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Mastering Mesothelioma

Researchers are traking down genes and molecular markers linked to mesothelioma-a deadly asbestos-related cancer.
by Lori Oliwenstein

"There are several misconceptions about mesothelioma.

For one thing, it is not lung cancer. It is a cancer of the two-layered membrane that covers and protects most of the body’s organs. That membrane, the mesothelium, is also called pericardium where it covers the heart, peritoneum where it surrounds most of the other abdominal organs, and pleura where it envelops the lungs, which is also where it most often turns cancerous.

Mesothelioma is not caused by smoking, as lung cancer so often is. Instead, mesothelioma is tied almost exclusively to the mineral asbestos. Of the 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma reported in the United States each year, 70 to 80 percent can be traced to tiny, airborne shards of asbestos, which in the past was used in the production of construction materials ranging from cement to shingles to siding, and was extensively used as insulation.

Mesothelioma also is not a disease of the past. Although protections against occupational asbestos exposure have been in place since the 1970s, asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma can take 30 to 50 years to show up, according to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.

Showing up generally means the cancer has been advancing for some time, says USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher Parkash Gill, M.D., professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “There is almost no such thing as early mesothelioma. It is not until later on that you get any symptoms.”

Which leads to the final misconception: Mesothelioma is not under control. In fact, more often than not, by the time there are symptoms, the mesothelial tumors are large and entrenched and pumping out fluid that fills the chest and compresses the lungs, resulting in organ failure and death. That is why the survival of mesothelioma patients is so poor: an average of 18 months after diagnosis, at best.

Gill and other USC/Norris researchers are working to change all that. With generous, ongoing funding from Jerry and Elizabeth Paul and the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America, Gill and his group are tracking down genes and their protein products that play a role in mesothelioma and may be vulnerable to treatment."

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