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Capsaicin, the compound in chili peppers which gives them their spicy taste, may become a source of new, natural drugs for the hard-to-treat Mesothelioma type of cancer. Mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer with very poor survival and limited therapeutic options, commonly, but not always, associated with exposure to asbestos. In this study, the authors demonstrated that treatment of various mesothelioma cell lines covering all mesothelioma subtypes inhibits several biological parameters of transformation. In addition, these results supported an antitumor effect of capsaicin on cisplatin-resistant mesothelioma cells, suggesting that it may enhance therapy by reducing resistance to cisplatin. "This research...

A cancer study has found that certain gut bacteria may influence whether or not a patient's immune system is successful in fighting mesothelioma. It has led experts to believe that in the future, dietary changes could improve the benefits of treatment. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer which develops in the lining of the lungs or abdomen, and is known to be caused by exposure to the now-outlawed industrial material, asbestos. The research team evaluated the effectiveness of two immunotherapies; atezolizumab and bevacizumab, in patients with relapsed mesothelioma. Professor Fennell said, "We have seen that the immunotherapies we used...

Johnson & Johnson shares sank 8% Friday after Reuters reported that the pharmaceutical giant knew for decades that its baby powder contained asbestos. Reuters reviewed documents, deposition, and trial testimony from at least 1971 to the early 2000s that it said showed powders and raw talc sometimes tested positively for small traces of asbestos. Furthermore, "company executives, mine managers, scientists, doctors, and lawyers fretted over the problem and how to address it while failing to disclose it to regulators or the public," the Reuters reporter Lisa Girion wrote. Johnson & Johnson issued a statement on Friday in response to the...

The American Tort Reform Assn calls NYC's asbestos court the nation’s top “judicial hellhole”. Silver has been blocking tort-reform bills for decades. Silver's arrest centers on his no-show legal work for asbestos-profiteer, Weitz and Luxemberg, (as well as millions in bribes and kickbacks from fixing real-estate cases)..... judges with ties to Silver and his lifelong pal, Jonathan Lippman, the chief judge of the state Court of Appeals, presided over the cases. Silver was “of counsel” to Weitz & Luxemberg which earned unusual fast-track “red-carpet treatment” “better judges” and first dibs on jurors. Sherry Klein Heitler, the chief asbestos judge (at...

Sean Sasser, whose relationship with the late Pedro Zamora on MTV's "The Real World: San Francisco" broke cultural barriers on U.S. television, has died, his longtime partner told CNN on Thursday. Sasser was 44. Sasser, who had been HIV positive for 25 years, died Wednesday from mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer that was diagnosed just last month, Michael Kaplan said. He died in the Washington home he shared with Kaplan. Sasser was not one of the original cast members but became a household name as his relationship with Zamora was explored during the show's third season in 1994....

Paul Gleason, who played the go-to bad guy in "Trading Places" and the angry high school principal in "The Breakfast Club," has died. He was 67. Gleason's wife, Susan, says her husband died Saturday at a Burbank hospital of mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer linked to asbestos. Gleason appeared in over 60 movies, including "Die Hard," "Johnny Be Good," and "National Lampoon's Van Wilder." Most recently, he made a handful of television appearances in hit shows such as "Friends" and "Seinfeld." A native of Miami, Gleason was an avid athlete. Before becoming an actor, he played Triple-A minor...

NEW YORK -- A 41-year-old paramedic who worked at a morgue for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center was buried Monday after dying of an asbestos-related cancer. Deborah Reeve, a 17-year paramedic, died on March 15 of mesothelioma, a lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, her family said. Reeve developed a cough in late 2003 and retired at the end of 2004 after becoming too ill to work. Her doctors and family say her cancer was caused by exposure to toxic dust from the World Trade Center site. City health officials say it's...

Dr. Greg Nayden still chafes at the memory of a call from his brother, informing him that a highly critical Dallas newspaper story posted on the Internet told how Nayden had made $1.2 million in just two years by diagnosing every person he saw with asbestos-related lung disease. That's one of the many reasons, Nayden said, that he now wishes he'd never worked for American Medical Testing Inc., a now-defunct Mobile firm. "I've been made out to be a real crooked, unscrupulous doctor," Nayden said during one of several telephone interviews while spending a short vacation in Fort Morgan. In...

<p>LOS ANGELES — Warren Zevon, who wrote and sang the rock hit "Werewolves of London" and was among the wittiest and most original of a broad circle of singer-songwriters to emerge from Los Angeles in the 1970s, died at his home after a 12-month battle with cancer. He was 56.</p>