Mesothelioma Survival Rates

Historically, survival rates for mesothelioma are measured in terms of one-year survival. However, many mesothelioma patients are beating the odds and living far beyond median survival rates thanks to advances in treatment.

Additionally, five-year survival for mesothelioma patients has steadily improved since 1999, according to the latest report from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.

Long-term survivors attribute their success to a multidisciplinary approach to treatment from mesothelioma specialists, alternative medicine, clinical trials and nutritional changes.

Mesothelioma Survival Rate vs. Life Expectancy

While these terms are often used interchangeably, mesothelioma life expectancy and survival rates carry different meanings.

Life expectancy refers to the average age a person is expected to live based on the year they were born, where they were born and other demographic factors. An aggressive cancer, such as mesothelioma, can shorten this average.

Survival rates come into play after a person is diagnosed with cancer or another serious health condition. These rates show the percentage of patients in a study or treatment group who are still alive for a certain period of time following a diagnosis.

Researchers describe the mesothelioma survival rate in several ways — usually six-month and one-year survival, but also the percentage of patients who live two years, three years and five years.

Mesothelioma has no definitive cure and most cases are diagnosed in the latter stages, after tumors have spread — a main reason why survival rates are generally lower compared to other cancers.

Factors That Affect Survival Rate

Survival rates for mesothelioma cancer vary by the patient’s age, gender, race and several other factors. The location, stage and cell type of the cancer, as well as your overall health, have the strongest influence on your mesothelioma prognosis.

Age

Overall, older mesothelioma patients have a much lower survival rate than younger ones. More than 55 percent of patients diagnosed before the age of 50 live one year, but less than 30 percent of patients 75 or older live the same amount of time.

This difference is largely because younger patients are eligible for more intensive treatments such as surgery. Older individuals may not be candidates for these procedures because of poor overall health or a high risk of complications.

Rates are similar for long-term survival. Patients diagnosed before age 50 have nearly a 25 percent chance of surviving a decade, while that drops sharply — to 5.4 percent — for patients between the ages of 50 and 64.

However, it is rare for someone younger than 50 to be diagnosed with mesothelioma. The average age at diagnosis is 69.

The five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed between ages 65-74 is 6.7 percent. That rate falls to 3.8 percent for those 75 or older.

Gender

Research shows women with mesothelioma experience nearly three-fold better survival rate compared to men. After analyzing mesothelioma cases reported in the National Cancer Institute’s SEER database from 1988 to 2013, researchers found the overall five-year survival rate for men was 7 percent, compared with 15 percent for women.

Most asbestos exposure occurs in the workplace, particularly in industrial jobs traditionally held by men. That helps explain why men account for the majority of all mesothelioma cases.

When asbestos use was far more pervasive decades ago, the few women who did develop a related illness were usually exposed because they lived near mines or factories — especially those that processed the mineral. Women also found themselves exposed by spouses, family members or friends who worked around asbestos and brought home the tiny fibers on their clothes.

Although numerous factors contribute to patient survival, women with mesothelioma appear to survive longer than men regardless of age, cancer stage, race or type of treatment. For every age group studied in the SEER program, women fared significantly better than men.

There is currently no conclusive answer as to why, but some researchers believe the improved survival could be explained by hormonal differences between genders.

Women are also more likely to be diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, which carries a better prognosis compared to the more common pleural type.

ECP launches maps of preliminary delimitation of National/Provincial assembly constituencies

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has launched maps of all the districts of preliminary delimitation of constituencies for public convenience.

The maps have been launched for all the National and Provincial Assembly constituencies.

Two week back, the electoral body had published the list of preliminary delimitation of constituencies of national and provincial assemblies.

The new delimitation of electoral constituencies was carried out under population census that was held recently.

According to the notification of the Commission, Islamabad capital territory will have 3 constituencies, Punjab 141, Sindh 61, KPK 39, Balochistan 16 and Federally Administered Tribal Areas will have 12 constituencies in the national assembly.

As per the list of new constituencies, the number of seats of Sindh and FATA will remain the same while Punjab has lost 7 seats.

However, Federal Capital Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have gained one, four and two seats respectively.

As per preliminary list, the first constituency of National Assembly will be NA-1 Chitral instead of Peshawar while last constituency will be Lasbella, Balochistan.

The constituencies of NA in KP would be from NA-1 to NA-39 while in FATA the constituencies of NA from 40 to 51.

Army Chief interacts with troops, tribal elders in Khyber Agency

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa, visited Corps Headquarters (HQ) Peshawar and Khyber Agency on Friday, said a statement issued here by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

At the Corps HQ, the Army Chief was given a detailed briefing on security situation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and progress on Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, return of Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) and development works.

In Khyber Agency, the Army Chief saw progress on fencing along Pak-Afghan border.

General Bajwa interacted with troops and tribal elders and hailed their sacrifices for peace as well as their full support to security forces in the efforts for ensuring peace.

He assured them that the ongoing consolidation efforts would take the current gains towards enduring peace and stability.

Commander Peshawar corps and Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) KP were also present during the visit.

Smoking tied to higher risk of hearing loss

Smokers may be more likely to develop hearing loss than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with each additional cigarette people smoke on a typical day, a Japanese study suggests.

Researchers examined data on almost 50,000 Japanese workers, ages 20 to 64, who didn’t have hearing loss. After a maximum follow-up of eight years, more than 5,100 people developed hearing loss.

Compared to nonsmokers, people who currently smoked were 60 percent more likely to develop high-frequency hearing loss that makes it hard to understand speech in noisy environments. Current smokers were also 20 percent more likely to develop low frequency hearing loss that makes difficult to detect deep voices.

