In June, we reported the wonderful news that our friend in the UK Debbie Brewer’s mesothelioma tumor had shrunk by 10 percent following an initial round of a special treatment called chemoembolization, which she is undergoing in Germany.
She had her first round of chemoembolization therapy in May, and a second in June. Since the June treatment, her tumor is now 18 percent smaller! Debbie returns to Germany for another round of treatment this month, and is hopeful that the tumor has continued to shrink.
In July, the BBC featured Debbie in an interview, talking about chemoembolization. She hopes to spread the word about this treatment so that more people might explore it’s possibilities for mesothelioma. Click here to view the BBC video.
Debbie shares her mesothelioma story on her blog, http://www.mesothelioma-and-me.com/. She was diagnosed with meso in November 2006. It is suspected that she contracted meso as a result of being exposed to asbestos dust on her father’s work clothes as a child. He was a lagger and would often scrape asbestos from pipes during his day’s job.
According to the web site http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=chemoembol, chemoembolization is a combination of chemotherapy and a procedure called embolization, to treat cancer. Debbie is being treated by Dr. Thomas J. Vogl, Chairman, Department of Radiology, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology - University Hospital, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, University of Frankfurt am Main.
In this procedure, Dr. Vogl catheterizes the tumor and administers localized chemotherapy directly into the arteries feeding the tumor. Once the chemo has been administered, other agents can be administered to block off the blood supply to the tumor.
We look forward to another stellar report following Debbie’s visit to Germany this month!