The family of a deceased Jackson County Courthouse employee recently settled the woman's Missouri asbestos lawsuit for $10 million, the largest asbestos settlement in the state's history. Nancy Lopez filed the asbestos lawsuit against the U.S. Engineering Co. for failing to take proper precautions to protect courthouse worker while handling asbestos, writes the Associated Press. For 27 years, Lopez had worked at the courthouse in Kansas City. Her complaint claimed she developed mesothelioma cancer from her asbestos exposure at the courthouse. Lopez died from the disease in October 2010. The asbestos lawsuit settlement was awarded to her family late last
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently issued a warning regarding the mineral erionite. The NIOSH warning says that erionite, which occurs in many parts of the Western United States, can produce airborne fibers similar to the asbestos fibers that can trigger mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. Erionite is found in gravel pits and in the gravel that is used to surface roads. It can become airborne once it is disturbed. A 2011 study was conducted on individuals who may have had high erionite exposures in North Dakota. Two road maintenance
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(Part Three of our series on Mesothelioma Clinical Trials) Drug treatments that have been proven relatively safe in phase I and that have been shown to work against mesothelioma in phase II studies can advance through the third stage of testing. Phase III clinical trials for mesothelioma compare the safety and effectiveness of the new treatment against the current standard treatment. Phase III clinical trials typically enroll a large number of patients, at least several hundred. These studies are often done in many different locations
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Phase 0 mesothelioma clinical trials are designed to determine if and how a new mesothelioma drug might work in a human. Mesothelioma patients are currently not eligible to enroll in phase 0 studies, but they may be in the near future. Phase 0 studies for mesothelioma often use only a few small doses of the new drug in each patient. Researchers test whether the drug reaches the tumors, how the drug behaves in the body and how the cancer cells respond.
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Mesothelioma in any stage is challenging to treat because it tends to spread from the mesothelial lining along nearby surfaces, nerves, and blood vessels. This makes it very difficult, except in rare situations, to completely get rid of it with surgery and chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Additional treatment options are being developed over time through the clinical trial process. This article is the first of a three-part series for patients who may be interested in enrolling in a mesothelioma clinical trial.
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