Dr. Parkash Gill has invented Veglin, a type of antisense oligonucleotide anti-angiogenesis drug. Veglin has been under clinical trials phases I and II at the University of Southern California. This drug has demonstrated preliminary success with results of lowering VEGF levels in tumors. Tumor growth is aided by the protein VEGF. The results of the Phase I clinical trials using Veglin were released by Dr. Parkash Gill during the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The doctor said that results in some cases had shown Veglin to be capable of reduction of tumors and periodic stabilization.
Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.
A patient with this cancer typically demonstrates mesothelioma symptoms between 15 and 50 years after initial exposure to asbestos. Unfortunately, the cancer can take decades to develop and symptoms do not arise until after the cancer is present. So many patients are unaware of the severity of their condition because mesothelioma symptoms often resemble those of less serious illnesses.
Mesothelioma symptoms rarely arise at an early stage, which is why the disease is commonly diagnosed at a late stage of development. Anyone who has been exposed to asbestos should undergo chest X-rays or pulmonary function tests to check for signs of asbestos inhalation.
From left to right: U.A. Local 342 Pension Trustee / Asbestos Liaison, Mr. Vern Gosney, MesoRFA Assistant Executive Director, Mr. Shane Rucker, and U.A. Local 342 Business Manager, Mr. Jay Williams.
Assistant Executive Director Shane Rucker was invited to the U.A. Local 342 Retirees Luncheon to speak about Veglin’s success in FDA clinical trials and to meet a few of the Foundation’s biggest supporters. U.A. Local 342 Pension Trustee/Asbestos Liaison Vern Gosney has been instrumental in his support for the Foundation and finding a cure for mesothelioma, participating in almost every fundraiser held since our inception.
During his visit, Shane Rucker, highlighted the importance of private donations and the upcoming fundraisers in 2011 to ensure Veglin makes it into Phase III of the FDA approval process. With the current economic situation and the decrease in the number of personal donations the upcoming events are crucial. Shane also spoke about the progress being made in developing new treatment options for mesothelioma and how Veglin is proving to be effective in prolonging a patient’s life after being diagnosed with this terrible disease.
We would like to personally thank Vern Gosney, the Retirees, Business Manager Jay Williams and the Local 342 Officers for the opportunity to talk to the very people the Foundation may be called upon to help. It was an honor to meet and have lunch with all of you.
Dr. Parkash Gill and Veglin wait for further FDA approval
PRESS RELEASE
April 30, 2011
Dr. Parkash Gill has announced that Veglin is not available until receiving FDA approval. This delay is considered normal and a required process by the FDA. Once the FDA approves, Alimta Cisplatin chemotherapy along with Veglin (a non-chemotherapy) will be the next protocol used.
A new drug, Veglin, is a mesothelioma treatment that acts as like an anti-angiogenesis agent that works by cutting off the blood supply that cancer cells require in order to grow. The cancer cells are starved with no adverse effects to normal healthy cells. Clinical Trials of Veglin for Phase I and II have been successful at stopping mesothelioma cancer. National clinical trials of this drug for Phase III study by FDA approval are ready to launch in 2011.
Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America
Westlake Village, California
March 24, 2011
Veglin is set for Phase III of the FDA approval process but we are currently being held back by the funding needed. Good news is we are at the beginning of our fundraising season and hope to generate the funds needed over the next couple of months with clay shoots and golf tournaments taking place between may and July of 2011.
The benefit of introducing Veglin into Phase III is we will be able to provide Veglin to any facility of hospital willing to administer it to mesothelioma patients. This will broaden our patient base and speed the FDA approval process in making Veglin a “mainstream” treatment for mesothelioma. As of today we are very localized, administering the drug only in Southern California at the USC Norris Comprehensive Center, but we hope to have this changed very soon.
It is amazing how far we have come in the last 9 years, operating on a budget that is a fraction of what most pharmaceutical companies will put into the development of new drugs. This is all thanks to our friends in the Insulators Unions, D.C. 16 and Building Trades Councils who are always there lending support.
