The lawsuit of a former Elizabeth, New Jersey resident who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will move forward shortly in New York City, a New York Supreme Court justice recently ruled.

According to a press release on eMediaWire, Judge Helen Freedman, who presides over the New York City Asbestos Litigation, denied a motion for summary judgment filed by a cable manufacturer, The Okonite Company, in the case of Leonard Shafer, who died of mesothelioma at age 73.

The press release notes that “as early as January 10, 1941, Okonite was approved to sell asbestos-containing armored cable to the Navy. At the time of the approvals in 1941, cable manufacturers were required, under Navy Specifications, to include asbestos in heat and flame resistant, armored cable. However, military records establish that, in September 1941, cable manufacturers were given a choice whether to use asbestos or glass fiber.”

Furthermore noted Judge Freedman, Okonite also packed their cables in asbestos-containing material, further endangering the health of Shafer and his co-workers.

Lawyers for the plaintiff, Mrs. Eleanor Shafer, note that Okonite continued to sell asbestos-containing cables until 1956 and continued to pack them in asbestos material during that time, despite the fact that other safer options were available.

The trial is expected to begin in June against both Okonite and John Crane, the manufacturer of the asbestos packing material used with the cable.

Carmen St. George, Schafer’s attorney, said: “Mr. Shafer’s death from mesothelioma could have been avoided if these companies would have acted responsibly and warned about the health hazards of asbestos. Justice Freedman’s ruling properly places the factual issues surrounding Mr. Shafer’s asbestos exposure where it belongs — in the hands of the jury.”

A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that approximately 200,000 people die each year from workplace-related cancer and that nearly half of those people die from asbestos-related diseases.

“Currently about 125 million people around the world are exposed to asbestos at work, and at least 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases,” notes a press release issued by the organization on April 27th, 2007.

“The rates of occupational cancer exposure are highest among workers whose workplaces do not meet the requirements for health and safety protection and do not have the necessary engineering measures to prevent the pollution of air with carcinogenic substances,” says the report.

“The tragedy of occupational cancer resulting from asbestos, benzene and other carcinogens is that it takes so long for science to be translated into protective action,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health and Environment. “Known and preventable exposures are clearly responsible for hundreds of thousands of excess cancer cases each year. In the interests of protecting our health, we must adopt an approach rooted in primary prevention; that is, to make workplaces free from carcinogenic risks.”

Though tighter controls are in place in developed countries, Neira points out that processes involving carcinogens are moving to countries with less stringent enforcement of occupational health standards. She notes that if this practice continues, a significant increase in occupation cancer will be seen in developing countries in the next few decades.

“The control of carcinogens in the workplace should be a key component of every national cancer control program,” added Dr Andreas Ullrich, WHO Medical Officer for cancer control. “To achieve this, WHO supports countries in developing comprehensive national cancer prevention and control plans, which are essential to prevent millions of cancer deaths each year.”

WHO has recently urged all countries to find safer alternatives to replace asbestos or risk facing a cancer epidemic in upcoming years.

A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that approximately 200,000 people die each year from workplace-related cancer and that nearly half of those people die from asbestos-related diseases.

“Currently about 125 million people around the world are exposed to asbestos at work, and at least 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases,” notes a press release issued by the organization on April 27th, 2007.

“The rates of occupational cancer exposure are highest among workers whose workplaces do not meet the requirements for health and safety protection and do not have the necessary engineering measures to prevent the pollution of air with carcinogenic substances,” says the report.

“The tragedy of occupational cancer resulting from asbestos, benzene and other carcinogens is that it takes so long for science to be translated into protective action,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health and Environment. “Known and preventable exposures are clearly responsible for hundreds of thousands of excess cancer cases each year. In the interests of protecting our health, we must adopt an approach rooted in primary prevention; that is, to make workplaces free from carcinogenic risks.”

Though tighter controls are in place in developed countries, Neira points out that processes involving carcinogens are moving to countries with less stringent enforcement of occupational health standards. She notes that if this practice continues, a significant increase in occupation cancer will be seen in developing countries in the next few decades.

“The control of carcinogens in the workplace should be a key component of every national cancer control program,” added Dr Andreas Ullrich, WHO Medical Officer for cancer control. “To achieve this, WHO supports countries in developing comprehensive national cancer prevention and control plans, which are essential to prevent millions of cancer deaths each year.”

WHO has recently urged all countries to find safer alternatives to replace asbestos or risk facing a cancer epidemic in upcoming years.

Rosetta Genomics, a leader in medical research and product development based on microRNA, has announced that they will work with New York University Medical Center to develop a line of early detection diagnostic products for lung and mesothelioma cancers.

