Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Exosomes And Their Role In Asbestos Exposure And Mesothelioma, Phillip Blake Munson
Exosomes And Their Role In Asbestos Exposure And Mesothelioma, Phillip Blake Munson
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a locally invasive and highly aggressive cancer arising on the mesothelial surface of organ cavities (mainly pleural) as a direct result of asbestos exposure. The latency period of MM is long (20-50yrs) after initial asbestos exposure, and the prognostic outcomes are dismal with median life expectancy of 6-12 months post-diagnosis. There are no useful biomarkers for early MM diagnosis, no successful therapeutic interventions. These vast voids of knowledge led to our hypotheses that secreted vesicles, termed exosomes, play an important role in MM development and tumorigenic properties. Exosomes are nano-sized particles secreted from all cell types …