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 Nebraska man who alleges he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibers brought home on the clothing of his father has filed charges against 106 defendants in Madison County (IL) Circuit Court.

Robert Moore, whose father was a mechanic at various locations across the country, claims his father would bring home asbestos on his clothes after working in a shop all day, where the material was prevalent. The elder Moore also worked as an electrician and laborer from 1940 until 1953.

Robert Moore was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January of this year and, according to the Madison County Record, immediately became aware that his illness was “wrongfully caused.”

The suit states that the defendants “failed to require and advise their employees of hygiene practices designed to reduce or prevent carrying asbestos fibers home.”

Because of these practices, Moore says he was exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers and subsequently developed mesothelioma, a cancer for which the only known cause is exposure to asbestos.

Moore also claims that he “has sought, but has been unable to obtain, full disclosure of relevant documents and information from the defendants leading him to believe the defendants destroyed documents related to asbestos.”

“It was foreseeable to a reasonable person/entity in the respective positions of defendants, that said documents and information constituted evidence, which was material to potential civil litigation-namely asbestos litigation,” the complaint states.

He claims that “as a result of each defendant breaching its duty to preserve material evidence by destroying documents and information he has been prejudiced and impaired in proving claims against all potential parties.”

“Plaintiff has been caused to suffer damages in the form of impaired ability to recover against defendants and lost or reduced compensation from other potentially liable parties in this litigation,” states the complaint.

A study conducted by the Utah Department of Health indicates that there is no increased evidence of cases of asbestos-caused mesothelioma among those who lived in the vicinity of two former vermiculite mines in Salt Lake City.

The study, according to the Deseret News, reflected those living within a two-mile radius of the former mines, which processed vermiculite that came from Libby, Montana, where hundreds have been sickened from an asbestos-contaminated form of the material. The study did not specifically target employees who worked at either Vermiculite Intermountain or Intermountain Products Incorporated, both in Salt Lake City.

Utah is just one of several states that is examining the relationship between cancer statistics and vermiculite mines. With help from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, state health departments nationwide have been looking at cancer rates near facilities that processed asbestos-contaminated vermiculite.

What the study did find in Utah, however, was a significantly increased rate of lung and respiratory cancers, though the Department of Health refuses to link these cases to the vermiculite mines.

When an environmental agent is the cause, said Department of Health toxicologist Wayne Ball, trends can be spotted. There was no upward or downward trend on respiratory cancer rates over the 28-year time period studied, from 1973-2000. “It was elevated, but consistent. We don’t know what was happening, but because mesothelioma was not increased, we don’t feel these facilities contributed to lung cancer rates in the area,” he said.

The state’s study, Ball noted, had limitations. “Health officials have no exposure data to know if asbestos was ever released as the vermiculite was processed. They don’t know who worked at the plant at the time and so have been unable to track workers — who would have had the highest exposure — to see whether they suffered harm from asbestos exposure.”

As for the lung cancers, they know that about 85 percent of cases are caused by smoking, Ball said, but researchers had no information on the smoking rates in that area and whether that could account for the elevated rate.

Ball says the current site, which now houses a power plant, offices, and a commercial parking lot, poses no hazard for those in the vicinity. He notes that the EPA finished clean-up of the site in late 2004. Health department officials, however, are now searching for former employees of the mines to warn them of the risks of direct asbestos exposure.

More than 150 employees at the Salinas (CA) courthouse have sued the construction company that was allegedly responsible for releasing asbestos into their work areas for 18 months beginning February 2005.

According to a report in the Monterey County Herald, “project managers for Nova Partners Inc. and Skanska USA Building Inc. intentionally created a false paper trail of e-mails to conceal that they were conducting demolition work without a required asbestos consultant, and despite dire warnings that the work would expose workers to potentially lethal levels of asbestos.”

Massive amounts of asbestos fibers were released into the first floor of the courthouse’s north wing, say experts. The area was being renovated in order to accommodate additional courtrooms.

The suit asks unspecified damages for the plaintiffs’ emotional distress “from a reasonable fear of developing cancer and other serious illnesses as a result of the exposure to asbestos and other toxic materials.”

This suit follows one filed by Judge Albert Maldonado, his bailiff, and another worker, who say they were severely sickened by asbestos as well as mold and other substances, during the north wing renovations. Two Monterey County Jail inmates have also filed suit, alleging that they were exposed to asbestos during their frequent trips to the courthouse.

A spokesman for Skanska has called this most recent suit “meritless.” Nova representatives could not be reached for comment.