Today in Baltimore Maryland a verdict was returned against Georgia Pacific in a mesothelioma case of 20.2 million dollars.

The plaintiff is a living, 57 year old woman who is the granddaughter of an insulator. Her exposure was not as a worker but as a family member in the household. Georgia Pacific joint compound was used at a single jobsite where her grandfather worked

Congratulations to the trial team of   Will Minkin and Tom Kelly. I know them both well. They are all tremendous lawyers who believe in the clients they represent and in the fight to insure that justice is done.

A mesothelioma diagnoses is devastating news for families who hear the news. Fortunately treatment options are progressing and more hospitals are skilled in addressing mesothelioma. In addition to the ability to file a lawsuit there is currently more than 40 billion dollars in bankruptcy trusts  available for families dealing endothelium to help them pay bills and compensate them for their losses.

The number of people dying from the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma has hit record levels and is not expected to peak until 2016, according to research from the Health and Safety Executive. Unfortunately New Jersey and Pennsylvania Residents will bear a disproportionate burden of the rise in mesothelioma as there were more asbestos factories in New Jersey and Pennsylvania combined than anywhere else in the country. As a result the mesothleioma rates in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are higher than most other places in the United States.

The good news is that the treatment options are improving and people are living longer. New options bring new hope for mesothelioma patients and their families.

Mesothelioma is a virulent form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease is usually fatal.

In 2007, the most recent year for which data is available, 2,156 death certificates cited mesothelioma as cause of death. This was up from 2,058 in 2006 and 2,046 the year before that.

HSE researchers have forecast an increase in the number of men suffering from mesothelioma year-on-year until 2016. The figures project a rise from 1,812 cases of mesothelioma among males this year to 2,016.

Projections are exclusively for mesothelioma cases among men because a decision was taken to divide the research project in two by sex. Estimates for female deaths will be published in due course. The ratio of male to female deaths in 2007 was around five-to-one.

A spokesperson for the HSE insisted that asbestos was not just a legacy problem. “Asbestos exposure is very much a present danger. A complete ban on asbestos was not introduced until 2000 and there are still 500,000 non-domestic premises in the country with asbestos. It is Britain’s biggest industrial killer.”

He added that asbestos awareness was a crucial issue not just for tradesmen, but for facilities managers too. “As well as education tradesmen who might be exposed to asbestos we need to educate the dutyholders who are responsible.”

John Crane the maker of asbestos valve packing for pumps and a notorious no pay low pay defendant in mesothelioma cases was taken to school in California this week.

In the first phase of the trial, the Jury awarded $16.9 million and found John Crane 70% at fault. The jury also found that the John crane conduct was malicious. A short time thereafter the jury returned a punitive damage award in the amount of $18.3 million. Accordingly the total verdict is now $35.2 million.

The Net judgment (after offset) as to John Crane should be approximately $30.3 million.

Congratulations to Ethan Horn and Jordan Blumenfeld-James on a tremendous result.

After 5 weeks of trial against this no pay defendant, the jury returned a verdict of 1.5 million with a 5% share.  Fisher was found reckless which means under NY law the defendant is responsible for the entire verdict. This was an extremely difficult case with a 71 year old deceased and widowed mesothelioma client  – the plant he worked in had 17 tons of raw fiber shipped to it every year and pipe covering exposure.  

The next day the jury awarded 750,000 in punitive damages.

An aggressive treatment strategy that begins with chemotherapy, followed by surgery, and then radiation is a safe and effective option for many mesothelioma patients, according to a recent study in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Mesothelioma traditionally hasn’t responded well to just one treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation). In the early 1990s, Dr. David Sugarbaker of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston reported on the use of combining therapies. When he treated mesothelioma patients with extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP—surgery to remove the diseased lung, as well as the diaphragm and the membrane covering the heart and lung), followed by chemotherapy and radiation, the results were promising.