About Veglin
Veglin is an anti-angiogenesis non-chemotherapy drug (angiogenesis inhibitor) that was developed by Dr. Parkash Gill’s for the treatment of a variety of malignancies including mesothelioma. Veglin is one of several newly developed non-chemotherapy drugs being tested for possible utilization in the ongoing struggle to combat malignant mesothelioma.
Veglin is an antisense oligonucleotide that binds with DNA genes that are responsible for the production of proteins called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF), with the intention of inhibiting their production. This new drug acts as like an anti-angiogenesis agent that works by cutting off the blood supply that cancer cells require in order to grow. The cancer cells are starved with no adverse effects to normal healthy cells.
Veglin proved successful in FDA monitored Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. Many patients suffering and dying from mesothelioma cancer are very hopeful for the possibilities of a more effective cancer treatment compared to what presently is available for mesothelioma victims.
About Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America
The Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America has a mission: fund research that will lead to the quickest cure for mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos exposure. This cancer disease had few treatment options until this Foundation and Dr. Parkash Gill’s work created better treatment options. Today, the future looks more hopeful for additional improved treatment options available to those stricken by this cancer.
The Foundation began funding research for a cure in 2001 with the opening of the Mesothelioma Laboratory at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Medical Center in Los Angeles under the supervision of Dr. Parkash Gill.
Dr. Gill is a board certified oncologist and hematologist who has received FDA approval from the U.S. Government to do Clinical Trials on a mesothelioma treatment drug called Veglin. We believe there is great promise and hope in Veglin and the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America has funded 100% of Dr. Gill’s research. Every dollar donated to the Foundation goes to the Phase III Clinical Trials of Veglin, a mesothelioma treatment.
Contact Information:
Shane Rucker
Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America
Toll Free:
(800) 909-Meso (6376)
National Asbestos Awareness Week will begin this year the first week of April. Non-profit groups like the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America (MesoRFA) and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) use this week to increase public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and the mesothelioma treatments available for the cancer caused by asbestos particle inhalation.
On March 9, 2011, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and cosponsors introduced and passed US Senate Resolution 63 – 112th Congress. This resolution (SR-63) designates the first week of April 2011 as National Asbestos Awareness Week. It urges the Surgeon General to warn and educate people about asbestos exposure, which may be hazardous to their health. Senator Baucus began his crusade to abolish asbestos use in 1999 when he wrote a letter to then Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala requesting immediate medical help and assistance for his home state area of Libby, Montana. Libby is a city that no one wants to live in because 1 in 8 residents has some kind of asbestos related ailments and estimates put the number of deaths related to asbestos mining at over 200. The city once boomed from the mining of vermiculite (an asbestos containing mineral) but now it has a growing number of the town’ residents being sickened by asbestos released in the air. The mine has been closed since 1990.
In 2002 EPA investigators found Libby, Montana to be contaminated with asbestos and began the process of containing the city. The EPA attempted to declare a Public Health Emergency in Libby that was thwarted by the previous Federal Government Administration’s Office of Management and Budget. Senator Baucus reported this failure in 2008, and on June 17, 2009, due in large part to Baucus’ reporting efforts, the EPA finally declared its first ever public health emergency in Libby, Montana.
Groups like MesoRFA and ADOA combine medical research, public and patient education, family advocacy and community support to compel a national and global rallying outcry for all nations to abolish asbestos mining and its use in manufactured products. Additionally, the groups seek to increase public awareness of the suffering experienced by patients with mesothelioma with the hope to fund research and find the quickest cure to this cancer disease caused by exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos is a carcinogen to humans and exposure to it can cause diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Research and studies from the World Health Organization (2004) provide estimates about asbestos-related disease from occupational exposure. Their results counted 107,000 deaths and 1,523,000 DALYs where a Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) is defined as the measure of overall disease burden expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death. Other studies estimate during the next decade around the world there will be 300 deaths per day from asbestos related disease.
The ADOA will be having their 7th Annual Asbestos Awareness Conference (April 1 – 3, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia) and will bring leading international experts together to discuss the impact of asbestos on public health, the environment, and the economy. This organization seeks to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure. It is an independent global organization with a mission dedicated to stop asbestos use and preventing asbestos-related.
