All About Asbestos

Top Safety Accreditation for Deconstruct UK

Deconstruct UK has been awarded accreditation from safecontractor for its commitment to achieving excellence in health and safety.

Safecontractor is a leading third party accreditation scheme which recognises very high standards in health and safety management amongst UK contractors.

Deconstruct specialise in all aspects of deconstruction, dismantling and demolition works, including asbestos management and asbestos abatement. The company’s application for safecontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business.

Managing Director, Ashley Griffiths said:

“We pride ourselves by operating an excellent health and safety, risk management strategy throughout the business. We set ourselves a very stringent safety approach which has been recognised by being awarded this top industry accreditation.”

Safecontractor accreditation will enhance Deconstruct’s ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal.

John Kinge, technical director of safecontractor said:

“Major organisations simply cannot afford to run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies in place.”

He went onto say:

“More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Deconstruct has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.

Safecontractor plays a vital role in supporting our clients in meeting their compliance needs, whilst working with their contractors as they progress through the accreditation process.”

Under the safecontractor scheme, businesses undergo a vetting process which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website.

Client-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These clients agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.

Over one hundred and seventy major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

ENDS.

About Deconstruct (UK) Limited

Deconstruct UK specialise in all aspects of deconstruction, dismantling and demolition works, including asbestos management and asbestos abatement. These core specialisms enable Deconstruct to advise clients fully on all aspects of risk management including costs and programme implications.

Deconstruct (UK) Services include:

For further information about Deconstruct (UK) Limited and a full description of all services, please visit the group website: www.deconstructuk.com or call through on 020 7734 6655. Alternatively, visit our specialist asbestos removal services website at www.deconstructuk-asbestos-removal.com. The Deconstruct blog can be found at www.deconstruct-asbestos-removal.co.uk, subscribe here to keep updated on asbestos management and removal topics.

Contact Details:

Deconstruct (UK) Limited

Silver House

31-35 Beak Street

London

W1F 9DP

T: 0207 734 6655

F: 0207 734 6626

E: enquiries@deconstructuk.com

For interviews, comments, or high resolution images, please contact our PR agency: SMPR (Simply Marcomms Limited) 0870 199 4044 Email: info@simplymarcomms.co.uk

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Glasgow Health Board fined for asbestos failings

A recent article publish on the Risk Management Services blog reported that a Scottish health authority has been fined £6,000 for failing to clear asbestos from the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill in Glasgow.

Asbestos risk managment

The health authority potentially exposed several workers to the asbestos fibres due to the failed management of the risks of asbestos in a basement plant room of the hospital.

On the 20th of June, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that Greater Glasgow Health Board has failed to properly manage the risks of asbestos in a basement plant room of the hospital. It was also revealed that the survey which was carried out in February of 2009 identified the presence of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) in a number of places within the plant room, however, it said that they the asbestos containing materials was in a good condition and low risk.

The survey also recommended the ACMs should be labelled and their condition observed to ensure any future deterioration could be managed.

An additional survey was carried out within the plant room in January 2011, this survey was carried out prior the installation of a new MRI scanner at the hospital and it discovered that some of the ACMS were now in a poor condition and posed a high risk.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) were informed of the issue after air and swab samples for asbestos fibres came back positive, the plant room was then sealed off.

An investigation carried out by the HSE found that the health board had taken no action since the 2009 survey to monitor ACMs within the plant room, while no labelling of the ACMs had taken place in the two years following the initial survey.

The Court was also informed that employees of the health board and outside contractors regularly had to access the plant room and could have potentially been exposed to the harmful asbestos fibres when carrying out maintenance work.

After pleading guilty to a breach of Regulation 4(10) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, Greater Glasgow Health Board was fined £6,000.

HSE Inspector, Eve Macready, spoke following the case:

“The dangers posed by the presence of asbestos are clear. There is no known ‘safe limit’ and it is often many years after exposure before asbestos-related diseases appear – so it is important exposure to asbestos fibres is kept to an absolute minimum.

“Glasgow Health Board failed in its duty to properly manage the risks of asbestos in its premises and as a result a number of employees and external contractors have potentially been exposed to harmful fibres.”

References:

Derisk – Risk Management Services

Work Place Law

Health and Safety Executive

View the original article here

Guidance issued on ‘Managing Asbestos in the Retail Sector’

The Retail Asbestos Working Group (RAWG) has launched a guidance document that promotes the continuous improvement of asbestos management in the retail sector.

The purpose of the guide which is called ‘The Management of Asbestos Containing Materials in the Retail Sector’ is to promote good-practice and to provide guidance to retailers regarding their duties under the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012 and to contractors who work in this sector.

The guidance has been developed by the Retail Asbestos Working Group (RAWG), which was set up and initiated by Silverdell PLC. The group consists of forward-thinking organisations and bodies that operate in the retail sector. These include ASDA, Boots UK, Land Securities, Marks & Spencer, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and two independent Asbestos Consultants Martin Stear and Rob Blackburn who have co-authored the guidance. The RAWG has also benefited from the support of the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The guidance offers an interpretation of how retailers should approach the management of asbestos during trading operations, as well as during maintenance and building works.

The asbestos challenge

Asbestos is still a problem in the UK with over 4000 people still being affected every year by past exposure to asbestos fibres. It is essential that retailers manage asbestos effectively and ensure that any major refurbishment work is allocated sufficient time and space for the safe removal of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).

Retail Industry

This guidance has been prepared by the retail industry to provide clarity about managing asbestos and about removing or working with ACMs in trading stores and shops. It outlines the steps that should be taken by clients, employers and others in the construction sector such as principal contractors, licensed asbestos removal contractors and other sub-contractors, who have a duty to ensure that asbestos is removed or worked on safely.

Michelle Irving from the BRC comments:

“The BRC welcomes this new initiative to help our members and other retailers. While the retail sector isn’t alone in facing day-to-day challenges managing asbestos-containing materials, this guidance directly tackles the specific challenges retailers face, and provides up-to-date and practical advice. It will help retailers comply with the law and is useful to everyone in the sector, large or small.”

The Guidance ‘The Management of Asbestos Containing Materials in the Retail Sector’ can be downloaded from the BRC website here http://www.brc.org.uk/asbestos-guidance

ENDS.

RAWG Managing Asbestos in the retail sector

Notes:

What is the Retail Asbestos Working Group (RAWG)?

The RAWG is made up of a small group of health and safety professionals whose organisations are committed to the continuous improvement of asbestos management in retail and who want to help the retail industry to raise awareness and improve standards.

Who is the guidance for?

The guidance is targeted at the whole of the retail sector and considers issues such as conducting asbestos surveys and working on asbestos within the retail environment. It is likely that the guide will be of greater value to larger retailers as their premises will generally be more complex and contain a wider range of ACMs. However, it is anticipated that all retailers will find value in using and referring to the guide. It is written to assist those acting as dutyholders with the responsibility for managing asbestos. However, it will also be relevant to main contractors, subcontractors, maintenance contractors and specialist trades who work in the retail sector and who have to cooperate with the dutyholder and others to ensure ACMs are effectively managed. Others who may find this guide useful include designers and planners; CDMCs (Construction Design Management Coordinators); health and safety advisors; those organisations that own and / or operate shopping malls, as well as asbestos consultants and contractors.

This guide is aimed at those premises that contain asbestos. This principally means those premises constructed prior to January 2000 – use of all forms of asbestos were banned in November 1999.

How to use this guidance

This guidance is split into 10 sections. Section 2 describes an Asbestos Management Plan (AMP) and how to go about preparing one. The AMP sets out how asbestos is managed in retail premises.. The key areas of the AMP are expanded upon within later sections – see the figure above, which also acts as your roadmap to this guidance. The diagram is in various shades of grey and each section is similarly coded so that you can quickly find the relevant section in this guide. Each section of this document has a summary at the start listing the main issues that are covered within it to help you find information quickly.

Where is asbestos in retail?

