Category Archives: Cancers

ToxicoGenomica

2023 Brings Multiple Waves Of Additional Studies Regarding Mesotheliomas And Other Cancers Caused Solely By Genomic Factors

| September 5, 2023

ToxicoGenomica recently presented a webinar organized by Perrin Conferences and the slides are now available for download. The webinar focused on the latest publications, scientific studies, and statistics regarding genomics role in cancers. It also covered predictive software and other tools for understanding the impact of germline mutations on disease development and progression. The speakers […]

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Newly discovered features of glioblastoma could change the course of legal defenses

| May 11, 2022

Legal defenses in toxic tort cases regarding mesothelioma or lymphoma are increasingly dependent on genetic evidence demonstrating genetic predisposition – i.e., demonstrating that the cancer was caused by genetic defects that the plaintiff inherited. In the case of other cancers, however, litigators may face a lack of data supporting legal arguments of predisposition. For litigators […]

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Case-Specific Results in Benzene (Blood Cancer) and Mesothelioma Cases [Slides for Download]

| June 3, 2021

At our recent conference Genomic Analysis in Tort Cases, Kirk Hartley, Esq. chaired the first panel addressing the use of genomics in product liability and/or premises cases involving exposures to toxicants, including asbestos, benzene and radiation. Individual panelists provided summaries of cases they worked on involving genomics. Specifically, Kirk Hartley discussed the results from genetic […]

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DNA

Why Do BAP1 Mutations Cause Mesothelioma?

| May 6, 2019

Mechanistic understanding of cancers continues to accelerate, with important implications for tort litigation. A recent new study by He et al. (2019) provides new insights into how and why germline BAP1 mutations are involved in the development of some cancers, such as mesothelioma, but not others. The new insights are about tissue specific actions of […]

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DNA

Signature Mutations Might be the Best Alternative Cause Defense You Never Heard Of

| April 3, 2019

An important feature that has emerged from this new genomic knowledge is known as “signature mutations.” In short, specific exposures cause specific patterns of mutations to occur in tumors. These mutation patterns within the cancer tissue therefore serve as a clear marker for that specific exposure (hence the term “signature mutation”).

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Overview of Rare Disease Registries and U.S. Cancer Registries

| February 20, 2019

Our post yesterday explained work in progress to create a national mesothelioma patient registry. That development should be viewed in the broader context of rare disease registries in general. On that topic, an open access article is Lacaze P,  et al, Rare disease registries: a call to action. Intern Med J. 2017 Sep;47(9):1075-1079. The article […]

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