If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, then you are aware that there are few treatment options available. Depending upon the type of tumor that you have and how advanced your condition is, you may be offered the option of surgery either to extend your survival or minimize your pain, but the other treatment protocols that are often offered to cancer patients offer little additional benefit. Though it is hard to find a reason for optimism in the face of this reality, there are causes for hope. The injustice that you and other mesothelioma victims have been suffered has been recognized by the American justice system, and as a result mesothelioma lawyers have been able to assist victims like you in getting compensation to help pay for medical bills and help their families in the future, and as the legal system provides support, medical researchers are continuing to discover new technologies. The most recent of these offers a novel approach to administering chemotherapy that may prove to be extremely effective.
According to a study published in the journal Nature, researchers from the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry from Boston University and from the Division of Thoracic Surgery and Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston recently collaborated on the study of the use of nanoparticles to enhance the effectiveness of a chemotherapeutic drug. Though chemotherapy is often provided in combination with surgery in the treatment of mesothelioma tumors, its effectiveness has been limited by the fact that it cannot infiltrate the tumor in concentrations great enough to cause cell death. Led by study author Aaron Colby, , Ph.D. of Boston University, the group used a two-step drug delivery system that first employed nanoparticles to act as a sort of magnet for the chemotherapeutic drug that was delivered in the second step. The nanoparticles made the tumor act as a sort of sponge for the drug, thus increasing the concentration of the cancer-killing agent fivefold. The group hopes that with further study this approach will prove to be highly effective in offering extended survival for mesothelioma patients.
While mesothelioma researchers work hard to find a cure or effective treatment for this devastating disease, mesothelioma lawyers work to help make life more manageable. If you are dealing with a diagnosis of mesothelioma and are not sure how you will pay your medical bills or what will happen to your family after you’re gone, the law firm of Danziger & De Llano can help. Call us directly to set up a free consultation and let us show you what we can do for you.
