Investigating Geotextile: Is Ambler Safe?
Date: August 5, 2024 Reviewed and edited by David Halpern Key takeaways: The BoRit Ambler Superfund site contains six acres of asbestos mounds. The EPA capped the asbestos mounds with a thick layer of geotextile, which is soil teeming with plants and organisms. Recent research exploring dissolved organic matter (DOM) in soil has implications for […]
Treating Mesothelioma: CAR-T Cell Therapy
Key takeaways: Clinical trials using programmed T cells—which are one of the main immune cells—to target and kill mesothelioma tumors are yielding positive results. This is called CAR-T cell therapy, which is a type of immunotherapy. Although there are significant challenges barring CAR-T cell therapy from becoming mainstream, the fact that a.) its clinical trials […]
How Italy’s Asbestos Ban Can Influence US Asbestos Legislation
Key takeaways: Italy banned asbestos in 1992 and instituted a national registry, which tracks mesothelioma cases. Despite this, Italian construction workers—who directly handle asbestos, either knowingly or unknowingly—are still suffering from asbestos-related diseases, like mesothelioma. Italy hasn’t introduced removal initiatives or provided education about the dangers of asbestos. These pitfalls can be used to inform […]
Mesothelioma Caregivers
Key takeaways: A mesothelioma diagnosis is sudden, life-altering, and saddening—both for patients and their loved ones. Caregivers, whether informally, like family, or formally, through live-in aids or medical assistants, are subject to emotional and physical stress. It’s imperative that mesothelioma caregivers prioritize their mental health, take ample time for themselves, and have a network to […]
What’s the SPARC Gene?
Key takeaways: The SPARC gene, which is an acronym for secreted protein, acidic, and rich cysteine, is significantly upregulated in mesothelioma patients, especially compared to other types of lung cancer patients. SPARC’s associated protein contributes to the growth and communication of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cellular response to injury. When implicated with mesothelioma, upregulated […]
How does Asbestos Exposure Cause Mesothelioma?
Key takeaways: Asbestos is a naturally-occurring group of minerals that was widely used in industry, construction, and transportation sectors until the early 1990s. Prior to the restrictions on its use, doctors and scientists established a definitive link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma onset later in life. Some hypotheses about asbestos’ tendency to cause cancer–or carcinogenesis–discuss […]