Retail sector buildings may contain ACMs in a wide range of applications and locations as with any other premises. The applications can include ceiling tiles, wall panels, fire breaks, insulation and many other situations.

Acknowledgements

Martin Stear …………..(Chartered Occupational Hygienist) – co-author

Rob Blackburn ………..(Asbestos Consultant) – co-author

Lucy Czakan ……………(Silverdell PLC)

Liz Davidson ……………(Boots)

Steve Hanson ………….(Callidus Consultants on behalf of Marks & Spencer)

Clive Johnson ………….(Land Securities)

Neil Sheehan ………….(ASDA)

Chris Venables ………..(Tesco)

RAWG acknowledges the support of Asbestos Control and Abatement Division (ACAD), Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA), Asbestos Testing and Consultancy (ATAC), British Retail Consortium (BRC), British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and HSE who kindly reviewed this guidance.

Further information

Media Interviews with key personnel can be arranged through our PR agency:

Nicky Frost, Account Director SMPR (Simply Marcomms Limited)

nicky@simplymarcomms.co.uk

0870 199 4044

For further information about the RAWG contact Lucy Czakan on info@rawg.org.uk

For further technical information about the guidance document contact Martin Stear on info@rawg.org.uk

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Derisk appointed by Solihull Community Housing to carry out comprehensive audit of asbestos risk management policies

Asbestos Risk Management experts, Derisk, were appointed by Solihull Community Housing to provide a full Asbestos Management Compliance Audit and Health Check of their policies.

Asbestos Management Compliance Audit

Derisk provided Solihull Community Housing (SCH) with a comprehensive and critical audit of their asbestos risk management policies, procedures and processes, to ensure that they are in line with the current statutory requirements and industry best-practice.

The audit consisted of horizontal and vertical assessment of all processes, incorporating the management of contractors working in properties for void refurbishment, repairs, maintenance, and specialist asbestos works. It also included the auditing of survey inspections processes, register, record keeping, training, and ‘road-testing’ of register information and dissemination processes on site.

Solihull Community Housing is a non-profit Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO); the organisation was set up by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council to manage their housing stock of around 10,200 tenanted homes and 1,130 leasehold properties.

Greg Lakin, Solihull Community Housing, said:

“The health check audit provided us with a comprehensive guide to the strengths and weaknesses in our asbestos management process and provided us with highly competent guidance and recommendations for further strengthening our already robust system.”

He went onto say:

“Derisk is extremely competent and professional in their approach and I would not hesitate to recommend them and the audit process to similar organisations to ourselves.”

For more information about this case study, view it here.

ENDS.

About Derisk

Derisk are experts in providing competent advice to our expanding client base in respect of Health and Safety Risk Management. We specialise in all aspects of Health and Safety including Asbestos Risk Management and CDM coordination, as well as providing comprehensive Governance development and support.

Services Include:

Asbestos Risk Management

Asbestos Business Healthcheck CDM Coordinator

Asbestos Management Plans CDM Duties

Asbestos Training H&S Management Planning

Asbestos Project Management Safety Audits

Sub-Contracting Auditing Retained H&S Competent Advice

Asbestos Compliance Support Project Management Support

Risk Assessments

enquiries@deriskuk.com

020 7734 6655

www.deriskuk.com

PR & Media Enquiries to:

Nicky Frost – SMPR

nicky@simplymarcomms.co.uk

View the original article here

CPD Accredited Asbestos Management Seminars

Here at Derisk, we know the importance of spending your time wisely which is why Robin Nower is embarking on a series of CPD accredited asbestos management seminars for a number of our clients. The sessions are only 1 hour long and can be arranged as a breakfast or lunchtime slot, so you and your team can get on with your daily duties without interruption.

The sessions are FREE and cover:

Asbestos Management for Duty Holders and Commercial Managers;Asbestos Information for Designers, Planners and Architects in Construction Projects; and/orCDM Duty Holder Responsibilities for Clients and Planners

Please read a brief case study and testimonial on a recent session that we provided on Asbestos Management for Commercial Real Estate Management Professionals.

You can arrange your own seminar by calling us today on:

View the original article here

North East glass Firm fined after potential asbestos exposure

A North East glass firm has been fined after the potential exposure of dangerous asbestos fibres to nearly 200 workers and visitors at its Consett premises.

Asbestos

The incident which was triggered by fire alarm installers when work at the firms Princess Building on Leadgate Industrial Estate started on July 12th 2011, which then went on to be investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.

Recommendations by the safety advisors for Consett-based Romag Ltd to barricade the contaminated area and arrange for emergency clean-up specialist were also believed to be ignored.

On 14 October this year the Consett Magistrates’ Court heard that without knowing, the two involved subcontractors drilled through an asbestos insulation panel while installing fire sensors, this all occurred after being informed that the building was free from asbestos.

Asbestos fibres were then spread around the premises as a domestic vacuum cleaner was used to clean up the debris and dust, and then later used in many other areas of the premises whilst sensors were being installed.

As conveyed to the court, the asbestos disturbance was discovered the following day; however action by Romag failed to take place until at least nine days after the incident occurred. This happened despite being instructed to lock down the area and arrange for an air clearance test.

A significant amount of contaminated material was discovered when the clean-up was organised, as a result of the delay in taking action, the HSE established that 180 workers and 16 visitors were put at risk of exposure to asbestos fibres.

The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £12,638 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Following the hearing, HSE Inspector Paul Miller said:

“Romag Ltd needlessly put at risk the health of nearly 200 people because they failed to identify the presence of asbestos before any work started and then compounded the failing by not acting quickly to clean the area properly.

“Any company that intends to do work to the fabric of a property built prior to the year 2000 must ensure that they have taken all reasonable steps to check whether asbestos is present before any work starts. That information must be then shared with anyone involved in the proposed work.”

For information and advice on asbestos safety, visit www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos

Reference

HSE

This entry was posted on Friday, October 18th, 2013 at 10:45 am and is filed under Asbestos News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Independant Asbestos Training Providers – Don’t miss your opportunity to attend the 2014 Annual Dinner

Tickets for the 2014 Annual Dinner are selling quickly. Tickets have been on sale for just over 2 weeks and we have already allocated 25% of them.

The evening will be a formal dinner themed on the 1920's and “The Great Gatsby”.

The evening is aimed at bringing all sectors of the Asbestos Industry together, whilst raising awareness and funds for the IATP’s chosen Charity, The Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team.

The Annual Dinner also includes “The IATP Recognition Awards”, which honours individuals for their work and contributions across all areas of the Asbestos Industry.

The evening will include:

Red Carpet Entrance & Drinks ReceptionPhotographer (photos will be available to purchase if desired)3 Course Dinner followed by after dinner coffee & mintsIATP Recognition AwardsLive Jazz Band – Silk Street SwingCharity AuctionDisco & Dancing
Come and join us for an evening of glitz and glam, from the era of decadence. Tickets cost £48.00 per person

Dress code: Black Tie & Evening Dress or optional 1920’s themed evening wear.

Tickets are limited and will be sold strictly on a first come first served basis, so please be quick to avoid disappointment. To purchase your tickets please download and complete the booking form and return to events@iatp.org.uk.

Closing date for Ticket Sales is: Friday 14th February 2014

Click here to download your booking form today.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 27th, 2013 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Asbestos News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Provision of CPD Asbestos Management Seminar for Commercial Real Estate Management Professionals

Derisk, experts in Health and Safety Risk Management, provided a ‘free to attend’ targeted CPD lunchtime seminar for Commercial Real Estate Management Professionals.

Robin Nower, Director at Derisk, provided a ‘free to attend’ targeted CPD lunchtime seminar for Commercial Real Estate Management Professionals, the seminar consisted of providing guidance on how to comply and how to ensure clients comply with the duties to manage asbestos, as stipulated in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

The session also highlighted the general duties of the landlord and property manager, and also the duties of the lanners, architects and clients in refurbishment and major works (CDM).