According to recent press releases distributed by both Rosetta and NYU, “the early detection test will mainly target over 45 million Americans who are at an increased risk of lung cancer due to smoking, as well as those who have been exposed to asbestos fibers.”

“A test that will be able to detect cancer at an early stage using a simple blood draw will have far reaching implications on the fight against cancer,” noted Dr. Harvey Pass, Professor and Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology at NYU Medical Center. “MicroRNAs have been shown to hold great potential as effective biomarkers for various cancers, and I believe that NYU Medical Center’s vast experience with lung cancer and mesothelioma, coupled with Rosetta Genomics’ expertise in the microRNA field, will allow us to successfully advance this much needed test forward.”

Currently, mesothelioma is difficult to detect in its early stages as symptoms usually do not surface until decades after exposure to asbestos. Once the disease is diagnosed, it is too late for doctors to offer any sort of possible cure and treatment options are limited as well.

A recent article in Cancer Monthly points to the fact that virotherapy – the process of engineering viruses so that they replicate only in tumor cells and kill only tumor cells – may be a viable option in treating mesothelioma and other cancers. These findings were reported in a recently published study written by David T. Curiel, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Human Gene Therapy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“Not much is known about the biology of mesothelioma,” Curiel says, so it was an important step forward when his team – led by Zeng B. Zhu, MD – identified a new tumor specific promoter (TSP) called survivin and confirmed its relationship to mesothelioma with laboratory and animal studies. (All studies were supported by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.)

“This discovery set the stage for the team to design a virotherapy agent effective against mesothelioma – a disease that has not seen an improvement in outcomes resulting from new therapies in 20 years,” Curiel noted. Now the researchers have engineered a virus that replicates in mesothelioma cells and spares normal cells.

“Mesothelioma is typically localized in the chest cavity, and virotherapy can optimize our ability to target and contain it,” he says. “We can concentrate the virus in the area where it will be most effective – and cause minimal damage to healthy cells.”

University of Alabama researchers have also adapted an early diagnostic test for the disease, points out Curiel. He hopes that the test and the potential new therapy will begin to address the growing number of cases of mesothelioma so that those with this aggressive form of cancer have more options in the near future.

A state in northern India has continued the use of asbestos cement pipes to carry their water supply despite the fact that such pipes have been banned in more than 100 countries worldwide.

The Financial Express newspaper reports that the state of Haryana still purchases these hazardous asbestos cement water pipes each year and uses them in rural areas within the state. Despite the fact that a Union Ministry of Industry report as early as 1995 touted the dangers of using such pipes, the local government continues the practice, opponents say. The pipes have been banned in other countries because the asbestos they contain may cause mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, as well as other lung ailments.

Dalip Singh, commissioner of public health for the state of Haryana, told the newspaper that personally “he was against use of asbestos pipes for water supply as asbestos was a deadly carcinogen.” Singh said “asbestos cement pipes, used for transportation of potable water, was more of a threat as water causes degradation of pipes and asbestos fibers [are] released in drinking water.”

Despite the bans, the Haryana government says it has already purchased pipes this year and plans to purchase more in the next few months. Singh continues to be astounded. “Unless asbestos was banned, the real cost of asbestos may be paid in death and disability,” he told Financial Express.

A recent article in Cancer Monthly points to the fact that virotherapy – the process of engineering viruses so that they replicate only in tumor cells and kill only tumor cells – may be a viable option in treating mesothelioma and other cancers. These findings were reported in a recently published study written by David T. Curiel, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Human Gene Therapy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“Not much is known about the biology of mesothelioma,” Curiel says, so it was an important step forward when his team – led by Zeng B. Zhu, MD – identified a new tumor specific promoter (TSP) called survivin and confirmed its relationship to mesothelioma with laboratory and animal studies. (All studies were supported by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.)

“This discovery set the stage for the team to design a virotherapy agent effective against mesothelioma – a disease that has not seen an improvement in outcomes resulting from new therapies in 20 years,” Curiel noted. Now the researchers have engineered a virus that replicates in mesothelioma cells and spares normal cells.

“Mesothelioma is typically localized in the chest cavity, and virotherapy can optimize our ability to target and contain it,” he says. “We can concentrate the virus in the area where it will be most effective – and cause minimal damage to healthy cells.”

University of Alabama researchers have also adapted an early diagnostic test for the disease, points out Curiel. He hopes that the test and the potential new therapy will begin to address the growing number of cases of mesothelioma so that those with this aggressive form of cancer have more options in the near future.

