|
Mesothelioma settlements are not only
available to sufferers of the disease. Many law firms have
secured substantial settlements for the families of those
who have already died from asbestos-related Mesothelioma.
Since the cause and symptoms have only come to light in
recent years, there was no facility for sufferers to claim
until recently. But this does not mean that it is too late
for the families of those that have already passed away. A
claim can still be logged even after the patient has died,
as the family is still entitled to compensation for the loss
of their loved one.
Many lawyers offer free legal advice to Mesothelioma
patients, and the vast majority will not charge a penny
unless they are successful in getting a financial settlement
for the patient or family. Therefore, those who have been
diagnosed with Mesothelioma have nothing to lose by making a
claim.
Depending on the location of the Mesothelioma patient, there
may be a limited time period in which a claim can be made.
It is therefore important to contact a specialist lawyer as
soon as a diagnosis has been made, otherwise you may lose
your chance to make a valid claim.
You should check with a law firm with regards to the time
limitations, and make sure that you take action as soon as
possible in order to increase your chances of getting a
settlement. If you are unsure as to the source of exposure,
many law firms have investigative experts on hand who will
do all of the necessary research and determine which company
or companies were responsible for exposing you to asbestos.
When selecting a Mesothelioma lawyer, patients should look
for a firm with experience in dealing with similar cases.
These firms may be able to give you an idea of how much your
settlement could be, and will already have a lot of the
information and resources to make a speedy start on
processing your claim and getting your settlement finalized
as soon as possible.
Hum Pathol 2002 Jul;33(7):748-55
Abstract quote
Mesothelioma is a fatal tumor resistant
to all treatment modalities for reasons that are still
unresolved. Glutathione (GSH)-associated pathways are
induced by oxidants and cytotoxic drugs, and they are also
involved in the progression and resistance of some tumor
cells in vitro. The rate-limiting enzyme in GSH biosynthesis
is gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma GCS). However,
the expression of this enzyme has not been systematically
investigated in malignant tumors, and there are no studies
of gamma GCS in biopsy specimens of malignant Mesothelioma.
We investigated the immunohistochemical distribution and
expression of both subunits of gamma GCS in healthy pleural
mesothelium, pleural Mesothelioma tumor biopsy samples (34
cases), and Mesothelioma cells in culture (7 cell lines).
Nonmalignant mesothelium showed no immunoreactivity for
either subunit in any of the cases. The heavy (catalytic)
subunit of gamma GCS was highly immunostained in 29 and
weakly positive in 5 cases. High-moderate and weak
immunoreactivity of the light (regulatory) subunit of gamma
GCS was found in 15 and 7 tumors, respectively, whereas 12
cases showed no reactivity. There was no correlation with
either catalytic or regulatory subunit expression and
patient survival. There was, however, a significant
correlation between the heavy chain and multidrug resistance
protein (MRP) 2 (P =.048), whereas no correlation was
observed between the light chain and MRP1 or MRP2. Treatment
of cultured Mesothelioma cells with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO),
to inhibit gamma GCS, significantly potentiated cisplatin-induced
cytotoxicity mainly by nonapoptotic mechanism when assessed
by counting the living cells, TUNEL (terminal
deoxytransferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling) assay, and
caspase-3 cleavage
In conclusion, gamma GCS is highly positive in most cases of
malignant Mesothelioma and may play an important role in the
primary drug resistance of this tumor in vivo. |
