Inverness’s Raigmore Hospital and Stornoway’s Western Isles Hospital to help in major new health study aimed at solve asbestos-related cancer mystery
A new major health study in the fight against asbestos-related cancer has recruited Inverness’s Raigmore Hospital - and is seeking Highland volunteers.
Raigmore, as well as the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway, are among 28 hospitals across the UK which will be involved in the study.
It hopes to solve one of the longest standing mysteries in cancer - how and why it can take decades for people to develop mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos.
And researchers are seeking to recruit people in the Highlands and Hebrides who have already been diagnosed with benign non-cancerous inflammation in their lungs who may have been exposed to asbestos.
At the moment, only around four in 10 people diagnosed with mesothelioma in Scotland survive for more than a year.
And the new Cancer Research UK-funded project, which has been dubbed Meso-ORIGINS, aims to find a way to detect and treat it earlier and investigate if the disease can be prevented in the first place.
Eligible patients who attend the the Inverness and Stornoway hospitals will be offered the chance to take part in the two-year study and contribute to mesothelioma research.
Dr Beth Sage, consultant respiratory physician for NHS Highland and principal investigator for the Highland and Western Isles site, is delighted that the region will be playing a part and has urged eligible volunteers to step forward and join the study.
She said: “We are excited to be a part of this innovative study to help understand how and why some patients develop asbestos-related cancers.
“Whilst we do not have a particularly high number of patients with this cancer, we have already recruited our first participant and are happy to be able to offer it to future individuals in the Highlands and Islands.
“Our experience is that many of our patients are keen to get involved in research studies such as this. Being part of national trials ensures our patients benefit from being involved in cutting edge research wherever they live.”
Mesothelioma is a cancer which develops in the pleural space, the lining of the lung, and is caused by exposure to asbestos. Only a small proportion of patients with inflammation of the pleural space go on to develop mesothelioma.
Asbestos fibres can embed themselves in different parts of the lungs so the disease can develop at different rates in different parts of the pleural space.
Vital data and tissue samples from participants will help build a picture of who is at most risk of developing mesothelioma and identify any genetic differences or biological markers which indicate a predisposition to the disease.
Dr Alexandrea MacPherson, Meso-ORIGINS Project Manager at the University of Glasgow, said: “Mesothelioma is a disease of time and space – after initial exposure to asbestos it can evolve over decades at different times and different places within the pleural space.
“We want to understand why mesothelioma takes so long to develop and to discover new ways of predicting the disease so it can be caught early.
“Once diagnosed there are very few effective treatments so discovering the signs before it begins, and finding a way to prevent it developing, is key.”
Mesothelioma currently has a very poor survival rate and can take more than 40 years to develop. Early symptoms such as chest pain, fatigue and constant coughing can be overlooked because they resemble other illnesses.
According to Cancer Research UK, the UK currently endures the highest incidence of mesothelioma worldwide, with the disease more prevalent in men due to occupation-related exposure, and rates significantly higher in the west coast of Scotland than the Scotland average with around 100 of the 200 new cases in Scotland each year in the region.
There was widespread industrial use of asbestos between 1950 and 1980, particularly in Glasgow and surrounding areas as the material was manufactured in nearby towns such as Clydebank and used in heavy industry like ship building, which the River Clyde was famed for.
Research funded by Cancer Research UK revealed there are no safe levels of working with asbestos. This led to health and safety policies to protect future generations from mesothelioma and the charity continues to invest in finding new ways to beat the devastating disease.
While asbestos has been illegal to use in the UK since the early 1990s, mesothelioma cases have increased in recent years due to the long period of time it can take to develop, and asbestos remains legal in other countries.
Dr Catherine Elliott, Cancer Research UK Director of Research, said: “Mesothelioma, despite asbestos being outlawed decades ago, is increasingly being diagnosed and is in desperate need of more effective treatments.
“Cancer Research UK is delighted to support this research project which aims to shed a light on why it can take years to develop after someone is exposed to asbestos.
“Long-term in-depth research projects like this are essential to developing our understanding of cancer and helping us find ways to stop it in its tracks.”
For information on how to join the project speak to your clinician. To find out more go to www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/find-a-clinical-trial/a-study-to-find-out-more-about-mesothelioma-meso-origins.