Researchers at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, Washington, tried to replicate this triple-treatment approach, but they found it difficult to deliver chemotherapy after EPP. “Historically when giving chemotherapy after cancer surgery, we like to start doing it within 60 days, at the latest, of the surgery date,” explains Eric Vallières, MD, FRCSC, Surgical Director of the Swedish Cancer Institute’s Lung Cancer Program. “The problem with starting chemotherapy too ‘early,’ i.e., before full patient recovery, is that the chemo is too hard on them and they just quit.”

Instead of delivering chemotherapy after mesothelioma surgery, Dr. Vallières and his team decided to study the effectiveness and safety of beginning the treatment with chemotherapy, followed by surgery and then radiation. The reported study included 55 patients who were treated for mesothelioma between 1997 and 2008.

First, the mesothelioma patients received up to four cycles of chemotherapy (most often a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed). A few weeks later, patients who were healthy enough had a diagnostic procedure to determine whether they were good candidates for surgery (if the cancer had not spread). A total of 38 patients underwent the entire treatment—induction chemotherapy, then EPP, followed by either external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) six to eight weeks later.

Overall, mesothelioma patients who completed chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation survived an average of two years. Patients who received IMRT appear to have a lower risk of cancer recurrence (14.3%) compared with the EBRT group (41.7%). According to the authors, one of the potential advantages of using IMRT is to better target the cancer while sparing nearby organs from radiation exposure.

Based on the results of this study, chemotherapy followed by EPP and radiation seems to be a safe and effective choice for mesothelioma patients. “Our results are definitely good enough for us to continue favoring an induction approach for most of our patients,” Dr. Vallières says.

Today a Brazoria County, Texas jury awarded Maxine Puckett, the widow of Danny Puckett, 1.2 million dollars in a trial involving defendants Union Carbide and Montello .  The jury found each of the defendants  15% liable. Mr. Puckett died of mesothelioma at age 59.

Mr. Puckett was exposed to drilling mud additives containing Union Carbide asbestos. Union Carbide argued there was no exposure to its products.

Our friends Scott Frost and  Greg Lisemby of Waters & Krause represented the plaintiff.

 Mike Terry and  Kevin Jordan represented Union Carbide.

 

We recently took the deposition of the Corporate representative of the Certianteed Corporation concerning what Certainteed knew about the dangers of asbestos, mesothleioma and what warnings were supplied in response. Rather than editorialize you may read the deposition for yourself at   http://www.mwww.mesotheliomalegalblog.com/mesothelioma-litigation/Certainteed-Mesothelioma--&-Asbestos-Cement-Pipe--1-35603.

In the case of William and Sharon Willis v. Bondex a Springfield Illinois Jury found for the plaintiffs. This win for the plaintiffs was significant as this jurisdiction is known to be a difficult place to obtain a substantial verdict. The case was tried by  Troyce Wolf and Scott Kruka, assisted by Julie Celum. Bondex made asbestos containing joint compound which is alleged to cause mesothelioma

Sodium selenite, the most common water-soluble form of selenium, is an antioxidant and redox-modulating compound that can kill mesothelioma cells in cell cultures.  Now researchers are discovering why it works.  This could potentially lead to new treatments for mesothelioma.

Investigators from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden previously discovered that selenite triggers the death of mesothelioma cells, particularly sarcomatoid cells, which are the least common but deadliest form of this cancer.

In the current study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the investigators aimed to determine the pathways by which selenite kills mesothelioma cells, and why sarcomatoid cells seem to be most sensitive to selenite treatment. “Developing anticancer drugs is difficult,” explains Gustav Nilsonne, MD, lead study author and researcher in the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology at the Karolinska Institutet. “The key challenge is to find substances that act specifically against cancer cells but not against healthy cells. Selenite appears to have this kind of specificity. We have wanted to understand why the mesothelioma cells respond as they do, and that is why we investigated the cellular signaling mechanisms in response to selenite.”

The design of individual mesothelioma cell types, and the different processes within these cells may help determine how much damage selenite treatment inflicts. To evaluate these pathways, the researchers treated both epithelioid (the most common form of mesothelioma) and sarcomatoid cells with selenite, and then looked at the processes within the cancer cells that caused them to die.

