Current Status of Screening for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Section snippets
Populations At-Risk of Developing MM
Since Wagner's cohort report of MM cases in South African mine workers in 1960, asbestos has been implicated as the principal etiology of this cancer.4 The asbestos exposure history usually predates diagnosis by 20-50 years and may be brief but intense. Particular occupations at risk for high exposure include miners, factory workers, carpenters, electricians, navy personnel, insulation manufacturers, railroad workers, ship builders, gas mask manufacturers, and workers in the construction
Failure of Asbestos Surveillance Methods
Asbestos-exposed workers have justifiable anxiety about their future and seek reassurance from the medical profession. Since 1973, the USA Occupational Safety and Health Administration has mandated monitoring of individuals with occupations that involve asbestos exposure. Employers must provide comprehensive medical examinations for every employee exposed to airborne concentrations of asbestos fibers. These examinations include a posterior-anterior chest X-ray, a complete history to elicit
Previous Biomarker Studies
Many studies have attempted to define serum biomarkers that predate symptoms in a “high-risk” population as well as distinguish MM from other malignancies. Most of these studies have had very few patients in various stages of disease and have not been prospectively evaluated. A battery of serum biomarkers was evaluated for early detection of malignancy and for distinguishing early stages of MM and bronchogenic carcinoma, but only 4 markers (namely, tissue polypeptide antigen, carcinoembyonic
Soluble Mesothelin-related Protein
Soluble mesothelin-related protein (SMRP) is related to the mesothelin family of molecules. Mesothelin is expressed by normal mesothelial cells46; however, it is highly overexpressed in cancers, such as MM,47, 48 pancreatic,49 or ovarian carcinoma47, 50 and data from our laboratory using serial analysis of gene expression confirm that the mesothelin levels are 49-fold increased over normal peritoneum.51 Differential posttranscriptional and posttranslational processing of the mesothelin gene
Conclusions
Previous large-scale radiologic screening studies with plain chest X-ray and CT scanning have proved ineffective for detecting early stage MM among asbestos-exposed individuals. Future prospects hinge on the identification and validation of effective biomarkers of this disease. At present, however, there are no validated biomarkers which in prospective trials have proved to have sufficient specificity and sensitivity for adaptation to the clinic. SMRP, OPN, and MPF all are promising but none of
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Medical and Surgical Care of Patients With Mesothelioma and Their Relatives Carrying Germline BAP1 Mutations
2022, Journal of Thoracic OncologyCitation Excerpt :No clear consensus for mesothelioma surveillance exists, a limitation that the ongoing clinical trials at the NCI for patients with mesothelioma and their relatives carrying germline BAP1 mutations hopes to address; see subsequent discussion. Imaging by CT33,35,34,55–58 and ultrasound59 has not been proven useful. Among noninvasive blood-based biomarkers, mesothelin (also known as soluble mesothelin-related peptides) has been extensively studied.
The role of imaging in malignant pleural mesothelioma: an update after the 2018 BTS guidelines
2020, Clinical RadiologyCitation Excerpt :The high incidence of mesothelioma in exposed individuals has led to interest in screening at-risk patients with blood tests, breath tests, and low-dose computed tomography (CT). This remains a controversial debate, hampered by a low incidence even in high-risk populations, subtle imaging findings, and a lack of curative therapy.8–11 Routine screening of asymptomatic patients by radiography with established asbestos-related pleural plaques is not advised.
Influence of physicochemical properties of silver nanoparticles on mast cell activation and degranulation
2015, Toxicology in VitroCitation Excerpt :Ultimately, through our assessment of physicochemically diverse AgNPs, we have demonstrated that some NPs can directly interact with mast cells inducing degranulation, which could induce and/or promote allergic disease in vivo. Osteopontin is a secreted phosphoglycoprotein expressed by a variety of cell types and has been reported as a risk predictor in various diseases including cardiovascular and cancer such as mesothelioma that associated with asbestos exposure (Berezin and Kremzer, 2013; Pass and Carbone, 2009; Yang et al., 2008). Mast cell activation following NP exposure leads to the release different cytokines such as OPN and has been reported to be up-regulated following cerium oxide exposure in mice (Wingard et al., 2011).
Designing optimal allocations for cancer screening using queuing network models
2022, PLoS Computational BiologyFibulin-3 as a blood and effusion biomarker for pleural mesothelioma
2012, New England Journal of Medicine
Dr. Pass has a patent application for the use of osteopontin in asbestos-related malignancies.