| | | |

Faster Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Deemed “Safe and Feasible”

ByAlex Strauss

faster mesothelioma chemotherapyResearchers in The Netherlands say it may be possible to deliver faster mesothelioma chemotherapy without doing any additional damage to the kidneys.

If they are right, it could make mesothelioma treatment more accessible and convenient for patients.

Most malignant mesothelioma patients will have chemotherapy. The most common type of chemotherapy is by infusion. Each session takes several hours.

Every mesothelioma patient undergoing chemotherapy faces the possibility of kidney damage. That possibility can even limit how much medicine doctors can use.

But a new Dutch study finds that faster mesothelioma chemotherapy may be as safe for the kidneys as standard chemotherapy.

Analyzing Faster Mesothelioma Chemotherapy

The study included 230 lung cancer patients who had chemotherapy. Some of the study subjects had non-small cell lung cancer. Some had small-cell lung cancer. And some had pleural mesothelioma, the most aggressive lung-related cancer.

About half of the patients had regular chemotherapy with cisplatin. Cisplatin is a platinum-based drug usually given along with Alimta for mesothelioma patients.

It took three hours for the patients in the “regular chemotherapy” group to complete a session.

A second group got faster mesothelioma chemotherapy in just one hour. The Dutch doctors looked for acute kidney injury (AKI) in both groups. They also watched for a decrease in eGFR, a measure of kidney function.

“There was no significant difference in renal function between rapid infusion of cisplatin and regular infusion of cisplatin,” writes researcher Eveline S Mense, PharmD, in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.

Chemotherapy for Malignant Mesothelioma

Chemotherapy is currently the most effective way to treat pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma patients get the best results with a combination of mesothelioma and surgery. But even patients who are not candidates for surgery can usually have chemotherapy.

Some patients also benefit from emerging mesothelioma treatments like targeted radiation and immunotherapy.

While chemotherapy can be effective, it can also be inconvenient, especially if a patient lives far away from the infusion center.

The Dutch team says faster mesothelioma chemotherapy could make treatment easier on patients.

They conclude, “A 1-hour infusion of cisplatin is a safe and feasible method, which may potentially shorten duration of hospital admittance and enable treating patients in the outpatient setting.”

Source:

Mense, ES, et al, “The effect of rapid infusion of cisplatin on nephrotoxicity in patients with lung carcinoma”, December 21, 2018, Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcpt.12781

Similar Posts

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma
| |

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland
|

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

ByAlex Strauss

A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?
| |

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says there is not enough evidence to support the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of pain associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland reviewed a range of past studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy by searching databases that date back as far as 1974. To be eligible to be included in their review, the study had to focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma and radiotherapy given “with the intent of improving pain”. The study also had to report doses and fractionation of the radiotherapy and how the pain responded. In all, the researchers found eight studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy that met the criteria. Two of the studies were prospective…

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma
|

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited
| |

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited

ByAlex Strauss

A form of highly-targeted radiation therapy for mesothelioma is better than it used to be, but is still risky. That is the message of a recent article on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Author Kenneth E. Rosenzweig, MD, a Radiation Oncologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reviewed recent studies on IMRT and mesothelioma. He concludes that, while the “troubling toxicity” associated with IMRT when it was first introduced has not been entirely eliminated, the fact that clinicians now have more experience with it is making a positive difference for mesothelioma patients. Before targeted therapies like IMRT were available, high-dose radiation was not usually a feasible option for mesothelioma since the irregular shape…

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia
| | |

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia

ByAlex Strauss

Australia is bracing for an expected new wave of mesothelioma cases in the next decade and the Lung Foundation of Australia is taking action now to get ready. The Foundation has paid for ten nurses from around the country to receive specialized training in helping patients and families cope with mesothelioma. The nurses, who have recently completed the training, are now equipped to lead treatment planning for these complex cancer patients and to help other nurses do the same. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in the lining around the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, a toxin that was once alarmingly prevalent in Australia where it was mined and heavily used in construction. Because…