U.S. working to give researchers access to mesothelioma information online

By: Scott Hendler

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Because the problem of rising numbers of mesothelioma victims is beginning to hit full stride�"mesothelioma is an asbestos-exposure lung cancer that can take up to 50 years to show up�"doctors and researchers are urging organizations to ramp up efforts to understand this deadly disease.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of this disease. It is a particularly aggressive lung cancer that attacks the space between or the linings of the lungs. In a recent study of more than 4000 patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma in Italy, median survival time was found to be 9.8 months after diagnosis.

One of the latest initiatives for helping researchers speed up their work on mesothelioma of all types involves creating a national bank” of tissue samples for them to work with.

The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank (NMVB) will collect and organize samples of mesothelioma pleural, peritoneal and pericardial tissues, along with blood and DNA samples. It will catalog and make the samples available for study through an Internet interface that coordinates with existing cancer and other research data.

Much research is already being done on mesothelioma, but the point of the new NMVB is to help researchers everywhere translate their theoretical work into more practical approaches that can actually help patients sooner. The new urgency is a welcome development as more and more cases of mesothelioma are being found in countries around the world.

And you don’t have to have worked in a mine to have been exposed to asbestos. In Wittenoom, Australia, 3000 women and girls who lived in the town�"a blue asbestos (crocidolite) mining and milling town�"have been identified after some of them began dying of malignant pleural mesothelioma. A study done this summer predicts that the death rate from this disease will nearly double for this group of women in the next 20 years.

Despite the frightening speed with which mesothelioma kills, it’s important to get a mesothelioma diagnosis as soon as possible so that doctors can help you deal with the effects�"and to investigate whether you and your family may be eligible to receive compensation through an asbestos lawsuit for your environment-related exposure.

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