Basic Cancer Info

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a unique cancer that starts from the mesothelium, the membrane lining that contains the body cavities. Mesothelioma can arise from the pleura (lining of the lungs), pericardium (sac around the heart), peritoneum (abdominal lining), and tunica vaginalis testis (lining of the male reproductive organs). The majority of mesothelioma cases originate from the pleura.

Epidemiology and Cause of Mesothelioma

A central question since the introduction of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) like Tarceva (erlotinib) and Iressa (gefitinib) has been how best to use them. Specifically, one standard way that we integrate new agents in cancer care is to combine them with the treatment that is our current standard of care.

Here is the second case in my expert round table discussion on locally advanced NSCLC with medical oncologist Dr. George Blumenschein froMD Anderson Cancer Center and radiation oncologist Dr. Walter Curran from Emory University.

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to discuss a series of cases of locally advanced NSCLC with a couple of expert colleagues: Dr. George Blumenschein, medical oncologist in the Division of Thoracic & Head/Neck Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX; and Dr. Walter Curran, radiation oncologist who heads the Division of Radiation Oncology at the Winship Cancer Center at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr.

Introduction to Adjuvant Therapy: Why More than Just Surgery?

The last of our three cases reviewing management issues in elderly and frail patients with lung cancer, as covered in a recent webinar discussion I had with experts Paul J. Hesketh from Lahey Clinic and Karen Kelly from Kansas University Medical Center, focuses on treatment of advanced/metastatic NSCLC. Drs.

The medical literature tells us that one of the most stressful times of a patients' cancer course is the time between discovering that they may have cancer and beginning their treatment. So much is new and unknown. For many patients, this is their first exposure to the health care system. The patient often requires multiple tests and need to consult with different physician specialties, sometimes in different hospitals before treatment can begin. It can be a time where well meaning family and friends provide advice and anecdotes from their experiences with cancer.

Here is the second of three cases covering issues in managing elderly and frail patients with lung cancer that I discussed with experts Paul J. Hesketh from Lahey Clinic and Karen Kelly from Kansas University Medical Center. Both major experts in lung cancer, they have a lot of experience and have been leaders in publishing on the understudied population of elderly and poor performance status patients with lung cancer. This particular case covers treatment options for a patient with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to discuss several difficult cases with experts Drs. Paul Hesketh from the Lahey Clinic outside of Boston and Karen Kelly from Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, KS. These scenarios raise questions about how best to manage lung cancer issues in elderly and/or frail patients, starting with a 78 year-old woman who presented to me for discussion of the pros and cons of post-operative therapy, which also touch on other factors of administering chemotherapy to more marginal patients in general, regardless of the setting.

It's only 10 patients, but a brief report in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology that just came out today from a group in Amsterdam has gotten my attention because it suggests that the oral multi-targeted anti-cancer agent Nexavar (sorafenib) may be genuinely effective in patients with advanced NSCLC who have a K-RAS mutation.