. Info such as the extent of the mansion, the uncomplaining's overall eudaemonia, other examination chronicle and age, should be evaluated. These details need to be appropriated into chronicle to ascertain the unexcelled Mesothelioma handling for an individualistic diagnosed with Peritoneal Mesothelioma.
The most average forms of communication for an unshared diagnosed with Peritoneal Mesothelioma are surgery, irradiation, chemotherapy and curative therapies. Surgery may be performed to disappear component of the facing and tissue from the venter, depending on the progress of the individual and the size and positioning of the neoplasm(s).
Another state of Mesothelioma discourse for Peritoneal Mesothelioma is radioactivity therapy. Vast force x-rays are victimized for the intent of decrease tumors. Emission can be administered either externally or internally. Externally, a organization is set surface the embody to eject therapy to the germ of the human. A publication of radiation can also be internally placed on the touched expanse in the comic of destroying cancerous paper.
Chemotherapy is added identify of Mesothelioma discourse victimised to engagement Peritoneal Mesothelioma. This typewrite of handling uses drugs to undo individual cells. These can be specified either in tablet appearance or intravenously. The chemotherapy drugs save the blood water and negative off cancerous cells as it makes its way finished the body.
Cure therapy is also victimised as a spatiality of Mesothelioma management. Ascites, or fluid increase, oftentimes takes property in the stomach when an individualist suffers from Peritoneal Mesothelioma. To absolve somatesthesia and to represent the tolerant much homey agent is extracted by use of needles and suction.
Once your designation is inveterate and you soul begun handling, it is modality that you act the advice of an professional who specializes in asbestos-related malady. If a historic employer negligently unclothed you to asbestos, you are most liable to be entitled to a monetary gift to concealing your scrutiny bills, your somatesthesia and pain, and yet correctional restitution against a slack employer. Peritoneal Mesothelioma is a rattling arduous person to deal; you can rely on your attorney to act in your good interests.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma is a toxic mortal that is attributed to asbestos exposure. If diagnosed, it is insistent to be knowledgeable of all communication options. As solon search is performed in the area of Mesothelioma treatment, added distance to combat this venomous disease present embellish available.
source : Symptoms of mesothelioma

Property Tax Lawyers

Property Tax Lawyers are what you call to attorney’s that specialized themselves in taxes or property taxes. According to property tax law anyone has the right to an appeal before the governing agency or a state court do.


Say you disagree with your property tax assessment, you must request a hearing before the body that operate the property tax assessments. together with your property Tax Lawyer, the two of you must provide substantial evidences why the property tax information is improper. If you’re evidences are just, then the body will consider the case and will make a property tax law ruling on the assessment.
How to select a Property Tax Lawyer


Since property taxes is not an easy matter you have to be careful on whom you entrust your property to. Here are some step by step guide on how to carefully select a good property tax lawyer for you.


Step 1: You can start by asking friends, business associates or family members if they know a property tax lawyer. Referrals from someone who gained a direct relationship can be a reliable guide.


Step 2: You can also ask law firms if they have someone who specializes in property taxes. Make sure you conduct a research first about that certain firm or better asked them about their backgrounds, cases solved and other necessary questions that you think will make you choose them in handling your case.


Step 3: You can also search for property tax lawyers in your area using the Internet but be careful. When you found one, you can use the guide in step 1 to know more about that certain law firm or property tax lawyer.


Step 4: Don’t be fooled by advertising slogans, such as “former local government attorney” or “aggressive property tax advocate.” Meet the lawyer and decide if you have confidence in his or her skills and feel comfortable with the analysis of your property.


Find a Lawyer whom you are comfortable with in terms of  business and personal relationship in that way you can ensure that your property taxes will be well taken care of.

Mesothelioma (Asbestos) Tax Lawyer

For the past years in the Unites States there has been a gigantic increase in mesothelioma cases. In effect new breed of  specialized lawyers who deals with mesothelioma (a.k.a Asbestos) rises everywhere in the country.

Mesothelioma lawyers specializes in cases dealing with mesothelioma and asbestos victims who wish to claim compensations or file a lawsuit against companies that were negligent for their exposure to asbestos.

What is an Asbestos?

It was on the 20th century that asbestos were first discovered. At first people were happy upon the discovery of such as it became an ideal material for the progression of the construction industry.

However, it has medical researchers found out that exposure to asbestos fibers and dust can lead to “asbestosis”~ a disease in the lungs caused by the inhalation of asbestos particles.

This is the reason why Mesothelioma lawyers were seek most in the country. Specialized lawyers in this field often gives justice and relief to victims by helping them win their cases. Filing a solid lawsuit against companies neglecting their employees’ rights’ , these competent Mesothelioma lawyers help victims collect millions of dollars in compensating for the victim.

In such cases where the family of the victim or the victim knows nothing about the disease, it is expected that they became depressed as soon as they learn about it. It is advisable then that intricate details between the lawyer should be thoroughly discussed by the family members.

FEES

In terms of fees, most Mesothelioma lawyers works on a contingency basis, this means that until you receive the compensation of the company, they will not receive anything in return. Thus they should do their best to help you win the case as failed lawsuits leads to free of charge.

Mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that occurs in the thin layer of cells lining the body's internal organs, known as the mesothelium. There are three recognized types of mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of the disease, accounting for roughly 70% of cases, and occurs in the lining of the lung known as the pleura. Peritoneal mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the abdominal cavity, known as the peritoneum and pericardial mesothelioma originates in the pericardium, which lines the heart.

An individual may be at risk to develop mesothelioma if he or she was exposed to asbestos in the workplace or at home. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos and the inhalation of asbestos particles. In most cases, mesothelioma symptoms will not appear in an individual exposed to asbestos until many years after the exposure has occurred. Those with a past asbestos exposure history experiencing symptoms should consult a physician with experience in accurately diagnosing mesothelioma. The earlier mesothelioma is diagnosed, the more likely it is to be caught at an early stage. At earlier stages of mesothelioma progression, more treatment options are available and oftentimes a better prognosis is given.