Adam J. Mehmet BSc(Hons) MSc MRICS, Aardent Real Estate Consulting Ltd, said:

“Robin delivered a highly informative, interactive and lively seminar on a complex subject within a tight deadline, without it seeming rushed, ensuring that all pertinent points were suitably covered. It was an excellent session.”

Derisk offer bespoke CPD sessions for all aspects of Asbestos Management, Fire Risk Management, and CDM. These sessions are mostly free and can be delivered at client’s premises at the client’s convenience, fitted into breakfast or lunchtime slots.

For more information about this CPD Asbestos Management Seminar, please view the case study here.

ENDS.

About Derisk

Services Include:

Asbestos Risk Management

Asbestos Business Healthcheck CDM Coordinator

Asbestos Management Plans CDM Duties

Asbestos Training H&S Management Planning

Asbestos Project Management Safety Audits

Sub-Contracting Auditing Retained H&S Competent Advice

Asbestos Compliance Support Project Management Support

Risk Assessments

enquiries@deriskuk.com

020 7734 6655

www.deriskuk.com

PR & Media Enquiries to:

Nicky Frost – SMPR

nicky@simplymarcomms.co.uk 0870 199 4044

View the original article here

A targeted approach to asbestos-related cancer

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A targeted approach to asbestos-related cancer

A new targeted therapy for asbestos-related tumours has shown promise in an animal model. The results, reported in the open access journal BMC Cancer, raise hopes of a new therapy for this currently incurable cancer.

Malignant mesothelioma (MMs) is a rare form of cancer, most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos. It tends to be diagnosed decades after exposure occurs, so is rarely caught early. Current treatments, including surgery and chemotherapy, have limited efficacy and unpleasant side effects.

Traditional chemotherapeutic drugs work by destroying cells that divide quickly. As such, they're indiscriminate killers, destroying healthy dividing cells such as those in the bone marrow, digestive tract and hair follicles, as well as cancer cells. The result is an unwelcome mix of side-effects including a weakened immune system, gastrointestinal problems and hair loss. Targeted therapies, which are designed to kill cancer cells and leave healthy tissue unharmed, are highly sought after.

The new targeted therapy is a silica microparticle, coated in antibodies that recognise a protein produced by the tumour cells in large amounts. When the microparticles are injected into a mouse model of the cancer, the antibody helps the microparticles bind to the tumour cells, where they are then able to release their hidden inner cargo - the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin.

The new therapy is more effective and less toxic than doxorubicin alone, Brooke T. Mossman and colleagues report. Tumours shrank, the cancer cells proliferated less, and the animals were able more or less to maintain their weight and health throughout the treatment. Overall, the data suggest that targeted therapy may prove better than chemotherapy alone.

Using this targeting approach, the authors were able to reduce the dose of doxorubicin used four-fold thus almost eliminating side effects and toxicity. And because the treatment appears to reduce the number of proliferating tumour cells, it may prove useful early on, when pre-malignant or malignant MM cells are first observed, but before disease has been confirmed by histology.

BMC Cancer: Microspheres targeted with a mesothelin antibody and loaded with doxorubicin reduce tumor volume of human mesotheliomas in xenografts

Authors: Sherrill L Macura, Jeremy L Steinbacher, Maximilian B MacPherson, Melissa J Lathrop, Mutlay Sayan, Jedd M Hillegass, Stacie L Beuschel, Timothy N Perkins, Page C Spiess, Albert van der Vliet, Kelly J Butnor, Arti Shukla, Marilyn Wadsworth, Christopher C Landry and Brooke T Mossman

BioMed Central

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
Central, BioMed. "A targeted approach to asbestos-related cancer." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 11 Sep. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

APA
Central, B. (2013, September 11). "A targeted approach to asbestos-related cancer." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/265907.

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New data for engineering immune cells shows early promise in solid tumors

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New data for engineering immune cells shows early promise in solid tumors

Engineered immune cells, called CARTmeso cells, designed to direct antitumor immune responses toward tumors that carry a protein called mesothelin, showed antitumor activity in two patients with advanced cancers that had not responded to prior treatments, according to a study published in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells) are a form of personalized cell therapy that uses immune cells called T cells from patients. After T cells are harvested from a patient, they are engineered to bear a molecule that allows them to attach to a specific protein carried by the patient's cancer cells and to be triggered to kill the cancer cells when they do so. CAR T cells have shown early promising results for patients with some types of leukemia and lymphoma; however, they have not been very successful for solid cancers, one of the major issues being toxicity. Because normal cells express the CAR T cell target protein, albeit at lower levels than cancer cells, the engineered T cells recognize and attack the normal cells as well the cancer cells, causing off-target toxicity.

"So far, researchers have been permanently modifying T cells by using a variety of methods, including using viruses," said Carl H. June, M.D., a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and director of translational research in the university's Abramson Cancer Center.

"We engineered T cells to express a CAR for about three days, after which the mRNA is metabolized rapidly by the system, so the T cells basically revert to what they were before in the patient," explained June. "These T cells recognize a protein called mesothelin present in many tumors, including mesothelioma and pancreatic cancers, hence we named them CARTmeso cells. Our strategy is to give multiple infusions of CARTmeso cells to the patient, and if there is toxicity, we could abort the toxicity just by stopping the infusions, because the mRNA-based CARs rapidly revert to normal T cells."

"We found that the temporary CARs we engineered are safe, with no significant on-target, off-tumor toxicity," June added. "We have evidence of antitumor effects in two patients whose advanced tumors failed previous therapies. These results, albeit preliminary, are very promising."

June and colleagues recruited two patients, ages 75 and 81 years, to a phase I clinical trial. One patient had advanced mesothelioma, and the other patient had metastatic pancreatic cancer that progressed after failing first-line therapy. The objective of this trial was to evaluate the manufacturing feasibility and safety of the mRNA-based CARTmeso cells. The researchers isolated T cells from the patients, reproduced them in large numbers in the laboratory, and engineered them to recognize mesothelin on tumor cells, using a biological material called mRNA. After ensuring viability and specificity of the engineered cells, the researchers infused the patients' modified T cells back into their bodies.

After receiving three infusions of CARTmeso cells, the patient with mesothelioma showed stable disease, as evaluated by imaging. The patient with pancreatic cancer received eight infusions of CARTmeso cells, and fluid collected from his abdomen showed a 40 percent decrease in the number of tumor cells that expressed mesothelin. The researchers evaluated additional tumor markers and confirmed antitumor activity.

"We found that these CARTmeso cells not only have antitumor activity, but also act like a vaccine, and trigger a response against the patient's own tumor," said June. "This new form of CAR therapy provides a new tool to evaluate CAR therapies for solid cancers."

Adverse events observed during the trial include an anaphylactic reaction and an intestinal obstruction.

This study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, The Prevor Family Fund for Immunotherapy Cancer Research, and The Lustgarten Foundation. June and co-investigator B. Levine have commercial research support and ownership interest (including patents) from Novartis. June, Levine, and co-investigators Y. Zhao, and M. Kalos have financial interests due to intellectual property and patents in the field of cell and gene therapy.

Mesothelin-Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor mRNA-Engineered T Cells Induce Antitumor Activity in Solid Malignancies, Gregory L. Beatty, Andrew R. Haas, Marcela V. Maus, Drew A. Torigian, Michael C. Soulen, Gabriela Plesa, Anne Chew, Yangbing Zhao, Bruce L. Levine, Steven M. Albelda, Michael Kalos, and Carl H. June, Cancer Immunology Research - doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-13-0170

American Association for Cancer Research

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
American Association for Cancer Research. "New data for engineering immune cells shows early promise in solid tumors." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 24 Dec. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

APA
American Association for Cancer Research. (2013, December 24). "New data for engineering immune cells shows early promise in solid tumors." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/270596.

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Leicester leads two groundbreaking trials into treatments for asbestos-related cancer

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Leicester leads two groundbreaking trials into treatments for asbestos-related cancer

University of Leicester researchers are leading two major trials into treatments for a type of cancer which affects those exposed to asbestos.

