Malignant mesothelioma: development to therapy

Our plain-English summary of Malignant mesothelioma: development to therapy, by J.K. Thompson, C.M. Westbom, A. Shukla (Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 2014).

The study

• Authors: J.K. Thompson, C.M. Westbom, A. Shukla
• Journal: Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
• Published: 2014;115(1):1-7
• Cited by: 16 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive cancer of the mesothelium caused by asbestos. Asbestos use has been reduced but not completely stopped. In addition, natural or man-made disasters will continue to dislodge asbestos from old buildings into the atmosphere and as long as respirable asbestos is available, MM will continue to be a threat. Due to the long latency period of MM development, it would still take decades to eradicate this disease if asbestos was completely removed from our lives today. Therefore, there is a need for researchers and clinicians to work together to understand this deadly disease and find a solution for early diagnosis and treatment. This article focuses on developmental mechanisms as well as current therapies available for MM.

© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In plain English

This article was a review by authors from the University of Vermont Pathology Department. It reported no new study of people. Instead it summarized published laboratory, animal and clinical research on how asbestos leads to malignant mesothelioma, and on current treatments and possible diagnostic markers. The authors described proposed mechanisms in which fibers reach the pleura, injure mesothelial cells and trigger inflammation. They also reviewed their own group's cell work, including gene changes in human peritoneal mesothelial cells exposed to crocidolite. Citing other studies, they reported that about 5% of people exposed to asbestos develop mesothelioma, that inherited BAP1 mutations may predispose people to it, and that median survival is 9 to 13 months. They wrote that surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy do not improve survival substantially, and that candidate markers still need validation. The authors concluded that difficulty diagnosing mesothelioma early and identifying who is at risk has hampered efforts to improve survival beyond 12 months after diagnosis.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative review (published in the journal's 'Prospects' section) of published research on how mesothelioma develops and how it is diagnosed and treated; no new data were collected
• Who was studied: Not applicable: no study population. The review drew on published cell-culture, animal and clinical studies, including the authors' own group's laboratory work
• Exposure: Asbestos in general (the six types named are actinolite, anthophyllite, chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite and tremolite), with crocidolite described as the most carcinogenic. Libby six-mix and erionite are also discussed
• Main results:
  • The review described proposed mechanisms in which asbestos fibers reach the pleural cavity, injure mesothelial cells, and set off inflammation and reactive oxygen species
  • The authors summarized their own group's cell-culture work showing altered gene activity in human peritoneal mesothelial cells exposed to crocidolite
  • Citing another source, the review stated that 70–80% of mesotheliomas are caused by work-related asbestos exposure, but only about 5% of people exposed develop mesothelioma
  • Citing other studies, the review reported that in people with familial mesothelioma, inherited (germline) BAP1 mutations appeared to predispose them to the disease after very low asbestos exposure
  • Citing another source, the review stated that mesothelioma is usually diagnosed late, with median survival of 9–13 months
  • The review stated that surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, alone or combined, do not improve survival substantially
  • The review stated that candidate biomarkers (such as mesothelin, osteopontin, HMGB1 and fibulin-3) are still being validated
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that difficulty diagnosing mesothelioma early and identifying who is at risk after asbestos exposure has hampered efforts to improve survival beyond 12 months after diagnosis. They called for coordinated work by researchers and physicians

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Malignant Mesothelioma, Mesothelium, Latency.

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