Tracking Down a Cure for Mesothelioma

April 1, 2008

Santa Barbara, CA LawyersandSettlements.com interviewed Chris Hahn, Executive Director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. Based in Santa Barbara, California, the Meso Foundation has the distinction of being the only US or international organization that focuses exclusively on research for improving mesothelioma. This lesser-known form of cancer is caused by asbestos contamination and remains incurable, for now.



LawyersandSettlements.com (LAS): What drives the Meso Foundation?

Chris Hahn (CH): When I started this position I was captivated by the fact that we've got this huge human suffering problem that science could remedy. The nature and scale of asbestos contamination is so big, though, that it's human nature to push it out of mind, especially when the government has been telling people it's safe.



The thing about mesothelioma is that takes a long time to show itself. It's important for people to realize that almost 3,000 people will die this year because of asbestos exposure that occurred 10-50 years ago. Next year, people who were exposed 9-49 years ago will die. Asbestos has a very long latency but it's going to happen, it's inevitable. And people are still being exposed today.



For example, during 9/11, 400 tons of asbestos covered Manhattan and New Jersey. And those people are going to get sick.



The only hope is to develop an effective treatment. That's why we're so adamant; we're doing this for those who are already sick and those who will become sick.



LAS: Where does the Meso Foundation step in?

CH: The science of mesothelioma, and therefore the treatment, has been ignored for decades and it could be so much better.



We fund critically needed mesothelioma research but our method is unique. We don't do the research ourselves; we use a neutral and prestigious body of scientific reviewers on a peer method who determine the best applications and fund them. There are brilliant researchers clamoring for funding and in our last call for applicants, we had 40 from around the world, including Egypt, where there is a terrible epidemic.



LAS: Your advocacy reaches beyond than the lab, then?

CH: We held our annual symposium in Washington, D.C. last September for the first time because we wanted to add a scientific component to marking Mesothelioma Awareness Month. So we had 120 advocates attend from around the country; they signed up in advance and paid all expenses themselves. They then called up three members of legislature from each state and set up a meeting between them and a group of patients, family and those struggling with mesothelioma. In that meeting on October 4th, the group could tell the legislature face-to-face about getting up to go to work everyday to keep this country going, and not knowing that they were being contaminated in the process, in a carcinogenic environment.



LAS: Where was the contamination coming from?

CH: All forms of industry: in shipyards, it's heavy in the navy, everywhere they use boilers, in the construction trade, and electricians cut through it. Then they'd carry the asbestos dust home on their clothes and expose everyone in their home to it.



I talked to a guy the other day whose contamination came from the vermiculite insulation that he installed one summer while helping his dad at the farmhouse. Now he has mesothelioma. Vermiculite is in 35 million homes right now.



LAS: Was there any other message you wanted to express to the government?

CH: That the only hope for mesothelioma was in research. If you look at the economic toll it has already had on our country--billions of dollars have already changed hands in litigation, and just as much in bankruptcy. Plus you have people spending their life savings on alternative treatments. We think all that money could be used more productively.



LAS: What has been the government's response?

Patty Murray, who represents Washington State, put forward a bill we call it an Asbestos Ban. It would further limit exposure to new asbestos by stopping any new importation, as well as its inclusion in new products.



Even more important, we got a federal commitment of $10 million a year for effective mesothelioma research. That's a first ever commitment by the government. It acknowledges the very strong connection between asbestos and mesothelioma.



On that same day, the Senate passed the bill unanimously.



The senators knew we were coming and didn't want to have to answer to the people who'd come to tell their stories, so they made sure the legislation was passed that very day. It was a historic moment.



LAS: What's the next step?

CH: The bill has to pass the House of Representatives, then become a bill, and finally the president has to sign, or at least not veto, it.



LAS: Do you have a timeline?

This has to happen before the end of this congressional term, which means before October 2008 because this is an election year and the Congress recesses earlier than their normal end of year. If it doesn't, the Senate bill will be wiped out and we'll have to start all over.



LAS: What is your biggest challenge?

CH: Firstly, the huge social injustice that this disease is so rarely talked about. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has done some good stories but there's no TV coverage.



People feel like it will never happen to them, and the government's been saying it's safe. Economically, it's unpopular. Lots of big manufacturers are involved. In the Libby, Montana case, the Environmental Protection Agency knew it was dangerous; they went out there twice in the mid-80s, but turned away. It's also politically unpopular. The federal government has to acknowledge its role in putting asbestos in the navy ships and yards without warning or failing to regulate.



LAS: Your background is in the non profit sector and in law. Why were you asked to take this position?

CH: Although I had never heard of mesothelioma before joining the Foundation, in the non profit field and in law, I had developed pretty good skills as a communicator; I'm good at persuasion, talking to funders and getting along with people.



How does the situation look to you eight years down the road?

CH: For decades our football was stuck in the end zone; now it's moved to the 15 yard line. It's exciting. And I say that because I can see the benchmarks of progress.



We have now provided $5 million worth of funding around the world and we've seen progress in the science of mesothelioma. We understand the biology cancer cell better and the molecular pathways that could become pathways for treatments. Since I started there was not one government approved treatment for mesothelioma; it was believed to be resistant to chemotherapy, but that has changed. And we have a biomarker that can be detected in blood and so we are able to track the progress of mesothelioma through a simple blood test.



But the biggest improvement is that over the past eight years we've seen an incredibly strong community of families, patients, new advocates, doctors, researchers and politicians all come together in a united way [through our website], and this will get mesothelioma a cure someday.



To find out more, visit the Meso Foundation website.