Professor Dean Fennell, of the University's Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine, is leading two groundbreaking trials into mesothelioma - a form of lung cancer strongly linked with exposure to asbestos.

Mesothelioma most commonly starts in the inner lining of the chest wall, causing it to thicken, reducing lung capacity - which in turn puts a strain on other organs including the heart.

Since the 1960s, it has been known that the disease can be triggered by the inhalation of asbestos fibres.

Despite the UK's ban on asbestos issued in 1985, the number of deaths caused by the disease each year has grown from 153 in 1968 to 2,321 in 2009 - the highest incidence in the world.

This number is set to continue to rise sharply over the next 20 years, with a peak coming in 2020.

Two studies involving the University of Leicester aim to test new potential treatments which could improve survival and quality of life for mesothelioma patients.

Meso2, a study funded by Synta Pharmaceuticals, aims to test the effectiveness of a drug called ganetespib in preventing mesothelioma tumours.

Ganetespib inhibits the action of a protein in cells called heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) - which is required for the stabilization and proper functioning of many proteins required for tumour growth.

The trial will involve around 140 patients across the UK, and is being led by Professor Fennell.

Professor Fennell said: "We think this is a new way of being able to target mesothelioma. Laboratory tests show ganetespib is extremely active in mesothelioma - and combined with chemotherapy, this treatment could shrink cancers down and improve symptoms for patients."

The second trial is part of a global trial named COMMAND (Control of Mesothelioma with MAiNtenance Defactinib) sponsored by pharmaceutical company Verastem, which will investigate a new drug called defactinib.

The researchers believe the drug could help to inhibit focal adhesion kinase (FAK), which is critical for the cancer stem cells' development into tumours.

The drug could potentially reduce the need for repeated chemotherapy treatment by killing cancer stem cells remaining following front-line therapy.

The trial will involve around 350-400 mesothelioma patients worldwide - and the University of Leicester is leading the study for the UK, which was the first country to open the trial worldwide.

Professor Fennell, who sits on the steering committee for the trial, said: "Cancer stem cells can cause cancer to return after chemotherapy, and the FAK protein seems to be something that cancer stem cells require. If you inhibit FAK protein, you may be able to target the cancer more effectively.

"We hope that both of these trials will be positive studies for mesothelioma patients."

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
University of Leicester. "Leicester leads two groundbreaking trials into treatments for asbestos-related cancer." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 24 Sep. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

APA
University of Leicester. (2013, September 24). "Leicester leads two groundbreaking trials into treatments for asbestos-related cancer." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/266476.

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Prognostic potential of rib cage lymph nodes in mesothelioma

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Prognostic potential of rib cage lymph nodes in mesothelioma

For the first time, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown the predictive power of a group of overlooked lymph nodes--known as the posterior intercostal lymph nodes--that could serve as a better tool to stage and ultimately treat patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The findings were presented at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Physicians look to lymph nodes to stage essentially all cancers, including mesothelioma. The presence or absence of metastatic cancer cells in lymph nodes affects prognosis and also typically dictates the optimal treatment strategy. But posterior intercostal lymph nodes, which are located between the ribs near the spine, have not been previously used to stage or guide treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma or any other cancer.

In a retrospective study of 48 Penn Medicine patients undergoing radical pleurectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma, Joseph S. Friedberg, MD, Chief of the Section of Thoracic Surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and Co-Director of the Penn Mesothelioma and Pleural Disease Program, and colleagues found that over half the patients had cancer metastatic to these lymph nodes and that, in some of these patients, those were the only lymph nodes containing metastatic cancer.

Patients who did not have cancer in the posterior intercostal lymph nodes had significantly longer overall survival rates, nearly two and half years longer, compared to those who did have cancer in the lymph nodes.

"I am unaware of any other group that is sampling these nodes. They are not currently part of the staging system for mesothelioma, or any other cancer for that matter," said Dr. Friedberg. "What we have shown here is that even though these lymph nodes are not described in relation to this cancer, they are highly significant."

The conclusion of the study was that surgeons should routinely biopsy these lymph nodes as part of any surgery-based treatment for mesothelioma and that these lymph nodes should be included in any revision of the mesothelioma staging system.

"Ultimately, it means that the presence or absence of cancer in these lymph nodes could help guide the treatment of pleural mesothelioma," said Dr. Friedberg.

This study is one of a 13 Penn Medicine studies and talks being presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

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University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "Prognostic potential of rib cage lymph nodes in mesothelioma." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 30 Oct. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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First Portable, Real-Time Asbestos Detector Offers Promise Of Better Workplace Safety

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First Portable, Real-Time Asbestos Detector Offers Promise Of Better Workplace Safety Asbestos was once called a miracle material because of its toughness and fire-resistant properties. It was used as insulation, incorporated into cement and even woven into firemen's protective clothing. Over time, however, scientists pinned the cause of lung cancers such as mesothelioma on asbestos fiber inhalation. Asbestos was banned in the many industrialized countries in the 1980s, but the threat lingers on in the ceilings, walls and floors of old buildings and homes. Now a team of researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. has developed and tested the first portable, real-time airborne asbestos detector. They hope that the prototype, described in a paper published today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express, will be commercialized in the U.K. in the next few years, providing roofers, plumbers, electricians and other workers in commercial and residential buildings with an affordable way to quickly identify if they have inadvertently disturbed asbestos fibers into the air.

"Many thousands of people around the world have died from asbestos fiber inhalation," says Paul Kaye, a member of the team that developed the new detection method at the University of Hertfordshire's School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics. "Even today, long after asbestos use was banned in most Western countries, there are many people who become exposed to asbestos that was used in buildings decades earlier, and these people too are dying from that exposure."

Currently, the most common way to identify hazardous airborne asbestos at worksites is to filter the air, count the number of fibers that are caught, and later analyze the fibers with X-ray technology to determine if they are asbestos. The approach requires expensive lab work and hours of wait time. An alternative method to evaluate work site safety is to use a real-time fiber detector, but the current, commercially available detectors are unable to distinguish between asbestos and other less dangerous fibers such as mineral wool, gypsum and glass. The University of Hertfordshire team's new detection method, in contrast, can identify asbestos on-site. It does so by employing a laser-based technique that takes advantage of a unique magnetic property of the mineral.

When exposed to a magnetic field, asbestos fibers orient themselves to align with the field. The property is virtually unique among fibrous materials. "Asbestos has a complex crystalline structure containing several metals including silicon, magnesium and iron. It is thought that it is the iron atoms that give rise to the magnetic properties, but the exact mechanism is still somewhat unclear," says Kaye. Kaye notes that his team wasn't the first to try to exploit the magnetic effect to develop an asbestos detector. "Pioneering U.S.-based scientist Pedro Lilienfeld filed a patent on a related approach in 1988, but it seems it was not taken forward, possibly because of technical difficulties," he says.

The Hertfordshire team's new detection method, developed under the European Commission FP7 project 'ALERT' (FP7-SME-2008-2), works by first shining a laser beam at a stream of airborne particles. When light bounces off the particles, it scatters to form unique, complex patterns. The pattern "is a bit like a thumbprint for the particle," says Kaye, sometimes making it possible to identify a particle's shape, size, structure, and orientation by looking at the scattered light. "We can use this technique of light scattering to detect single airborne fibers that are far too small to be seen with the naked eye," he says. After identifying the fibers, the detector carries them in an airflow through a magnetic field, and uses light scattering again on the other side to tell if the fibers have aligned with the field. "If they have, they are highly likely to be asbestos," Kaye says.

The team has tested their detector in the lab and has worked with colleagues in the U.K. and Spain to develop prototypes that are now undergoing field trials at various locations where asbestos removal operations are underway. "Our colleagues estimate that it will take 12 to 18 months to get the first production units for sale, with a target price of perhaps 700-800 U.S. dollars," Kaye says. As production increases after the initial product launch, Kaye hopes that costs may be cut even further, making the detectors even more affordable for an individual plumber, electrician or building renovator. "These tradespeople are the most frequently affected by asbestos-related diseases and most who get the diseases will die from them," Kaye says. The team hopes that, over time, the new detector will help to reduce the 100,000 annual death toll that the World Health Organization attributes to occupational exposure to airborne asbestos.