A Newcastle (England) man is battling for one of the UK’s largest ever asbestos-related payouts, reports the Evening Chronicle. Raymond Thomas Shanks, age 59, is suing shipbuilder Swan Hunter for £800,000 in damages after discovering he has mesothelioma. Shanks, at time of diagnosis in late 2005, was given about 18 months to live.

Shanks, who worked as an electrician’s apprentice at Swan Hunter from 1963 until 1969 most recently worked as a construction boss but was forced to quit his job as he was no longer healthy enough to continue. Shanks moved to Australia in 1983 and back to England a few years ago and has been caring for his daughter-in-law and grandchildren since his son died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2003. He had hoped to keep supporting them until his retirement at 65 years old.

“I wanted to carry on working, save some money and fulfill my promise to my son, but all that changed in 2005,” said Shanks. “That’s what I’m fighting for. It’s not just about the money; it’s about my daughter-in-law and my two grandchildren.”

If he wins the amount he is seeking, it will be one of the highest awards ever made in an asbestos case in the UK, points out the article. Currently, the company has admitted liability but disputes the amount of the claim.

In his written argument to the court, solicitor Matthias Kelly said: “There is an abundance of evidence that he would have been able to continue actively in his role well beyond his 65th birthday.”

More than eight years after the asbestos plight of Libby, Montana came to national and international attention, the clinic in this small Montana town continues to treat dozens of patients with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, the legacy of more than 70 years of vermiculite mining done here.

According to the Billings Gazette, the Center for Asbestos Related Disease continues to track about 1,500 patients and works with other organizations to help develop new treatments and maybe someday find a cure for this aggressive, debilitating cancer.

Dr. Brad Black, who came to Libby in 1977 as a pediatrician, heads the clinic and will be a keynote speaker at an upcoming medical history conference in Bozeman in late April. Black and his former partner, an internist, began attempts in 1980 to have the mine owner, W.R. Grace, screen their employees for asbestos-related diseases. Grace wasn’t always cooperative.

“By the 1980s, the state health department also was aware of high levels of asbestos in Libby,” Black told the Gazette. The situation was a “public-health failure all the way through,” he added.

By the 1990s, people who hadn’t even worked at the mine were being sickened. When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a series of articles on the deaths of nearly 200 people and the sickening of many more in Libby in a 1999 edition, the town’s plight came to light. Libby soon became an EPA Superfund site and clean-up began. But it was too late for many.

“We knew then that we had a large problem and expected to see a lot more” [asbestos-related diseases], said Black, who explains that the Center for Asbestos Related Disease is a spin off of the local hospital and now treats only those who live in Libby or once did. The center is funded by insurance payments that W.R. Grace has been making since 2001. Other funding sources are needed, says Black.

Research conducted at the Center, Black explains, is very important in that Libby asbestos is different from the most widely found asbestos and has never been studied before. Libby asbestos is hard and needle-like; easier to inhale and quicker to penetrate than the more commonly used chrysotile asbestos.

More than 18,000 men and women who worked aboard Royal Canadian ships between World War II and 1970 are at an increased risk for developing serious asbestos-related diseases, such as malignant mesothelioma, reports the Nanaimo (BC) News Bulletin.

Canadian sailors, like many worldwide, were “openly exposed” to large amounts of asbestos, which was mostly used as a fire retardant material aboard ships. Those who worked on vehicle brakes during that same time period are also at risk, notes the news report.

Bob Chow, service operator at the Royal Canadian Legion branch in Nanaimo said that some of the veterans are aware of the risks while others remain oblivious to the fact that they probably inhaled dangerous asbestos fibers on a daily basis.

“We’re aware of it and I’ve done some research into asbestos related upper body respiratory ailments, as Veterans Affairs is calling it – more specifically lung cancer,” said Chow. “From what I understand asbestos is a fairly easy thing to diagnose. Its fibers sort of attach themselves to the lung.”

The difficulty arises, however, because asbestos diseases remain latent in the body for decades. By the time symptoms surface, it’s sometimes difficult to discern whether they’re asbestos-related on just a sign of old age, Chow points out.

According to the Department of National Defense records, approximately 18,000 men and women who served on 230 Canadian ships may have been exposed to asbestos during their enlisted duty.

Veteran Affairs, however, is taking responsibility for ex-service men and women who are presently fighting lung cancer as a result of exposure to the material.

“We’re asking that anybody who feels they may be affected by this come forward,” said Janice Summerby, a spokeswoman for Veteran Affairs. “We encourage our veterans to contact us so we can verify their service history and we can begin the process.”