The MesoRFA compliments the ADOA objectives with their mission to fund medical research leading to the quickest cure for mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos exposure. This cancer disease had few treatment options until recent research work created better options for mesothelioma treatments with the drug, Veglin. Today, the future looks very hopeful with improved treatment to those stricken by asbestos-caused mesothelioma cancer.
Many oncologists project the average post-diagnostic malignant mesothelioma survival time in sufferers is between one and two years. Also, traditional mesothelioma treatments have had no success in eradicating the disease and have produced limited success in extending a patient’s survival time. Therefore, new and experimental mesothelioma treatments have become increasingly popular as an option for cancer sufferers.
A new approach in finding a mesothelioma cure is a drug called Veglin being studied by Dr. Gill at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Veglin is one of several newly developed non-chemotherapy drugs being tested in the ongoing struggle to combat malignant mesothelioma. The new drug is an anti-angiogenesis agent that works by cutting off the blood supply that cancer cells need in order to grow. Veglin is currently in the last part of Phase II Clinical Trials with the FDA and Phase III trials should begin sometime in 2011. Mesothelioma sufferers interested in taking part in the next clinical trial should talk with their doctor, and are encouraged to contact Dr. Parkash Gill for more information on Veglin and the trials to be had nationally.
Everyone is encouraged to participate in the national observation of Asbestos Awareness Week. Like the American Cancer Society, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and non-profit groups like the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America (MesoRFA) and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), let us all use this week to increase public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and available mesothelioma treatments, because everyone wants to see less cancer and more birthdays!
Jim Kellogg is a master fundraiser and continues to be the character that defines the political landscape in California among plumbers, pipe-fitters, refrigeration and fire sprinkler organizations. Jim began many years ago as an apprentice welder working through his local labor union and rose to become the youngest business agent for the union at age 32. He is a Contra Costa native and is renowned for his skill to sustain the style of old-school handshake politics within California’s political inner circle. Within the labor politics of California, Jim Kellogg is a serious shaker and mover. At age 67, Jim’s fundraising skills remain legendary. He says he gets his popularity among politicians because he is good at raising money!
James W. Kellogg: master fundraiser for mesothelioma treatment
Mr. Kellogg, being tall and sturdy with a folksy manner that feels comfortable and familiar, interacts with white-collar and blue-collar workers equally well. He simply fits in well because Jim does business on the basis of friendship and loyalty. The suspicious and confrontational style he observes among contemporary labor leaders is foreign to him. Jim says: “People don’t do business on a handshake anymore. Now they have attorneys in the room.”
Instead, Jim Kellogg has leveraged and used his integrity and credibility to earn people’s trust. And by these characteristics, he has been very successful at caring for and serving to the needs of members in California’s labor unions for welders, plumbers, steam and pipe-fitters, and HVAC service technicians. Furthermore, if you’d like to learn more about Advantage Heating & Cooling, you can read this article for further insight.
Jim has devoted his entire adult life to helping workers in the construction trades, doing whatever possible to provide the best working environment and conditions that the particular times would bear for the people he represents. Mr. Kellogg also works hard to provide care for people who come down with work related illness. Specifically, some welders, plumbers, steam and pipe-fitters and HVAC service technicians develop mesothelioma because they worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles. He is very concerned for workers who have symptoms of Asbestosis.
Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory medical condition affecting the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers. Workers with asbestosis have a significant increase of risk to get mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body’s internal organs. Jim Kellogg knows that this is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. These cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body.
About 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year, many of these patients being welders, plumbers, steam and pipe-fitters, and HVAC service technicians. Some plumbers, during thermostatic mixing valve maintenance, work with older pipes and insulation materials that may contain asbestos, a known risk factor for mesothelioma.
In direct response to this situation upon the people he cares so much about, Jim has collaborated with Jerry Neil Paul who founded the not-for-profit Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America. The foundation was created in 2001 specifically to raise funds with the help of Jim Kellogg to pay for research that is leading to the quickest cure for mesothelioma. Before the foundation and its research began, this cancer disease had few mesothelioma treatment options, and none provided a cure nor retarded the processes of body health destruction.
