More Support for Novel Mesothelioma Drug Delivery System

More Support for Novel Mesothelioma Drug Delivery System

Pharmaceutical researchers working on a way to make the most popular mesothelioma drug more effective have found more evidence that fat may be the answer. The team at Zagazig University in Egypt and Tokushima University in Japan have developed a fat-based coating for the antifolate drug pemetrexed (Alimta) that may help improve outcomes for patients. Pemetrexed is currently the only drug approved specifically to treat malignant mesothelioma and most patients will receive it at some point. Even so, like most mesothelioma therapies, pemetrexed is only marginally effective, in part because the dose has to be limited to avoid serious side effects. The new drug delivery system was designed to get around this problem by encapsulating molecules of pemetrexed in tiny…

Clinical Trial May be Best Second-Line Approach for Mesothelioma
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Clinical Trial May be Best Second-Line Approach for Mesothelioma

The best second-line treatment for mesothelioma patients who fail to respond to standard chemotherapy is probably to enroll in a clinical trial. The authors of a newly-published paper on the subject reached that conclusion after reviewing the results of 29 studies on potential second- or third-line mesothelioma treatments. Most patients who are diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive malignancy associated with asbestos exposure, will undergo chemotherapy, either as a stand-alone treatment or as part of a multimodal approach. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of mesothelioma patients treated with standard pemetrexed/cisplatin chemotherapy will show a response. Even those who respond to chemotherapy often relapse again later. Scientists around the world are searching for new drugs and drug combinations to offer mesothelioma patients…

Lower-Cost Mesothelioma Drug May Be as Effective as Gold Standard
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Lower-Cost Mesothelioma Drug May Be as Effective as Gold Standard

A new study suggests that the lower cost chemotherapy drug Gemzar (gemcitabine) combined with a platinum based agent (cisplatin or carboplatin) may be just as effective at treating advanced pleural mesothelioma as the gold standard mesothelioma drug Alimta (pemetrexed) . Doctors in Turkey, a country with one of the world’s highest rates of mesothelioma, tracked 116 mesothelioma patients who were treated with a combination of Alimta and a platinum drug between 1999 and 2012. During the same period, 30 mesothelioma patients received the alternative combination of Gemzar and a platinum drug. There were no differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, asbestos exposure, histological subtype, cancer stage or other characteristics.  The mean age of the patients was…

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Side-Effect Mimics Scleroderma, Infection
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Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Side-Effect Mimics Scleroderma, Infection

The antifolate pemetrexed (Alimta) is the first and is only drug approved by the FDA specifically to treat malignant mesothelioma, the aggressive cancer most closely associated with asbestos exposure.  A combination of pemetrexed and a platinum-based drug like cisplatin or carboplatin is the first-line treatment for most mesothelioma patients. But, like every drug, pemetrexed carries the potential for side effects. Researchers at Perigueux Hospital in Perigueux, France have just published a paper warning of a serious but little-known skin-related side effect of pemetrexed that may be unrecognized by mesothelioma patients and doctors. The report, published in a French dermatology journal, details the cases of two cancer patients on pemetrexed who developed a serious skin problem with symptoms resembling the connective…

Alimta May Extend Mesothelioma Survival as a Maintenance Therapy
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Alimta May Extend Mesothelioma Survival as a Maintenance Therapy

T Scientists in Japan have just published details of a case they say could be pivotal to the treatment of intractable malignant pleural mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma is usually caused by exposure to asbestos and starts in the membrane around the lungs. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, a chemotherapy combination of the platinum drug cisplatin and the anti-folate pemetrexed is considered to be the gold standard drug therapy. Unfortunately, many patients cannot tolerate high doses of cisplatin because of the danger of liver damage. But respiratory medicine specialists at Uji Tokushukai Medical Center in Japan say this problem may be tackled for some mesothelioma patients by continuing to give them pemetrexed. Dr. Takayuki Takeda and his team report the…

