The Maune Raichle Law Firm

Mesothelioma Research

Research into the cancer mesothelioma has proven its link to asbestos exposure, but has not yet been able to explain this link. Although science has described the link between asbestos and several illnesses, the mechanism by which asbestos causes mesothelioma is still unknown. What research has been able to determine is that when inhaled, there are no specific substances other than asbestos that lead to mesothelioma, meaning that all causes of mesothelioma are either caused by asbestos exposure or are a rare case of naturally occurring mesothelioma. Although mesothelioma occurring without asbestos exposure is thought to be genetic in nature, no specific hereditary links have yet been made.

Mesothelioma research occurs as much in clinical practice as it does in the lab. The majority of treatment development for mesothelioma has come from clinical trials or in some cases sheer experimentation on the part of doctors, adjusting chemotherapy ratios based on research but without any precedence. Bold moves in research, both in lab and clinical experience, have yielded increasingly effective treatments. As the number of cases of mesothelioma cases grows, more research dollars and effort are put towards developing more effective treatments.

Treatment promises to improve as more is known about the cell structure of mesothelioma and as prospective treatment options are tested. Thanks to years of research, patients with early stages of mesothelioma are now associated with as much as a 40% 5-year survival rate when the cancer is treated aggressively. Part of the reason mesothelioma will likely continue to have a fairly low survival rate is that the majority of those who have mesothelioma are older and also have other serious conditions complicating treatment and threatening the lives of these patients even in the absence of mesothelioma.