An asbestos-related cancer called mesothelioma is a particularly deadly cancer that has little help these days from the global medical community (probably due to not being a highly popular cancer).

That doesn't mean a possible treatment should be put on hold, but that is the way some Northern Ireland cancer sufferers are probably feeling right now. A new mesothlioma drug called Alimta will make it to Northern Ireland sometime in the near future (just no this year), as it'll be the last UK region to receive access to the drug.

What's worrisome is that Ireland has a high rate of incurable lung cancer due to its history as a shipbuilding country where workers were regularly exposed to dangerous airborne particles, with some causing mesothelioma cases.

When I read this headline, Canadian Cancer Society calls for asbestos ban, I was confused. Isn't asbestos already banned? Turns out it is -- from further use anyway. But asbestos still lurks in many buildings here in Canada, and it's was apparently responsible for 1,097 workplaces deaths in 2005. I guess the rumors of asbestos in the old lecture halls at my old university could have had some merit.

And yet despite the facts that asbestos can cause death, there are still asbestos defenders out there, who insist that the building material is safe if properly used. It's inexpensive, durable, and deadly. What's more important? I am definitely in favor of a ban ... are you?

Did you know that at least 200,000 people die every year from cancers related to where they work? The main reasons are from inhaling asbestos fibers and second hand smoke. This was reported today by the World Health Organization (WHO).

About 125 million people are exposed to asbestos at work, leading to at least 90,000 deaths per year. Benzene, an organic compound used in rubbers, dyes and pesticides, causes thousands to die of leukemia each year. Those subjected to second hand smoke have twice the risk of developing lung cancer than those that work in a smoke free environment.

This means that we could be preventing so many cancer deaths if the industries would tighten safety standards for their employees.

The U.S. government's Institute of Medicine reported that asbestos, which is accepted as a cause of a number of respiratory ailments including lung cancer, may also be a source for laryngeal cancer. The larynx produces the sound of your voice. Each year in the United States, more than 10,000 people learn they have larynx cancer. Men are four times more likely than women to get cancer of the larynx. Occupational related issues are certainly a factor with mechanics, construction, and other jobs that handle asbestos.

A series of studies have found that certain cancers of the throat and lungs are similar, so the U.S. Senate asked the institute to investigate a potential link between asbestos and other upper-body cancers. Asbestos is also linked to mesothelioma which is a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the chest.

Smokers and smokers that drink alcohol are even more at risk to develop cancer of the larynx. Symptoms of larynx cancer are hoarseness or other voice changes,lump in the neck, a sore throat or feeling that something is stuck in your throat, a cough that does not go away, breathing problems, bad breath, earaches, and weight loss.

Nearly 20 percent of women and eight percent of men with lung cancer have never smoked, say researchers involved in a study of one million people in the United States and Sweden. The likely culprit in these lung cancer cases is secondhand smoke.

It's not yet clear why women are more likely to develop the disease. Perhaps they are more susceptible to all forms of smoking -- whether direct or secondhand -- or maybe because more men smoke than women, women are more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

While smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, there are other factors to blame for disease incidence. Radon, asbestos, chromium, and arsenic are all associated with lung cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer will be diagnosed in 213,000 Americans in 2007. The disease will kill 160,000.

Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause mesothelioma or asbestos lung cancer.  In the 1980's, occupational jobs handling asbestos were determined to be the largest contributing factors for this disease. Workplace exposure is more rare now but the risks of exposure are still there for some occupations and not only for the people in these occupations but for their family members who might handle their clothing, or that live near facilities that have asbestos and are breathing in the tiny dust particles.

Many occupations have an increased risk for developing lung cancer. For example, asbestos insulation workers have 92 times the risk of developing lung cancer, and smelter workers have 3-8 times the risk of developing lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer is also increased in people who work in the manufacturing of certain industrial gases, pharmaceuticals, soaps and detergents, paints, inorganic pigments, plastics, and synthetic rubber. The risk of developing lung cancer is related to the amount of exposure to the cancer-causing agent asbestos.

Paul Gleason, who played the go-to bad guy in Trading Places and the angry high school principal in The Breakfast Club, has died. He was 67.  Gleason died at a local hospital Saturday of mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer linked to asbestos, said his wife, Susan Gleason.

"Whenever you were with Paul, there was never a dull moment," his wife said. "He was awesome."

A native of Miami, Gleason was an avid athlete. Before becoming an actor, he played Triple-A minor league baseball for a handful of clubs in the late 1950s. Gleason honed his acting skills with his mentor Lee Strasberg, whom he studied with at the Actors Studio beginning in the mid-1960s, family members said.  Through his career, Gleason appeared in over 60 movies that included Die Hard, Johnny Be Good, and National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Most recently, Gleason made a handful of television appearances in hit shows such as Friends and Seinfeld. Gleason's passions went beyond acting. He had recently published a book of poetry. 

"He was an athlete, an actor and a poet," said his daughter, Shannon Gleason-Grossman. "He gave me and my sister a love that is beyond description that will be with us and keep us strong for the rest of our lives."

Gleason was survived by his wife, two daughters and a granddaughter. Funeral plans were pending.

According to an attorney representing a group of 9/11 first responders who have been diagnosed with brain cancer and other illness -- out of the 7,300 sick workers and family members involved in the case -- 41 have now died. The group states that the toxic dust that filled the air immediately following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers is responsible for their illnesses. 

In a related post, WTC Ground Zero: FDNY paramedic dies of lung cancer, we shared the story of Debbie Reeve, a FDNY paramedic, who spent several months at Ground Zero working in the morgue. Reeve was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a malignant lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Reeve was exposed to asbestos particles in the air caused by the collapsing Twin Towers. According to her physician and her family, her work at Ground Zero is the direct link to the cancer that took her life. She died in mid-March, leaving behind her husband, David Reeve, 45, a FDNY paramedic, and two children, a daughter Elizabeth, who is ten years old, and a son Mark, who is only six years old. Her family said she suffered greatly leading up to her death, as the cancer consumed her body.

In another news story that came out today, a survey completed by the Centers for Disease Control states that people trapped in the dust and debris cloud were nearly three times more likely to experience respiratory symptoms than other building survivors not bathed by the cloud. "That was most surprising to us - the impact of the dust cloud," noted Dr. Lorna Thorpe, deputy commissioner of the city Health Department and head of the World Trade Center Health Registry, which has been tracking the health of more than 71,000 people who worked at or were near Ground Zero on 9/11.

As a nation, we owe these brave men and women whatever they need. Government, state and city agencies should step up and do what is right for our heroes, who ran upstairs into harm's way while everyone was passing them on the way down escaping danger. Who stood in the middle of dense choking dust and debris, to help the injured. Who stayed, and sifted through the heartbreak of destruction to find the lost loved ones of others. This should never have gotten so bad for them they have to go to court to see that right is done.