Mesothelioma and Asbestos

Dr. Harvey Pass is a professor as well as the essential of thoracic surgery at New York University (NYU) Langone Health examination Center. He is being funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Defense (DOD) as well as the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his research into biomarkers for mesothelioma as well as lung cancer.

Pass established a relationship with Rosetta Genomics, as well as he used their platform to look at microRNA specimens that he had access to through his work at NYU. He had background data about the specimens collected from the mesothelioma patients he had operated on, including when tumors occurred after surgery as well as when the patients died. He stated that most patients died within 12 months of receiving their mesothelioma diagnosis, but there were patients with a more indolent form of the cancer that allowed them to live for much longer. By examining the specimens from his patients, Pass was capable to help identify the microRNA that was existing in the patients who lived longer, miR-29c.

This discovery is substantial, Pass said, because the presence of this microRNA could help determine what course of mesothelioma treatment would be best for each patient. He hopes to develop a Clinical Laboratory Improved Amendments-Certified procedure in the expected.

For the filled story, go to GenomeWeb.