Selenite triggered cell death (apoptosis) in 15% of sarcomatoid cells, compared to just 8% of epithelioid mesothelioma cells. Total cell death after 24 hours of treatment was about 25% in the epithelioid cells and 30% in the sarcomatoid cells. The researchers discovered that the treatment activated different signaling processes in sarcamatoid and epithelioid cells, particularly in Bcl—a family of proteins that either promote or inhibit cell death. Sarcomatoid cells produced excess amounts of a protein in this family called Bax, which promotes cell death. This may be why sarcomatoid cells are more sensitive to the effects of selenite.

Particularly of interest was the discovery that a protein called p53, which is known as the “master regulator” of cell death, built up in the mesothelioma cells after selenite treatment, but the selenite appeared to inactivate this protein so that it had no effect on the cells’ DNA. This finding indicates that selenite treatment must have triggered cancer cell death via other mechanisms besides p53.

“Broadly speaking, our results show that a variety of mechanisms are involved. Selenite does not activate just one single pathway,” Dr. Nilsonne says. “Instead of sounding a distinct note on the cell’s clavier, it triggers several disharmonious chord progressions at the same time, if you will.”

This study provides additional evidence that selenite is a promising new treatment for mesothelioma. However, the use of selenite is still experimental, and further research is needed to confirm its safety and effectiveness. Future studies will also determine whether combining selenite with other cancer drugs might boost its effectiveness on epithelioid mesothelioma cells.
Note: It is important to note that while trace amounts of the element are necessary for cellular function, selenium and selenium salts are toxic in large amounts. If you are interested in using selenium or selenite supplements for any health reason including cancer be sure to consult with your licensed healthcare practitioner.

Source:

Nilsonne G, Olm E, Szulkin A, Mundt F, Stein A, Kocic B, Rundlöf, Fernandes AP, Björnstedt M, Dobra K. Phenotype-dependent apoptosis signaling in mesothelioma cells after selenite exposure. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2009;28(1):92.

In this case Advocate a miner of asbestos took a pay position throughout the trial. Justice prevailed. Congratulations to James Nevin who tried the case.

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is currently searching for mesothelioma patients to take part in a clinical trial that will study the efficacy of combination chemotherapy consisting of gemcitabine and cisplatin administered in the operating room and put into the chest and abdomen for one hour. This Phase I trial will also research the effects of heating the chemotherapy to a temperature of 42 degrees Celsius and the effect of cytoprotection agents amifostine and sodium thiosulfate to counteract potential side effects of chemotherapy.

 

The study, which will be completed in 2010, will also involve the surgical procedure known as extrapleural pneumonectomy or pleurectomy/decortication, which includes the resection of the lung, the lining of the lung (pleura), the covering of the heart (pericardium), and the muscle that separates the chest and abdomen (diaphragm). The chemotherapy drugs will be administered immediately following the surgery.
 

As reported in http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124975.php

Alfacell Corporation (Nasdaq: ACEL) announced that a paper published in Cell Cycle (2008; Vol. 7, Issue 20) reports that ONCONASE (ranpirnase) targets small interfering RNA (siRNA), likely within the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) of the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism.

The paper is the result of research conducted by collaborators at the Brander Cancer Research Institute and Department of Pathology at New York Medical College and Alfacell. The study demonstrated that silencing the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene (an abundant and ubiquitously expressed housekeeping gene) in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells by siRNA was effectively prevented by ONCONASE. While transfection of cells with GAPDH siRNA reduced expression of this protein by nearly 70 percent, the expression was restored in the cells exposed to ONCONASE for 48 or 72 hours. The data thus provide evidence that one of the targets of ONCONASE (ranpirnase) is siRNA.

"This data provide further evidence of the impact of ONCONASE on the RNAi mechanism," said Kuslima Shogen, Alfacell's chief executive officer. "Furthermore, the data may provide the explanation for the preferential effectiveness of ONCONASE toward tumor cells as well as its ability to sensitize cells to other antitumor agents. As seen in our Phase III clinical trial results, ONCONASE has demonstrated significant efficacy in patients with malignant mesothelioma that failed prior chemotherapy."