Kidney Risk May be Unavoidable with Top Mesothelioma Drug
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Kidney Risk May be Unavoidable with Top Mesothelioma Drug

Italian scientists studying the popular mesothelioma chemotherapy drug pemetrexed (Alimta) have some sobering news for patients: Kidney damage remains a risk, even in patients whose kidney function tests are on the low end of normal. Doctors in the nephrology and dialysis unit at St. Andrea Hospital in La Spezia, Italy, performed a retrospective evaluation of 38 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who developed kidney injuries after being treated with pemetrexed. Twenty nine of the study participants had no other risks for renal damage. The guidelines for administering pemetrexed to patients with mesothelioma, NSCLC, and other types of cancer say that the patient’s eGFR, a measure of kidney function, should be higher than 45. Although all of the patients in…

Fluid Drainage With Chemotherapy May Be Unneeded
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Fluid Drainage With Chemotherapy May Be Unneeded

Mesothelioma patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment with pemetrexed (Alimta) may be able to avoid one of the more uncomfortable parts of the procedure thanks to information gained from a new Danish study. Pharmacologists at the University of Copenhagen say the practice of draining so-called third-space fluid in patients undergoing pemetrexed-based chemotherapy may not be necessary. Third-space fluid is fluid that collects in body spaces not usually filled with fluid. In the case of patients with pleural mesothelioma or lung cancer, this fluid may collect in the space between the layers of the lung lining (pleura). Managing the toxicity of powerful chemotherapy drugs like pemetrexed is a delicate process. Pleural draining or evacuation is often recommended prior to a new dose of…

Mesothelioma Drug Side Effect Relieved by Surgery
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Mesothelioma Drug Side Effect Relieved by Surgery

A team of plastic surgeons in New York have had good luck dealing with one of the bothersome side effects of the mesothelioma drug, Alimta. Alimta (pemetrexed) is considered the gold standard chemotherapy drug for malignant pleural mesothelioma. It is often combined with the platinum-based drug cisplatin as a primary mesothelioma treatment or to help shrink mesothelioma tumors before or after surgery. It is also used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. But, like other powerful chemotherapy drugs, Alimta causes certain side effects, one of which can be swelling of the eyelids. While not life-threatening, eyelid swelling or “edema” can impact quality of life for mesothelioma patients and others on Alimta. But a new article in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive…

Standard Chemotherapy Mix Still Best for Mesothelioma
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Standard Chemotherapy Mix Still Best for Mesothelioma

Researchers at Japan’s Shizuoka Cancer Center and Juntendo University say the popular chemotherapy combination of cisplatin and Alimta (pemetrexed) should remain the gold standard for malignant pleural mesothelioma. In a study published in Respiratory Investigations, the team, led by Takehito Shukuya, concluded that Alimta and the platinum-based drug cisplatin produced better long term results in mesothelioma patients than the combination of cisplatin and Gemzar (gemcitabine). Gemzar is a nucleoside analog that some studies have found to be a promising alternative to the more conventional Alimta-based mesothelioma treatment. In a retrospective comparison study of the two treatment combinations, researchers examined the cases of 30 consecutive malignant pleural mesothelioma patients from July 2002 to December 2011. “We reviewed the medical charts of…

Genes Predict Mesothelioma Treatment Response
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Genes Predict Mesothelioma Treatment Response

University of Chicago researchers have released the results of genetic studies they hope will shed some light on why some mesothelioma patients respond well to pemetrexed (Alimta) while others do not. In 2004, pemetrexed was the first medicine approved by the FDA specifically for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma.  It has since also been approved for the treatment for small cell lung cancer.  While it has been hailed as a breakthrough mesothelioma drug, and has become the gold standard for chemotherapeutic treatment of the disease, pemetrexed also has many serious side effects including low white blood cell counts, low blood platelets, anemia, fatigue and nausea. In addition, pemetrexed does not work for all mesothelioma patients.  The ability to predict which patients are…