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Society, The Optical. "First Portable, Real-Time Asbestos Detector Offers Promise Of Better Workplace Safety." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 6 May. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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Society, T. (2013, May 6). "First Portable, Real-Time Asbestos Detector Offers Promise Of Better Workplace Safety." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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A New Approach To Reduce Risk In Construction Industry

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A New Approach To Reduce Risk In Construction Industry "Some of the most pressing occupational health hazard risks in construction" are associated with masonry operations, asphalt roofing, and welding, wrote Deborah Young-Corbett in an article recently accepted by the Journal of Civil Engineering and Management.

To reduce these health risks to construction workers, Young-Corbett, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and a member of the university's Myers-Lawson School of Construction since 2007, has studied much of the existing literature, identifying numerous gaps or problems in current construction practices.

As a result, Young-Corbett is working in a new field of engineering known as Prevention through Design or PtD. The optimal method of preventing occupational illnesses, injuries, and fatalities is to "design out" the hazards and risks; thereby, eliminating the need to control them during work operations, Young-Corbett said. This approach involves the design of tools, equipment, systems, work processes, and facilities in order to reduce, or eliminate, occupational hazards and environmental risks.

She is teaching these new state-of-the-art design tactics in her classes, providing her undergraduate and graduate students with a better understanding of how to improve the long-term success of the construction industry. Young-Corbett is a certified industrial hygienist, safety professional, and hazardous materials manager with a background in environmental sciences, human factors engineering, and industrial engineering.

In 2008, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) launched the PtD initiative in an attempt to mitigate hazards in the construction sector in the design stage. Yet, four years later, Young-Corbett's review of the industry's safety procedures shows some of the "barriers" to PtD adoption and she identifies strategies for the construction industry to improve its health records.

Young-Corbett provides evidence in her assessment of the industry of a "gap" in the PtD initiative that does not address the approaches to "occupational health hazard control," with the key word being "health." These "health risks arise when workers are exposed to chemical, biological, or energetic hazards that might lead to various illnesses or fatalities," Young-Corbett said.

For example, additional changes in tool selection in masonry could alleviate much of the health risks, according to Young-Corbett. With a masonry operation, a key issue is to reduce the silica dust produced when sawing. Now that wet methods are available for hand-operated grinders used for surface finishing and cutting slots, these devices can keep operators' exposures to silica below Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limits, she noted.

Construction supervisors should also be advocating hand operated surface grinders that are made with better vacuum dust collection systems, also reducing an operator's exposure to silica.

In roofing, the workers' exposure to asphalt fumes and vapors lead to both acute and chronic effects. Lung cancer is at an elevated risk for asphalt roofers. But, as Young-Corbett argued in her paper, delivery of hot asphalt to a job site via a tanker, eliminates the on-site kettle operation for handling and heating the asphalt, and makes a difference to the health of the worker.

Similar relatively simple changes in the practice of welding can also make an impact in the decline of health-related problems. The use of local exhaust ventilation systems can prevent worker exposure to metal fumes during welding, Young-Corbett wrote in her article in the Journal of Civil Engineering and Management.

In general, Young-Corbett said there are still needs for designs for better tools or materials, but in other cases, "effective tools exist but are not widely adopted within the industry...there is a need to elucidate the barriers to PtD adoption and to identify strategies for improved diffusion within the construction industry."

"The further refinement and marketing of PtD solutions such as the smokeless welding gun, the low-smoke welding wire, and the local-exhaust ventilation systems for welding are needed," she asserted.

Several of the research endeavors of Young-Corbett's laboratory have been in the realm of PtD. A NIOSH-sponsored research project entitled Dust-control Usage: Strategic Technology Intervention (DUSTI), developed new equipment design solutions for dust control in construction and an intervention for improving adoption rates within the industry. In a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation, a pervasive computing system was developed for sensing construction worker exposure to carbon monoxide and wirelessly summoning assistance in the event of over-exposure. Young-Corbett recently received a grant from NIOSH to develop PtD design and intervention strategies for health hazard control in masonry, asphalt roofing, and welding trades.
Virginia Tech

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Tech, Virginia. "A New Approach To Reduce Risk In Construction Industry." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 12 Dec. 2012. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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Tech, V. (2012, December 12). "A New Approach To Reduce Risk In Construction Industry." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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Potential new target for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma

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Potential new target for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare asbestos-associated malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Despite advances in the treatment, the median survival remains 12 months from the time of diagnosis. Increased understanding of the molecular basis for the diverse signaling pathways involved in cancer progression should promote the discovery of novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and potentially lead to more effective therapeutic tools for the disease.

In the September issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's journal, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO), researchers conclude that Ephrin (EPH) B2 seems to play an important role in malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines and tumors.

Using expression arrays, researchers from the New York University Langone Medical Center looked at EPHB2 in 34 malignant pleural mesothelioma tumors , and found it significantly elevated in tumor tissue compared with matched normal peritoneum. They found EPHB2 overexpressed in all malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines, but not in benign mesothelial cells. EPHB2 is also significantly elevated in malignant pleural mesothelioma tumor tissue compared with matched normal peritoneum.

Researchers believe, "targeting EPHB2 might provide a novel therapy to improve the prognosis in people suffering from malignant pleural mesothelioma. Further investigation in vitro using specific inhibitors of EPHB2 is required to determine the importance of EPHB2 and its interactions with other members of the receptor kinases and their ligands to prove its role as a marker of progression or worse prognosis for malignant pleural mesothelioma.

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International Association for the Study of Lung Ca. "Potential new target for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 29 Jul. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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International Association for the Study of Lung Ca. (2013, July 29). "Potential new target for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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New online asbestos course for DIY renovators

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New online asbestos course for DIY renovators

Home renovators are being encouraged to extend their 'DIY' skills and take a free online course to help them identify and safely handle asbestos.

Cancer Council and the Department of Health in WA have developed the course in the face of growing concern about a 'third wave' of people contracting the deadly disease, mesothelioma, from exposure to asbestos while doing their own renovations.

Chair of Cancer Council Australia's Occupational and Environmental Cancer Risk Committee, Terry Slevin, said short-term or low-level exposure to asbestos from people doing home renovations could prove as big a threat as the death toll from asbestos mining.

"We're sadly all too aware of the thousands of tragic deaths of asbestos mine workers from mesothelioma, as well as those who worked with asbestos-containing materials such as builders, electricians and plumbers," Mr Slevin said.

"But with the burgeoning interest in DIY home renovation, we're now facing a third wave of people being diagnosed with mesothelioma. It's largely due to ignorance - people aren't sure how to handle asbestos, or even recognise asbestos in their homes."

Australia has the highest per-capita rate of asbestos-related disease in the world, with rates of malignant mesothelioma continuing to climb.

The course, 'kNOw asbestos in your home', is designed to give the DIY renovator basic knowledge about asbestos, and the risks and safe practices when working with or removing, small amounts of asbestos-containing material.

Mr Slevin said the course was easy to access and complete online. "It's a great way for DIYers to educate themselves and ensure they know what they were doing when embarking on any renovation job around the house, big or small," he said.

"If you are going to attempt to handle and dispose of asbestos yourself, this course will give you the confidence to do it safely and minimise the risk to you and your family."

Mr Slevin said however, that renovators should be mindful there were some jobs they shouldn't take on themselves. "Some asbestos removal tasks are too big for renovators to handle on their own and there are rules around the amount of asbestos they can handle.

"People need to remember that asbestos is a hazardous substance. We would encourage a DIY renovator to use a licenced professional asbestos removalist for any amount over 10m2."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Source:

Cancer Council Australia

Visit our Asbestos / Mesothelioma category page for the latest news on this subject.

