Roger Worthington of the Worthington & Caron, P.C. has donated $100,000 to The Pacific Mesothelioma Center (PMC) at the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (PHLBI) to support its ongoing stem cell research program. Last year he made a similar donation which kicked the research off as he says there is a need to invest to find a long term cure for the disease.

The PMC is dedicated to finding a cure for mesothelioma, a potentially life threatening cancer affecting the lining of the chest.  Worthington hopes that with his donation, the Federal Government will recognize the possible merits of stem cell research for all Americans, especially veterans who have the disease. Thousands of veterans have already been diagnosed with mesothelioma and tens of thousands more are at risk as they were exposed to asbestos during their military service.

Mr. Worthington’s donation will help fund critical clinical studies affiliated with the new Comprehensive Meso Center at the West Los Angeles (WLA) Veterans’ Administration which will not only offer essential patient services to meet the needs of Veterans with mesothelioma in Southern California but will also sponsor clinical trials on those with the disease.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Researchers at the University of Piemonte Orientale in Italy and the Karolinska Institute may have made a breakthrough in the treatment of mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos and is very difficult to treat with the average survival rate for mesothelioma being between 9 and 17 months.  The basic standard is to use chemotherapy in the treatment of pleural mesothelioma but only 40% of patients respond to this and it does not normally extend life by more than a few months.

Now the researchers have found that by targeting an estrogen receptor may help to make the cancer more sensitive to chemotherapy.

The results of the research on mice have been promising in that firstly the mesothelioma cells did not replicate nor grow so quickly and then when combined with chemotherapy there were significant tumor inhibiting effects and increasing death of the mesothelioma cells. In addition the healthy cells appear to have been protected from the damaging effects of the chemotherapy which usually accounts for most serious side effects in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Concern about the health hazards associated with asbestos are not something new. As early as 1906, a Parliamentary Commission in the United Kingdom confirmed the first cases of asbestos related deaths in factories in Great Britain and recommended better ventilation in the factories.

In the United States there was a study produced in 1918 showing premature deaths in the asbestos industry and as early as 1926 there was the first successful claim for compensation by a sick asbestos worker.

The problem with asbestos is that when it is inhaled, which is easy as the fibers are so fine, it is carcinogenic. This can then lead to several respiratory problems including a potentially serious lung condition called asbestosis. In addition it can lead to one of the most severe cancers known as mesothelioma which not only occurs in the chest but also the abdominal cavity. Mesothelioma is not usually referred to as a cancer of the lung, as the cells which become malignant come from the mesothelium which is a tissue found on the inside walls of the chest and abdominal cavities and on the outer surface of the lungs rather than actually in the lung itself.

It is estimated that ten thousand people in the United States die every year of asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, and gastrointestinal cancer.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Doctors specializing in cancer research, working at Nara Medical University in Japan, have identified chromosomal abnormalities which seem to affect exactly where mesothelioma develops in the body.

Lead investigator Doctor Maiko Takeda, who is with the University’s Department of Diagnostic Pathology, says that the report shows that there is a genetic difference between those patients with pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs and those with peritoneal mesothelioma, which is located in the lining of the abdomen.

The study, which is published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology, was based on tissue samples from 54 mesothelioma patients and could signal a breakthrough in the study of potential gene based treatments for the disease.

The majority of mesothelioma patients suffer from pleural mesothelioma with only around 30 percent having the peritoneal type of the disease.

If you have been diagnosed with any an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To find out how we can help you recover for your asbestos related claim, contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

The family of a Tyler man, who died after contracting mesothelioma, after years of exposure working at the Kelly Springfield/Goodyear plant, was awarded $18.6 million by a Dallas County jury last week, and according to their lawyers, Goodyear plainly ignored standards set in place in 1972 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Jurors found Goodyear grossly negligent for allowing Mr. Rogers’ continued exposure to asbestos.

Carl Rogers worked at the plant for 30 years as a tire builder before being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a deadly cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. He was diagnosed with the disease in August 2008 and died in September 2009.

He worked with Goodyear machines that exposed him to asbestos on a constant basis. He was further exposed to asbestos-wrapped piping while maintenance work was being carried out at the plant. The verdict includes $2.7 million in non-economic damages, $900,000 in economic damages and $15 million in punitive damages.

Goodyear admitted during the trial that the levels of asbestos were 10 to 100 times greater than the average person would breathe outside of the plant.

Three other former workers at the plant have been diagnosed with mesothelioma which is a significantly higher rate, some 900%, more that the national average of one case per million people.