|

Meet FLT PET: A New Hope for Mesothelioma Patients

ByHolly Zink
Meet FLT PET: A New Hope for Mesothelioma Patients

There’s a new tool called F18-Fluorothymidine (FLT) PET. It takes pictures inside the body and focuses on how the cancer cells are growing.

A more traditional tool, FDG PET, has been used for a while. A study in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology compared these tools. They wanted to see which tool, FDG PET or FLT PET, could tell doctors more about how well the treatment was working.

Understanding Tools That Help Mesothelioma Patients

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, heart, or abdomen. It is often caused by exposure to asbestos, a harmful mineral that was used in construction and other industries. Due to its aggressive nature, mesothelioma can be hard to predict and monitor during treatment.

Doctors use different tools to understand how well treatments are working for mesothelioma patients. One of these tools is called F18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). It helps show how the cancer cells respond to treatment. However, there is a problem when patients have undergone a procedure called talc pleurodesis, which is sometimes done to help with breathing difficulties. This procedure can make FDG PET results harder to read.

Enter F18-Fluorothymidine (FLT) PET, another tool that targets cancer cell growth. A study published in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology looked to compare FDG and FLT PET scans to see which one provided better information about how well the treatment was working.

Researchers looked at 29 patients with mesothelioma. Each of them had FLT PET, FDG PET, and CT scans done before and after one round of chemotherapy. Out of these patients, 10 had previously undergone talc pleurodesis. The team followed the patients to track their overall survival and how well they responded to treatment.

The results were very interesting. The FDG PET scans turned out to be influenced by talc pleurodesis, which made them less reliable for some patients. On the other hand, the FLT PET scans, which focused on cell growth, showed a lot of promise.

This study is the first of its kind to show just how important FLT PET scans can be in measuring mesothelioma treatment response. It suggests that FLT PET might be a better choice than FDG PET, especially for patients who have had talc pleurodesis.

These findings could lead to better treatment plans for mesothelioma patients in the future. By using FLT PET scans, doctors may be able to fine-tune treatments and improve outcomes for people facing this tough cancer.

Source

May IJ, Nowak AK, Francis RJ, Ebert MA, Dhaliwal SS. The prognostic value of F18 Fluorothymidine positron emission tomography for assessing the response of malignant pleural mesothelioma to chemotherapy – A prospective cohort study [published online ahead of print, 2023 Oct 29]. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2023;10.1111/1754-9485.13592. doi:10.1111/1754-9485.13592. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37898984/

 

Similar Posts

  • | |

    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…

  • | |

    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…

  • | |

    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…

  • | |

    A Second-Line Option for Mesothelioma?

    ByAlex Strauss

    Although survival was not significantly extended, the chemotherapy drug vinorelbine might be a treatment option for mesothelioma patients whose cancer has returned after first-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed. A new study on vinorelbine as a second-line treatment finds that the drug is “moderately active” in mesothelioma patients who were initially treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Pemetrexed (Alimta), along with a platinum-based drug like cisplatin, is the primary first-line drug therapy for mesothelioma. But vinorelbine is gaining attention as a possible option for mesothelioma, in part because it is available in a less expensive generic form. In “Vinorelbine in pemetrexed-pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma”, the Italian authors detail the results of their study on 59 patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma.  These patients…

  • | |

    Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival

    ByAlex Strauss

    If one cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC procedure for mesothelioma is good, subsequent treatments may be even better. That is the central message of research conducted at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. The study’s aim was to assess overall survival among peritoneal mesothelioma patients who had not just one, but two or more rounds of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) after cytoreductive surgery. The cytoreduction/HIPEC approach has become popular for peritoneal mesothelioma, a treatment-resistant cancer of abdominal membranes caused by asbestos. Cytoreductive surgery involves removing as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible from the abdomen. Because the shape and spreading pattern of mesothelioma tumors make complete cytoreduction difficult, the surgery is often followed by a rinse with a heated solution…

  • | |

    Value of Mesothelioma Surgery Challenged for Healthy Patients

    ByAlex Strauss

    New research conducted in Italy and presented at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia suggests that mesothelioma surgery – no matter what kind – may not offer a survival advantage over medical management for the healthiest of patients. Mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive malignancy that is highly resistant to standard cancer treatments. The two types of mesothelioma surgery considered to be options for people with resectable cancer are pleurectomy decortication (P/D) or extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). While EPP is more radical than P/D because it involves removing a lung, both carry a heavy risk of complications and, according to the Italian researchers, may not be of value for certain patients. The study reviewed data from 1,365…