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Australia, Cancer Council. "New online asbestos course for DIY renovators." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 27 Nov. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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Australia, C. (2013, November 27). "New online asbestos course for DIY renovators." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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Concerns Over The Toxic Properties Of Carbon Nanotubes Resolved

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Concerns Over The Toxic Properties Of Carbon Nanotubes Resolved Safety fears about carbon nanotubes, due to their structural similarity to asbestos, have been alleviated following research showing that reducing their length removes their toxic properties.

In a new study, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, evidence is provided that the asbestos-like reactivity and pathogenicity reported for long, pristine nanotubes can be completely alleviated if their surface is modified and their effective length is reduced as a result of chemical treatment.

First atomically described in the 1990s, carbon nanotubes are sheets of carbon atoms rolled up into hollow tubes just a few nanometres in diameter. Engineered carbon nanotubes can be chemically modified, with the addition of chemotherapeutic drugs, fluorescent tags or nucleic acids - opening up applications in cancer and gene therapy.

Furthermore, these chemically modified carbon nanotubes can pierce the cell membrane, acting as a kind of 'nano-needle', allowing the possibility of efficient transport of therapeutic and diagnostic agents directly into the cytoplasm of cells.

Among their downsides however, have been concerns about their safety profile. One of the most serious concerns, highlighted in 2008, involves the carcinogenic risk from the exposure and persistence of such fibres in the body. Some studies indicate that when long untreated carbon nanotubes are injected to the abdominal cavity of mice they can induce unwanted responses resembling those associated with exposure to certain asbestos fibres.

In this paper, the authors describe two different reactions which ask if any chemical modification can render the nanotubes non-toxic. They conclude that not all chemical treatments alleviate the toxicity risks associated with the material. Only those reactions that are able to render carbon nanotubes short and stably suspended in biological fluids without aggregation are able to result in safe, risk-free material.

Professor Kostas Kostarelos, Chair of Nanomedicine at the UCL School of Pharmacy who led the research with his long term collaborators Doctor Alberto Bianco of the CNRS in Strasbourg, France and Professor Maurizio Prato of the University of Trieste, Italy, said: "The apparent structural similarity between carbon nanotubes and asbestos fibres has generated serious concerns about their safety profile and has resulted in many unreasonable proposals of a halt in the use of these materials even in well-controlled and strictly regulated applications, such as biomedical ones. What we show for the first time is that in order to design risk-free carbon nanotubes both chemical treatment and shortening are needed."

He added: "Creative strategies to identify the characteristics that nanoparticles should possess in order to be rendered 'safe-for-use', and the ways to achieve that, are essential as nanotechnology and its tools are maturing into applications and becoming part of our everyday lives."

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University College London. "Concerns Over The Toxic Properties Of Carbon Nanotubes Resolved." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 17 Jan. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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University College London. (2013, January 17). "Concerns Over The Toxic Properties Of Carbon Nanotubes Resolved." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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Lung Cancer Risk Greatly Increased By Asbestos Exposure, Asbestosis, And Smoking Combined Greatly Increase

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Lung Cancer Risk Greatly Increased By Asbestos Exposure, Asbestosis, And Smoking Combined Greatly Increase The chances of developing lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure, asbestosis and smoking are dramatically increased when these three risk factors are combined, and quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of developing lung cancer after long-term asbestos exposure, according to a new study.

"The interactions between asbestos exposure, asbestosis and smoking, and their influence on lung cancer risk are incompletely understood," said lead author Steven B. Markowitz, MD DrPH, professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Queens College in New York. "In our study of a large cohort of asbestos-exposed insulators and more than 50,000 non-exposed controls, we found that each individual risk factor was associated with increased risk of developing lung cancer, while the combination of two risk factors further increased the risk and the combination of all three risk factors increased the risk of developing lung cancer almost 37-fold."

The findings were published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The study included 2,377 long-term North American insulators and 54,243 male blue collar workers with no history of exposure to asbestos from the Cancer Prevention Study II. Causes of death were determined from the National Death Index.

Among non-smokers, asbestos exposure increased the rate of dying from lung cancer 5.2-fold, while the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure increased the death rate more than 28-fold. Asbestosis increased the risk of developing lung cancer among asbestos-exposed subjects in both smokers and non-smokers, with the death rate from lung cancer increasing 36.8-fold among asbestos-exposed smokers with asbestosis.

Among insulators who quit smoking, lung cancer morality dropped in the 10 years following smoking cessation from 177 deaths per 10,000 among current smokers to 90 per 10,000 among those who quit. Lung cancer rates among insulators who had stopped smoking more than 30 years earlier were similar to those among insulators who had never smoked.

There were a few limitations to the study, including the fact that smoking status and asbestosis were evaluated only once and that some members of the control group could have been exposed to relatively brief periods of asbestos.

"Our study provides strong evidence that asbestos exposure causes lung cancer through multiple mechanisms," said Dr. Markowitz. "Importantly, we also show that quitting smoking greatly reduces the increased lung cancer risk seen in this population."

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American Thoracic Society. "Lung Cancer Risk Greatly Increased By Asbestos Exposure, Asbestosis, And Smoking Combined Greatly Increase." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 Apr. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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American Thoracic Society. (2013, April 13). "Lung Cancer Risk Greatly Increased By Asbestos Exposure, Asbestosis, And Smoking Combined Greatly Increase." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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Study shows putting aggressive cancer on a starvation diet slows tumour growth

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Study shows putting aggressive cancer on a starvation diet slows tumour growth

Scientists researching one of Britain's deadliest rare cancers, mesothelioma, at Queen Mary's Barts Cancer Institute studied how cancer cells are not able to survive and continue growing when starved of the amino acid 'arginine'. Cells are normally able to make arginine themselves, but research found around half of tumours lacked this ability and need to be fed arginine in order to survive, leaving it vulnerable to starvation.

The identification of this 'Achilles' heel' led to a clinical trial led by Queen Mary (sponsored by Barts Health NHS Trust and funded by Cancer Research UK) to test a new drug that targets this weakness.

68 patients took part in the trial and results so far have been extremely promising. Treatment with the arginine lowering drug significantly slowed down disease progression amongst 44 patients receiving the drug and best supportive care*, extending progression-free survival by almost 6 weeks (compared with the 24 patients receiving best supportive care alone).

The drug, ADI-PEG20**, deprives the tumours of their external source of arginine (which comes from blood, via the food we digest). The tumour cells then die because they don't have this essential nutrient to make proteins and various other chemicals needed by tumours.

These findings could pave the way for a new approach to slowing the progression of mesothelioma. This is the first time a targeted drug treatment has been designed for this type of cancer with a positive effect in a randomised study of patients with mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a cancer affecting the 'protective wrapping' around our organs, particularly the tissue surrounding the lungs. It has become steadily more common since the 1960s due to asbestos exposure and the UK now has the highest rate of mesothelioma deaths in the world. Around 1 in 10 carpenters over the age of 65 can expect to develop the disease.

Dr Peter Szlosarek, Clinical Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London (Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry), comments:

"Mesothelioma is one of the UK's deadliest cancers with rates increasing almost four-fold since the early 1980s***. Despite this, it remains relatively under the radar and there is very little research on how to treat this form of cancer with new therapeutics. Our research found that putting the tumours on an arginine starvation diet was an effective way of weakening the cancer, which in turn prolonged progression-free survival amongst patients. Our latest research suggests that combining arginine starvation drugs with standard chemotherapy could show an even stronger effect in combatting mesothelioma. With the positive signal coming from the current trial, we are eager to launch this new combination trial in early 2014"

Why is this drug promising?

A key issue with cancer drugs is their tendency to be quite toxic, due to the fact they affect healthy cells as well as tumour cells.The new drug used in this trial, ADI-PEG20, only affects the necessary tumour cells and seems to lack serious side effects.

Why is this form of cancer important?

