A Developing Role For Genetic Testing in Treatment of Mesothelioma, Other Cancers
Patients diagnosed with mesothelioma have more treatment options today than even a few years ago. Many large cancer centers and university-affiliated hospitals now do genetic testing of malignant tumors, looking for specific troublemaker genes and genetic mutations. The interplay of environmental factors and hereditary factors causes genetic deformities that lead to cancer and other diseases. When doctors can identify a specific gene that drives uncontrolled cell growth, they may tailor the treatment to block or turn off the gene.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, talk to your doctor about your treatment options, including genetic testing, chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. You also have legal options to help pay for your medical treatment. The experienced New York mesothelioma lawyers at Belluck & Fox, LLC, are available to meet you and discuss your legal options free of charge. A New York mesothelioma attorney at Belluck & Fox, LLC, can focus on helping you obtain compensation to pay your medical bills while you concentrate on your health.
For more information, contact the firm at 877-695-2909 or through the online contact form.
Changing Perception of Treatment of Cancer
Genetic testing is starting to change the way that doctors and oncologists think of cancer. Genetic testing has multiple roles. It may be used to screen patients to identify those at higher risk of developing cancers based on inherited genetic susceptibility. Genetic testing also has clinical uses for the treatment of patients diagnosed with cancer, such as lung cancer or mesothelioma. More than 900 genetic tests are available for many different diseases, including breast, ovarian, colon and some rare cancers, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
In many cases, doctors try to treat a cancer patient without knowing the underlying gene mutation in a tumor. Pinpointing the right gene mutation may become as important to treating cancer as identifying a bacteria or virus is today to treatment of an infectious disease. It may allow doctors to tailor treatments to target the molecular drivers of a particular tumor. Knocking out a troublemaker gene may allow patients to manage their disease and live with cancer just as patients do currently with chronic infectious diseases.
Approximately 220,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the U.S. in 2010, and non-small cell lung cancer is the most common form. It accounts for 80 percent of the cases. Roughly 15 percent of patients with adenocarcinoma —a type of non-small cell lung cancer—carry mutations in the EGFR gene.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology says that patients diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer should have a genetic test to determine whether they would benefit from certain tumor medicines. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recommended that patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer undergo genetic testing for mutations of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene. Some cancer-causing genetic mutations switch the proteins that tell a cell when to grow and divide —proteins called tyrosine kinases—to the permanent “on” position. Patients who have that genetic mutation may benefit from drugs known as epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School reported in a January 2011 article in the journal Neoplasia, on their genetic research focused on trying to block certain proteins in 10 lines of mesothelioma cells. The researchers reported that the greatest reduction in the viability of the mesothelioma cells occurred when they blocked multiple types of receptor tyrosin kinases proteins rather than singling out individual proteins.
Much of the research about genetic testing of mesothelioma tumors remains at the experimental stage. Still, there is an expanding array of treatment approaches for patients with mesothelioma and other kinds of cancer. Some of these are already extending the lives of cancer patients.
Contact Trusted Mesothelioma Lawyer in New York
You shouldn’t have to worry about how to pay the medical bills or provide for your family while you are confronting mesothelioma. An experienced New York mesothelioma attorney at Belluck & Fox, LLC, can focus on helping you obtain compensation to pay your medical bills while you concentrate on your health.
For more information, contact the firm at 877-695-2909 or through the online contact form.
