It all started about 10 years ago, when Dr. Michele Carbone, director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at the University of Hawaii and an accomplished chef, visited Turkey as a keynote speaker. He discovered that in several villages, 50 percent of the residents died of mesothelioma. Houses in these villages were constructed from soft volcanic rock containing erionite, a naturally occurring fibrous mineral similar to asbestos. Furthermore, “houses of death” were usually destroyed, sending the contaminated dust into the air for all to breathe. Carbone discovered that in some houses, everyone died, yet in other houses, made from the same material a few yards away, everyone remained healthy. This led to Carbone researching why some people remained harmless from the deadly toxin. Years of research resulting in a study Carbone published in the prestigious journal Nature revealed a genetic predisposition for mesothelioma.

Scientists call it a "gene-environment interaction." Carbone says he and his team are close to isolating that gene, which means more hope for early detection, treatment and a cure. They also identified the exposure to erionite as the likely trigger for developing the disease. Carbone became determined to reduce residents' contact with the mineral fiber and persuaded officials in Cappadocia, Turkey to construct a new village to prevent more illnesses and deaths. They wasted no time and eventually more than 2,000 people had new brick and mortar houses.

Carbone decided to take things a step further. He invited the Turkish surgeon general to attend the National Cancer Institute meeting last August at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in which he hosted. Of course, the visit included a multi-course gourmet dinner that Carbone prepared himself. During the visit, he convinced the surgeon general and members of the cancer institute that he needed to study early detection of mesothelioma in Cappadocia, where the high incidence allowed him to “get an answer in a short time at a fraction of the cost.” Unfortunately, no infrastructure existed, but the surgeon general agreed that the research called for a new hospital, and by April, the structure was completed.

Carbone has taken his research to the states and is currently studying three families with a high incidence of mesothelioma. For this work, the American Association for Cancer Research presented the prestigious Landon Innovator Award for the best international collaboration related to the advancement of cancer prevention research - a $100,000 grant over two years - to Carbone and his team of researchers in April. Carbone says, “This is a big issue and it’s my passion.”

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