Most insurers, defendants and various interested others can and should be spending money to find additional causes of mesothelioma. The vast majority, however, are not. Therefore, it is somewhat serendipitous that researchers from NIEHS at Triangle Park recently may have found another substance that appears to promote the development of mesothelioma. The work arises from study that is part of a general NIEHS screening program for a chemical, vinylidene chloride. Dow first developed the chemical. The article is: Blackshear, PE et al, “Gene Expressions of Mesothelioma in Vinylidene Chloride-exposed F344/N Rats Reveal Immune Dysfunction, Tissue Damage, and Inflammation Pathways”, June 23, 2014, Toxicologic Pathology, published online before print June 23, 2014, doi:10.1177/0192623314537885.
According to one article: “While these mesothelioma cells shared man of the same characteristics, the team found that those from the VDC-exposed rats showed a greater tendency toward inflammation and immune system dysfunction. “These data suggest that a chronic, pro-inflammatory environment associated with VDC exposure may exacerbate disturbances in oncogene, growth factor, and cell cycle regulation, resulting in an increased incidence of mesothelioma,” concludes lead investigator Pamela Blackshear with the Cellular and Molecular Pathology Branch of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.”
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