“The more one smokes, the higher the risk of hearing loss,” said lead study author Huanhuan Hu of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo.

“Quitting smoking virtually eliminates the excess risk of hearing loss, even among quitters with short duration of cessation,” Hu said by email. “Because the risk of hearing loss increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day, if quitting is impossible people should still smoke as little as possible.”

At the start of the study, participants were typically in their 40s, and about 19,000 of them were current smokers. About 9,800 were former smokers and 21,000 had never smoked.

Current smokers were more likely to be overweight or obese, have chronic health problems like high blood pressure and diabetes, and work in jobs with higher levels of occupational noise.

Each year during the study, participants had comprehensive hearing tests.

Compared to nonsmokers, people who currently smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day were 40 percent more likely to develop high frequency hearing loss and 10 percent more likely to develop low frequency hearing loss, the study found.

When smokers went through 11 to 20 cigarettes a day, they were 60 percent more likely to develop high frequency hearing loss and 20 percent more likely to develop low frequency hearing loss.

With more than 20 cigarettes a day, people were 70 percent more likely to develop high frequency hearing loss and 40 percent more likely to develop low frequency hearing loss.

While the study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how smoking might cause hearing loss, it’s possible that nicotine exposure may damage the ears, Hu said.

Other limitations of the study include the reliance on participants to accurately report on their smoking habits, researchers note in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. The study also lacked on occupational noise exposure for all of the people in the study.

Still, the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that smoking can contribute to hearing loss, said Dr. Matteo Pezzoli, a hearing specialist at San Lazzaro Hospital in Alba, Italy, who wasn’t involved in the study.

“The study showed clearly that there is a direct link between the number of cigarettes smoked and the damage suffered,” Pezzoli said by email.

“To maintain the hearing we have when we’re young, in addition to quitting smoking it is also important to lead a healthier lifestyle and increase sporting activities,” Pezzoli added. “It is also very important to protect your ears from prolonged exposure to loud noise.”

Karachi's fake lady doctor was running 'clinic' on social media

KARACHI: Initial investigations into the arrest of a fake lady doctor from Karachi's Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) have revealed that the accused was running a 'clinic' on social media.

The investigation officer dealing with the case stated that as per the details gathered, the lady was in contact with a senior gynecologist of the government-run hospital for the last one year.

The police on Monday had arrested the fake doctor from the JPMC during a raid on a tip off. The imposter has been working at the Gynecological Ward of the Karachi's largest medical facility for the past one year.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Karachi Women's Police Station Syeda Ghazala stated that she had been informed about a woman working as a lady doctor at JPMC gynecology ward, who was not affiliated with the hospital.

Ghazala said she led a police team to the hospital where she interrogated the suspect.

The SHO said the women failed to provide satisfactory answers to the police and turned out to be an imposter during the brief interrogation.

She was then arrested and transferred to the local police station and later revealed herself as Aisha wife of Abdul Karim, a resident of Korangi.

The police learnt that the woman had acquired education up to the matric level only and did not even have a lady health visitor or a mid-wife certificate.

The hospital security officials, however, did not accept responsibility of the incident.

Whereas during the investigation, the suspect herself told the police that she had been freely working at the ward and most of the ward employees recognised her as a doctor.

The police are also investigating the possibility of the woman’s affiliation with an illegal group that abducts new-borns from the ward.

The police said the suspect targeted female patients who visited the gynecology ward to undergo "illegal surgeries".

According to police, a case against the accused have been lodged under Section 419 and 170 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Later, she was produced before Judicial Magistrate South and was sent to jail on judicial remand till March 26.

Pakistan’s first clinical transplant immunology lab opens at SIUT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first clinical transplant immunology laboratory aimed to bring advancement in the field of transplant sciences was inaugurated at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT).

Professor Medhat Askar who is an internationally acclaimed transplant immunologist inaugurated the newly set up laboratory Thursday, said the SIUT management.

According to the officials, the new facility will focus on the subject of tissue typing, detection of antibodies, transplant of highly sensitized incompatible transplants thereby helping those patients whose transplant is often not possible.

Professor Medhat is the Director of Transplant Immunology Center at the Baylor University of Dallas-Texas.

Earlier, Prof Askar spoke at the reference held to pay homage to Dr Qasim Mehdi of SIUT. The founder of SIUT, Professor Adib Rizvi recalled Dr Mehdi’s services during his stay at the SIUT.

He pointed out that he was a prominent member of World Human Genome project of the region who performed pioneering work on evolutionary genetics in Pakistan.

Turkey rolls out domestic rival to WhatsApp

ANKARA:  Turkey has launched a domestic messaging app to rival Facebook´s popular WhatsApp Messenger service.

The app, called PttMessenger after Turkey´s Post and Telegraph General Directorate (PTT), was introduced in a limited roll-out to state institutions and some private companies this week.

It is expected to be publicly available in six months.

PttMessenger will provide a "system safer than WhatsApp", government spokesman Bekir Bozdag told a news conference. 

"Since no data is stored with the host, it will be impossible to access these data. A system safer than WhatsApp has been developed."

Critics cast doubt on the suggestion PttMessenger data could not be retrievd, fearing it will give authorities greater ability to monitor dissent, pointing to the widespread crackdown that was launched after a failed military coup in July 2016.

They cite concerns that PttMessenger might eventally become mandatory downloads for devices used by these institutions, and eventually for the personal electronic devices of employees. 

An estimated 40 percent of the Turkish population were active WhatsApp users as of December 2016, according to research firm Statista.

That was more than double the United States, at 18 percent, but behind several other emerging markets, including Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.