Last year approximately 2500 people in the UK were diagnosed with mesothelioma and patient survival is typically only up to one year from diagnosis.The UK is disproportionately affected by mesothelioma, accounting for more deaths than any other country in the world. (To put it in perspective, last year there were only 3500 new cases of mesothelioma in the whole of the USA, whose population is five times the size of ours).While still relatively rare, mesothelioma deserves our attention as the number of cases is rising steadily by around 100 cases each year. (By comparison there are less than 1,000 deaths due to cervical cancer per year).We need better treatments for this disease; no significant advance has been made in the last 10 years since a standard for chemotherapy was set in 2003 and surgical options are limited.

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Queen Mary University of London. "Study shows putting aggressive cancer on a starvation diet slows tumour growth." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 31 Oct. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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Cancer Cells Resistant To Cisplatin Are Sensitive To Experimental Anticancer Drugs, PARP Inhibitors

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Cancer Cells Resistant To Cisplatin Are Sensitive To Experimental Anticancer Drugs, PARP Inhibitors Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"Cisplatin is one of the most widely used conventional, anticancer chemotherapy drugs," said Guido Kroemer, M.D., Ph.D., professor at University Paris Descartes in Paris, France. "Unfortunately, most patients respond only transiently to cisplatin therapy because their cancer cells develop ways to resist the effects of the drug."

Kroemer and colleagues set out to identify the biochemical changes that arise as cancer cells become resistant to cisplatin in the hope that the information could provide clues to potential new therapies. They focused their study on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells because NSCLC is the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide and patients with NSCLC are frequently treated with cisplatin, according to Kroemer.

The researchers found that most NSCLC cell lines resistant to cisplatin had high levels of the protein poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) and elevated amounts of poly (ADP-ribosyl) (PAR). In addition, they found that the PARP1 was hyperactivated. They observed similar results for cisplatin-resistant mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer cell lines.

When cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cell lines with high levels of hyperactivated PARP1 and PAR were exposed to each of two distinct PARP inhibitors, the cell lines initiated a cellular process that resulted in their death. Levels of PAR were more predictive of response to PARP inhibitors than were levels of PARP1 itself, suggesting that PAR may be an effective biomarker of response to cisplatin, according to Kroemer.

He and his colleagues then examined whether treatment with a PARP inhibitor affected the growth of tumors in mice xenografted with human NSCLC cell lines. They found that treatment significantly slowed tumor growth.

"Our data show that in most cases, cisplatin resistance is linked to stereotyped biochemical changes in cancer cells that render them vulnerable to PARP inhibitors," said Kroemer. "This has clear implications for new treatment regimens and for developing biomarkers of response to cisplatin. We are following up these exciting clinical possibilities in our laboratory."

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American Association for Cancer Research. "Cancer Cells Resistant To Cisplatin Are Sensitive To Experimental Anticancer Drugs, PARP Inhibitors." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 5 Apr. 2013. Web.
11 Jan. 2014.

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American Association for Cancer Research. (2013, April 5). "Cancer Cells Resistant To Cisplatin Are Sensitive To Experimental Anticancer Drugs, PARP Inhibitors." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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46 people lose their lives due to workplace accidents in 2013

January 6th 2014

Official figures, released today (Monday 6th January) by the Health and Safety Authority, show that there were 46 people killed in work-related accidents during 2013, compared to 48 in 2012.

There were reductions in fatalities in the Agriculture sector, from 21 in 2012 down to 16 in 2013; the Fishing sector, from 7 in 2012 to 4 in 2013; and the Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector with 4 fatalities in 2012 and 1 reported last year.

Commenting on the sector with the highest number of fatalities, Martin O'Halloran, CEO of the Health and Safety Authority said, "We recognise that some jobs can be more hazardous than others, the number of fatalities in Agriculture each year bears that out. However, we will never accept that these deaths are inevitable and cannot be prevented. I am particularly concerned that 4 children lost their lives due to work-related accidents on Irish farms last year. We are working to foster a culture of safety in the sector but high accident rates show that the pace of change is too slow. I am calling on farmers to make 2014 the safest year on farms ever recorded."

The Construction sector recorded the second highest number of fatalities with 11 killed, making it the third year in a row that fatalities increased in the sector. The main causes were the movement of vehicles on site and falls from height.

Martin O'Halloran stated that this was a cause for concern, "We welcome any news that the construction sector is recovering, but I am concerned at the increased fatality rates. The industry did previously have a poor safety record and, to its credit, industry stakeholders got together and worked on improving standards. We cannot allow those gains to be eroded, especially in the context of economic recovery and the anticipated increase in construction activity."

The number of fatalities in the Transportation and Storage sector increased from 1 in 2012 to 4 in 2013.

Incidents involving vehicles at work accounted for 20 fatalities in 2013.

The county with the highest number of fatalities during 2013 was Cork with 12 occurring; 6 in Agriculture, 4 in Construction, 1 in Education and 1 in Fishing. Counties Dublin and Waterford recorded the second highest number of fatalities with 4 in each.

Of the 46 killed in work-related accidents in 2013, there were 8 non-worker fatalities; 5 in Agriculture, 2 in Retail and 1 in Construction.

Speaking in general about work-related deaths Martin O'Halloran, said, "The overall trend in fatalities has been decreasing for the last 10 years. However the fact is that each year people lose their lives because of a work-related accident. This is a tragedy for the victims, their families, friends and the wider community. Generally our investigations show that these tragedies could have been prevented. The likelihood of an accident occurring can be greatly reduced by ensuring that safety is at the core of all work activity, anything less is an invitation to disaster."

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City in Russia Unable to Kick Asbestos Habit

Olga Kravets for The New York TimesEvery weekday afternoon in Asbest, Russia, miners set explosions in an asbestos strip mine, sending out clouds of carcinogenic dust.

ASBEST, Russia — This city of about 70,000 people on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains is a pleasant enough place to live except for one big drawback: when the wind picks up, clouds of carcinogenic dust blow through.

Retirees living in Asbest, including Tamara A. Biserova, center, and Nina A. Zubkova, right.

Asbest means asbestos in Russian, and it is everywhere here. Residents describe layers of it collecting on living room floors. Before they take in the laundry from backyard lines, they first shake out the asbestos. “When I work in the garden, I notice asbestos dust on my raspberries,” said Tamara A. Biserova, a retiree. So much dust blows against her windows, she said, that “before I leave in the morning, I have to sweep it out.”

The town is one center of Russia’s asbestos industry, which is stubbornly resistant to shutting asbestos companies and phasing in substitutes for the cancer-causing fireproofing product.

In the United States and most developed economies, asbestos is handled with extraordinary care. Until the 1970s, the fibrous, silicate mineral was used extensively in fireproofing and insulating buildings in America, among other uses, but growing evidence of respiratory ailments due to asbestos exposure led to limits. Laws proscribe its use and its disposal and workers who get near it wear ventilators and protective clothes. The European Union and Japan have also banned asbestos. (A town called Asbestos in Quebec, Canada, has stopped mining asbestos, though it hasn’t changed its name.)

But not here, where every weekday afternoon miners set explosions in a strip mine owned by the Russian mining company Uralasbest. The blasts send huge plumes of asbestos fiber and dust into the air. Asbest is one of the more extreme examples of the environmental costs of modern Russia’s deep reliance on mining.

“Every normal person is trying to get out of here,” Boris Balobanov, a former factory employee, now a taxi driver, explained. “People who value their lives leave. But I was born here and have no place else to go.”

Of the half-dozen people interviewed who worked at the factory or mine, all had a persistent cough, a symptom of exposure to what residents call “the white needles.” Residents also describe strange skin ailments. Doctors interviewed at a dermatology ward say the welts arise from inflammation caused by asbestos.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is a branch of the World Health Organization, is in the midst of a multiyear study of asbestos workers in Asbest. Because of the large number of people exposed in the city, the researchers are using the location to determine whether the asbestos causes ailments other than lung cancer, including ovarian cancer. “All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans,” the group said.

