Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) June 14, 2015

Scientists in Europe have found that mesothelioma patients with the highest levels of p16 in their tumor samples lived longer than those with low levels of the same protein. Surviving Mesothelioma has just posted the full story. Click here to read it now.

Doctors with Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland and Dell’ Angelo Hospital in Venice, Italy measured p16 expression in tumor samples from 88 pleural mesothelioma patients.

“Those cases with intermediate or high p16/INK4A tumour expression had a significantly better post-diagnosis survival than those cases whose tumours lost p16 expression,” writes lead researcher Dr. Cormac Jennings of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

According to the study in the British Journal of Cancer, mesothelioma patients with lower p16 levels not only survived for a shorter amount of time, but also were less likely to respond to chemotherapy.

“This study suggests that p16 may be another way for doctors to not only form a prognosis for mesothelioma patients but also plan the most effective treatment,” says Alex Strauss, Managing Editor of Surviving Mesothelioma.

To read the details of the new research, including the statistics on how many patients fall into the high and low p16 expression categories, see Tumor Suppressor Protein Linked to Mesothelioma Survival, Treatment Response, now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.

Jennings, CJ et al, “Differential p16/INK4A cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor expression correlates with chemotherapy efficacy in a cohort of 88 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients”, June 9, 2015, British Journal of Cancer, ePub ahead of print, June 9, 2015, http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/bjc2015187a.html?message=remove

For nearly ten years, Surviving Mesothelioma has brought readers the most important and ground-breaking news on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma. All Surviving Mesothelioma news is gathered and reported directly from the peer-reviewed medical literature. Written for patients and their loved ones, Surviving Mesothelioma news helps families make more informed decisions.