But Jim has helped provide the needed money to promote the Foundation’s research for a cure with his well developed business network within California’s construction trade labor unions and his skill to fund raise. With Jim Kellogg’s support, two successful phases of clinical trials have been completed on Dr. Parkash Gill’s work with Veglin. Today, the future looks more hopeful for additional improved treatment options available to those workers stricken by malignant mesothelioma cancer.
Using the volunteered expertise of Mr. Kellogg, much has been learned about how to bring mesothelioma treatments to labor union workers. He continues to volunteer as a strong supporter of education and promotes mesothelioma help to union workers. For example, the Foundation is very thankful that the Southern California Pipe Trades (SCPT), a part of Jim Kellogg’s business network, continues to make a significant effort to support the research helping to find a cure. The SCPT donated $410,000.00 in December 2010 to help us prepare for the Phase III Clinical Trials of our research with Veglin that will launch sometime in 2011. The research team is now ready to launch into the final and critical Phase III trials which will begin when the whole budget, required to cover the 2011 national research project, is obtained.
We all are thankful and applaud the great charitable work of James W. Kellogg. The world is a better place for everyone because Jim has chosen to make it his life-time career serving and caring for laborers with great generosity, a firm hand-shake, and reliable integrity.
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body’s internal organs. Annually, the incidence of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) is approximately 2 to 2.6 cases per million. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, such as Pipe Fitters.
Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.
Mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer, although reported incidence rates have increased in the past twenty years,. About 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year.
The Southern California Pipe Trades (SCPT) continues to make a significant effort to support the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America in helping find a cure. The SCPT donated $410,000.00 at the end of 2010 to help us prepare for the Phase III Clinical Trials of our research with Veglin that will launch sometime in 2011.
Southern California Pipe Trades supports the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America
Donation Representatives, left-to-right
Sid C. Stopler (DC 16 Business Manager – UA Vice President District 5)
Michael Layton (DC 16 Assistant Business Manager)
Parkash Gill, M.D. (Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board)
Elizabeth Ann Paul (Executive Director of Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America)
Jerry Neil Paul (Founding Director of Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America)
John Ferruccio (DC 16 Director of Organizating)
Cure Mesothelioma Research Update
The average post-diagnostic survival time of malignant mesothelioma sufferers is between one and two years. Traditional mesothelioma treatments have had no success in eradicating the disease and have produced limited success in extending patient survival time. Therefore, new and experimental mesothelioma treatments are becoming increasingly popular options for cancer sufferers.
A new approach in finding a mesothelioma cure is a drug called Veglin being studied by Dr. Gill at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Veglin is one of several newly developed non-chemotherapy drugs being tested in the ongoing struggle to combat malignant mesothelioma. The new drug is an anti-angiogenesis agent that works by cutting off the blood supply that cancer cells need in order to grow. Veglin is currently in the last part of Phase II Clinical Trials with the FDA and Phase III trials should begin sometime in 2011. More information on Veglin and the trial can be found at http://www.mesorfa.org/treatments/veglin.php. Patients interested in taking part in the next clinical trial should talk with their doctor, and contact Dr. Parkash Gill.
Interview with Dr. Parkash Gill
Dr. Gill runs the Mesothelioma Cancer Research Lab at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and can be contacted directly at the Mesorfa.org web site.
What are this year’s plans in terms of research?
This year is going to be really exciting for Veglin and research. Veglin will be introduced into the third and final phase of the Federal Drug Administration approval process. This should all be happening by the end of the 2011 year. This will open up the patient base because the drug will be able to be administered at facilities across the United States.
What are some of the new drugs you are working on?
We have some of the brightest researchers in the nation working on finding a cure and some amazing results are coming out. Just look at Veglin. The new drugs mentioned in previous articles and newsletters, EPH-B4 and Delta, are showing great promise of following in Veglin’s footsteps. There is still much work to be done but the lab results coming from combinations, of say Veglin with Delta, or Delta with EPH-B4, are better than I could have ever hoped. We are very close, but like I said there is much work to be done.
Every patient has a right to copies of all their medical records. All you have to do is in writing make a request of each doctor you have seen, and pay a small fee to have them copied. Be sure to keep copies of all your records including doctor visits and test results. With these, then you will always be ready for a visit to a new medical practitioner. Learn and practice asking for medical record copies each and every time you receive a doctor’s diagnosis.
