Mesothelioma News

A Philadelphia - company got marketing approval Thursday for a blood test for mesothelioma, a form of cancer liked to asbestos exposure.
Philadelphia Business Journal
January 25, 2007
Fujirebio Diagnostics Inc., a subsidiary of Japanese company Fujirebio Inc., got Food and Drug Administration approval for its Mesomark assay test.
“The Mesomark test signifies the beginning of a new era […]

December 21, 2006 - The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom has decided to reconsider the blocking of Alimta, a drug used to treat those who are suffering from mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer for which Alimta shows the most promise of any on the market.
Earlier this year, NICE officials […]

A high-profile research team is exploring why exposure sickens few
By Helen Altonn, haltonn@starbulletin.com
November 12, 2006
A noted Hawaii cancer researcher and his team say they believe they are unraveling the mystery of why some workers heavily exposed to asbestos develop cancer, while most do not.
It’s not just a […]

10/10/06
By Dr Benjamin Friedmann
FDA approves first-in-class Zolinza (vorinostat) for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
Merck & Co’s Zolinza has been approved by the FDA for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma patients who have progressive, persistent or recurrent disease on or following failure of two systemic therapies, making the oral drug the first in its class to reach the market. However, […]

BLOOMFIELD, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct 2, 2006 - Alfacell Corporation (NASDAQ: ACEL) today announced that the company has completed the non-clinical section of the rolling submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) in preparation for its submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its lead anticancer compound, ONCONASE (ranpirnase). ONCONASE, first in class in […]

Three researchers who led the discovery and development of the first drug approved to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, were named as Heroes of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Researchers Homer Pearce, Ph.D., Chuan (Joe) Shih, Ph.D., and Edward C. Taylor, Ph.D., led a long-standing collaboration […]

According to results recently published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, treatment with the chemotherapy agent Alimta® (pemetrexed) with or without the chemotherapy agent Platinol® (cisplatin) provides benefit for patients with malignant mesothelioma who have received prior therapies.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer that develops in the tissue that covers the lungs and lines […]

BLOOMFIELD, N.J., June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Alfacell Corporation (Nasdaq: ACEL) today provided an update on the status of the ongoing confirmatory Phase IIIb registration trial evaluating ONCONASE(R) (ranpirnase), the Company’s lead investigational drug candidate, as a treatment for unresectable malignant mesothelioma (UMM):
Rolling New Drug Application (NDA) for the ONCONASE UMM indication: The Company has now […]

June 20, 2006
BRANFORD, Conn., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CuraGen Corporation (Nasdaq: CRGN - News) and TopoTarget A/S (Copenhagen Stock Exchange: TOPO) announced today the initiation of patient dosing in a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the activity of PXD101, a small molecule histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, for the treatment of mesothelioma. This trial is being […]

June 7, 2006
WASHINGTON — There is evidence asbestos can cause cancer of the larynx, the Institute of Medicine reported yesterday.
Asbestos has long been associated with lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the chest and abdomen.
The U.S. Senate asked the institute, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, to look […]