Mesothelioma Survival Rates Higher Among Women

 review of 14,228 cases of mesothelioma conducted by researchers from Mount Sinai Health System and Hofstra School of Medicine in New York found that the average five-year survival rate for women with mesothelioma was more than twice as high for women as for men. This proved true even after factors such as race, age, and stage of mesothelioma development were taken into account.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have discovered the gender-specific genetic mutations that seem to give women with mesothelioma a higher chance of survival. It is the hope of these researchers that this new understanding could point towards treatments that will help men diagnosed with mesothelioma live a longer and more satisfying life.

To develop treatments, researchers are now looking at gender-specific gene mutations at the molecular level. Measuring healthy tissue against the genome sequencing profile of mesothelioma tumors from the same patients, this most recent study identified some of the gender and histology mechanisms that drive mesothelioma including:

• Female mesothelioma patients have twice as many mutations of the TP53 gene
• CDKN2A protein coding gene mutations are more frequent in men with non-epithelioid subtypes of mesothelioma
• BAP1 gene expression in non-epithelioid tumors is higher in women with mesothelioma

These specific mutations are valuable to researchers due to their potential for the development of more effectivemesothelioma treatments.