Standing on the rim of the world’s largest open pit asbestos mine provides a panoramic scene. Opened in the late 1800s, it is about half the size of the island of Manhattan and the source of untold tons of asbestos. The pit descends about 1,000 feet down slopes created by terraced access roads. Big mining trucks haul out fibrous, gray, raw asbestos.

The Uralasbest mine is so close by that a few years ago the mayor’s office and the company relocated residents from one outlying area to expand its gaping pit.

So entwined is the life of the town with this pit that many newlyweds pose on a viewing platform on the rim to have their pictures taken. The city has a municipal anthem called “Asbestos, my city and my fate.” In 2002, the City Council adopted a new flag: white lines, symbolizing asbestos fibers, passing through a ring of flame. A billboard put up by Uralasbest in Asbest proclaims “Asbestos is our Future.”

The class-action lawsuits that demolished asbestos companies in the United States are not possible in Russia’s weak judicial system, which favors powerful producers. Russia, which has the world’s largest geological reserves of asbestos, mines about a million tons of asbestos a year and exports about 60 percent of it. Demand is still strong for asbestos in China and India, where it is used in insulation and building materials. The Russian Chrysotile Association, an asbestos industry trade group, reports that annual sales total about 18 billion rubles, or $540 million. And the business is growing, mostly because other countries are getting out of the business.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 18, 2013

An article on Sunday about Asbest, a Russian city that remains dependent on the mining of asbestos despite the health perils, misstated Russia’s asbestos output in one reference. It is about a million tons a year, as the article noted at one point, not “about 850,000 tons,” the figure used in another reference. (The lower figure was from the Russian trade association’s Web site; the higher one from a more detailed year-by-year breakdown from the United States Geological Survey.)

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The Asbestos Scam

“Since my diagnosis with lung cancer,” she wrote in a recent legal filing, “I have had mental and emotional distress and inconvenience. I am fearful of death.” She added, “My asbestos-related condition has disrupted my life, limiting me in my everyday activities and interfering with living a normal life.”

Asbestos-related?

Yes, that’s right. It’s hard these days for smokers to sue tobacco companies because everyone knows the dangers of cigarettes. Instead, McCarthy has become part of a growing trend: lung cancer victims who are suing companies that once used asbestos.

With asbestos litigation well into its fourth decade — the longest-running mass tort in American history — you’d think the plaintiffs’ bar would have run out of asbestos companies to sue. After all, asbestos lawsuits have bankrupted more than 100 companies. Yet McCarthy has found more than 70 additional companies to sue, including General Electric and Pfizer. Asbestos litigation, says Lester Brickman, a professor at Yeshiva University and perhaps the most vocal critic of asbestos lawsuits, “is a constant search for viable defendants.” Because asbestos was once such a ubiquitous product, there is always somebody else to sue.

Let me stipulate right here that exposure to asbestos can be deadly. The worst illness it causes is mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that essentially suffocates its victims to death. If it were only the real victims of asbestos-related diseases who sued, there would be no issue. That’s how the tort system is supposed to work.

But, over the years, plaintiffs’ lawyers have brought tens of thousands of bogus cases. They took doctors on their payroll to industrial sites, where all the employees would be screened for signs of an asbestos-related disease. They found some real cases, of course — along with many that could never have stood up in court. Nonetheless, by bundling real cases with phony ones — and filing giant lawsuits — they took down one company after another.

The bankrupt company would then put money aside in a trust that would parcel out payments to asbestos victims. The trusts have billions of dollars to disburse and are largely controlled by the plaintiffs’ lawyers. It is a compensation system that runs alongside the tort system.

Eventually, the judiciary got tired of dealing with all the “nonmalignant” cases, as they are called, relegating them to the trusts. At that point, the lawyers mainly handled mesothelioma cases, of which there were some 2,500 a year, and which could generate large payments — usually between $500,000 to $5 million.

But, soon enough, the asbestos lawyers came up with a new tactic: finding lung cancer victims who had some exposure to asbestos. All of a sudden, lung cancer cases exploded in volume. “There is nothing new in the science to suggest an upsurge in cases,” says Peter Kelso, an asbestos expert with Bates White Economic Consulting. “It is just basically due to economic incentives.” That is, by bundling lung cancer cases with other cases, the plaintiffs’ lawyers could bring a new set of companies to heel. For many companies, it is cheaper to settle than fight.

Which brings us back to Congresswoman McCarthy. Her claim for “asbestos exposure” is that when she was young, her father and her brother worked as boiler makers, and she came into contact with asbestos dust because they all lived under the same roof. Plus, she says in her legal filing, she “visited and picked up my father and brother at the various work sites, including Navy Yards, Bridges, Hospitals, Schools, Powerhouses, and other sites where I breathed the asbestos dust.”

Her lawyer at Weitz & Luxenberg — which has feasted for decades on asbestos lawsuits — told The New York Post that “it has been conclusively proven that cigarette smoking and asbestos exposure act synergistically to cause lung cancer.” Actually, it hasn’t been: There are plenty of studies saying there is no synergy at all. At best, the science is muddled.

Not that that matters. No doubt McCarthy’s lawsuit will be bundled by her law firm with other cases to force a company that had nothing to do with her disease to pay up. I hope McCarthy wins her battle with lung cancer. It is an awful disease. But the right thing for her to do is drop this lawsuit. All it has really accomplished is showing how asbestos litigation is a giant scam.

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The Pros and Cons of an Asbestos Bill

Your June 20 editorial “One-Sided Bill on Asbestos Injuries,” arguing that Congress shouldn’t pass the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act until significant fraud in the asbestos bankruptcy claims process is detailed, is misguided.

It’s already clear that there’s fraudulent activity within the asbestos trust system. The House Judiciary Committee has held three hearings, which revealed an opaque asbestos trust system constructed largely by plaintiffs’ firms that benefit from payments to asbestos claimants. They also revealed concrete examples of plaintiffs’ filing conflicting claims among separate asbestos bankruptcy trusts and state courts.

Additionally, the Government Accountability Office has issued a report on asbestos trusts that found current disclosures wouldn’t reveal conflicting claims filed by plaintiffs against each of the asbestos trusts.

Rather than wait and spend additional taxpayer money to further detail a problem we already know exists, we choose to act now to protect asbestos victims.

BOB GOODLATTE
BLAKE FARENTHOLD
Washington, June 24, 2013

Mr. Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia, is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Farenthold, a Republican from Texas, is the sponsor of the FACT Act.

To the Editor:

Bravo to The Times for unmasking the asbestos industry’s federal bill to limit payments owed to desperately sick workers and veterans by asbestos company trusts created to compensate workers they poisoned.

Thousands die annually; 30 percent are veterans. Every payment delayed is money in the bank for the companies. The legislation requires the trusts to respond to asbestos company demands at any time to reveal publicly a recipient’s personal claim information, including the last four Social Security digits, plus financial and family information, that could result in identity theft and criminal mischief.

Invasions of privacy are deeply resented, as reactions to revelations about huge government databases recording our phone calls and e-mails attest. This legislation, supported by Georgia Pacific and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a special interest deal that should be tossed out.

JOAN CLAYBROOK
President Emeritus, Public Citizen
Washington, June 23, 2013

To the Editor:

There is plain evidence that fraud and abuse already exist in the trusts set up by companies to pay asbestos claims.

A 2012 House Judiciary Committee report detailed highly questionable claims, citing numerous examples. In March, The Wall Street Journal chronicled thousands of highly questionable trust claims in a major front-page article.

The Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act simply requires the trusts to make public information that they already collect about who has made claims against what trusts. And we believe that it places zero burden on claimants.

Most asbestos trusts have recently lowered their payouts to claimants because they are running out of money because of increased claims. Those who are indeed pro-claimant should support legislation that will ensure money for legitimate future claimants. Those defending the status quo are really supporting the current cash machine system that primarily enriches plaintiffs’ lawyers.

LISA A. RICKARD
President, Institute for Legal Reform
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Washington, June 20, 2013

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