Skin Side Effects of TTFields Mesothelioma Treatment

ByAlex Strauss
Skin Side Effects

A new report has some advice for dealing with the possible skin side effects of the newest FDA-approved mesothelioma treatment, Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields).

TTFields, or Optune Lua, is an antimitotic treatment for asbestos cancer. It generates alternating electrical fields that disrupt the cancer cells’ ability to divide. TTFields is also approved for a type of brain cancer called glioblastoma.  

The new report says skin side effects like itching, sweating, and dry skin, can cause people to stop the treatment. Dealing with those problems effectively could improve survival for mesothelioma patients. 

How TTF Works

Pleural mesothelioma tumors grow on the membrane around the lungs. Alimta is the only FDA-approved medicine for mesothelioma. It received approval in 2004. 

The Optune Lua TTFields device is only the second FDA-approved mesothelioma treatment.  It is for unresectable or advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The device sticks to the chest with adhesive patches or transducer arrays. Patients are supposed to wear it 18 hours a day while it generates waves of electricity that help keep cancer in check.

In a clinical trial of Optune Lua with chemotherapy, 71 percent of mesothelioma patients experienced skin side effects. In fact, these were the only major complications. Most of the problems were mild to moderate. But five percent of mesothelioma patients had severe skin side effects.

Skin problems are so common that Novocure, the company that makes Optune Lua, has a downloadable resource about skin side effects on its website. 

Managing Skin Side Effects of Optune Lua

The multi-center report focused on glioblastoma patients using TTFields. Researchers say managing adverse events (AEs) like skin problems is critical to improve survival. 

“Since survival benefit from TTFields increases with duration-of-use, prevention and management of skin AEs are critical to maximize adherence,” writes author Mario Lacouture of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Lacouture and his colleagues assessed the different kinds of skin side effects with TTFields. They include:

  • Irritation
  • Sweating
  • Dry skin
  • Itching
  • Ulcers/sores
  • Infection 

Sores and infections were the least common skin side effects with TTFields. But in patients whose immunity may already be compromised by mesothelioma treatment, they could be serious. 

The report recommends antibiotics, skin barrier films, moisturizers, topical corticosteroids and antiperspirants for treatment-related skin problems. Mesothelioma patients undergoing Optune Lua treatment should use water-based soaps and lotions. Petroleum-based products can interfere with the treatment. 

The report’s authors say they hope the information will help cancer doctors recognize and address skin side effects from TTFields. 

“These recommendations may improve cutaneous health and support adherence to therapy, both of which would maximize treatment outcomes,” concludes the report. 

Sources:

Lacouture, M, et al, “Prevention and Management of Dermatologic Adverse Events Associated With Tumor Treating Fields in Patients With Glioblastoma”, July 28, 2020, Frontiers in Oncology, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.01045/full

Optune Lua website, https://www.optunelua.com/daily-life

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…