Every year, tens of thousands of Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer. There are several different types of mesothelioma, but collectively, the number of newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients are quite low compared to lung cancer and other leading cancer types.
The fact that mesothelioma diagnoses are relatively low compared to the most common forms of cancer serves to explain why mesothelioma research often lags behind where cancer research is concerned. There is hope that mesothelioma research will improve markedly, however, thanks to newly updated research guidelines proposed by University of Chicago and National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases in Australia researchers.
Traditional Guidelines for Mesothelioma Research Need an Update
For most types of cancer, the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) is a ruleset used to determine whether tumors improve, worsen or remain the same based on a specific form of cancer treatment. Mesothelioma treatment, for a time, also followed RECIST until mesothelioma experts determined that these rules were too restricting to properly evaluate pleural mesothelioma. As a result, top mesothelioma researchers around the world chose to modify the RECIST ruleset as applied to mesothelioma in 2004.
Mesothelioma research has continued to rely on the modified RECIST rules from 2004 ever since, even though RECIST criteria was itself updated in 2009 to what is now known as "RECIST 1.1."
Mesothelioma researchers are now arguing that mesothelioma research guidelines should be updated to a modified RECIST 1.1, just as the original RECIST ruleset was modified in 2004. Here is why this proposal is significant.
New Mesothelioma-Specific Research Approaches May Improve Patient Outcomes and Treatment Options
In what mesothelioma researchers are describing as a "much-needed" update, the newly proposed guidelines aim to modify RECIST 1.1 by including valuable research approaches that are specific to mesothelioma cancer.
Namely, issues that will be addressed if the new guidelines are implemented include:
- Acceptable tumor measurement locations
- How pleural mesothelioma disease should be analyzed when the disease is not measurable
- How lymph nodes should be evaluated
- How pleural diseases should be treated when tumors occur on both sides of the chest since the majority of mesothelioma tumors occur only on a single side)
The primary reason these updates can improve patient outcomes is that these guidelines can lead to better application of tumor measurements and response assessments for future clinical trials.
This is significant for a relatively rare form of cancer like mesothelioma since clinical trials have led to great results for mesothelioma patients who did not respond well to a more standard form of treatment and care.
The hope provided by future research, however, does not change the fact that mesothelioma victims are left to face life-threatening diseases that are often caused by a wrongful exposure to asbestos.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to significant legal compensation that will provide you and your loved ones with financial security.
Contact us online to discuss your mesothelioma claim with a Ledger Law attorney who will protect your legal rights and pursue deserved compensation when your disease was caused by a wrongful exposure to asbestos.
