Genes Key to Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Response
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Genes Key to Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Response

ByMatt Clarke

Research being performed in Eastern Europe may eventually help doctors around the world predict which mesothelioma patients will respond best to a particular type of chemotherapy. Mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer triggered by exposure to asbestos.  It is often treated with multiple modalities, including chemotherapy.  As more is understood about the impact of genetics on medication response, chemotherapy for cancers like mesothelioma is moving away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to a more tailored approach based on individual cellular characteristics. Now, a team of biochemists in Slovenia are studying genetically-linked responses to the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine, a nucleoside analog that some studies have found to be a promising alternative to the more conventional cisplatin-pemetrexed combination for mesothelioma.  In a phase II trial involving 78 mesothelioma…

Outlook Better for Women with Peritoneal Mesothelioma
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Outlook Better for Women with Peritoneal Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Women with diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma have a better chance of success with surgery and chemotherapy than their male counterparts. That is the conclusion of researchers at the Baird Institute for Applied Heart and Lung Surgical Research in Sydney, Australia.  Using the records of 294 peritoneal mesothelioma patients treated at multiple institutions in the past two decades, the researchers set out to measure the impact of gender on overall survival after treatment. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a type of mesothelioma that spreads quickly across the mesothelial lining of the abdomen. Asbestos exposure is its only known cause. Because of the aggressive nature of the disease, mesothelioma is typically treated using a multi-modal approach. The subjects of the Australian study had all been…

Order May Impact Mesothelioma Drug Availability
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Order May Impact Mesothelioma Drug Availability

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients on certain types of chemotherapy drugs may have easier access to their treatment in the wake of an executive order from President Obama. The President is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “take action” to combat shortages of certain critical medications. On the list of drugs in dwindling supply is the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, one of the most commonly-used drugs to treat mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly form of cancer triggered by asbestos exposure that affects an estimated 2,500 Americans each year. Cisplatin, in combination with pemetrexed (Alimta) is the FDA approved first line treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. At a news conference in Washington last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen…

Possible Second-Line Mesothelioma Treatment Fails
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Possible Second-Line Mesothelioma Treatment Fails

ByAlex Strauss

There has been some disappointing news for mesothelioma patients who fail to respond to first-line chemotherapy treatment. A major Phase III clinical study of a potentially promising second-line drug treatment showed no effect on survival. Mesothelioma researchers had high hopes for vorinostat (brand name Zolinza), a histone deacetylase inhibitor that alters gene expression and protein activity inside cells. Earlier studies found that a small number of mesothelioma patients treated with the drug had stable disease that lasted for 13 months. But in the current study – one of the largest mesothelioma trials of its kind – vorinostat offered no statistically significant survival advantage. The study involved 660 mesothelioma patients from 92 sites. The median age was 65. Patients were given…

Pricey Mesothelioma Drug May be Best Second-Line Treatment
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Pricey Mesothelioma Drug May be Best Second-Line Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

The chemotherapy combination of pemetrexed (brand name Alimta) and cisplatin is typically the first-line drug treatment for patients with advanced malignant mesothelioma. But a new study on the combination published recently in the journal Lung Cancer suggests that a less expensive alternative may be just as effective. Researchers from Oxford, England compared pemetrexed plus cisplatin to the newer combination of raltitrexed (brand name Tomudex) plus cisplatin and found that the two combinations produced nearly identical results in terms of survival in mesothelioma patients. The researchers obtained baseline progression and survival rates using data from an earlier multi-national trial looking at the effectiveness of cisplatin with or without raltitrexed for mesothelioma. They then compared these with the results of various randomized…

Multi-Modality Mesothelioma Treatment Well Tolerated
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Multi-Modality Mesothelioma Treatment Well Tolerated

ByAlex Strauss

The combination of pleurectomy/decortication, hyperthermic pleural lavage and adjuvant chemotherapy is an effective alternative to more traditional mesothelioma treatment combinations. So say the London scientists who tested the method on 36 mesothelioma patients over a five-and-a-half year period. The mesothelioma patients were all treated at a London hospital between October 2004 and May 2010. Each patient first underwent pleurectomy/decortication, a surgical method for removing as many malignant mesothelioma tumor cells as possible. The method is considered by many to be a safer alternative to the more extensive surgery called extrapleural pneumonectomy, which involves removing a lung and part of the diaphragm. Before their surgical wounds were closed, each patient’s chest cavity was rinsed with a warmed povidone-iodine solution, designed to…

Radiotherapy ‘Comparable to Chemo’ for Mesothelioma
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Radiotherapy ‘Comparable to Chemo’ for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A recent study has concluded that palliative radiotherapy produces a response rate in malignant pleural mesothelioma that is comparable to chemotherapy. A recent analysis of 54 mesothelioma cases at a hospital in Cheltenham, England found that 43 percent of patients who received palliative radiotherapy according to their hospital’s policy, responded to the treatment. Based on the results of their pre- and post-therapy CT scans, 22 of the 54 mesothelioma patients analyzed experienced a partial response and 1 patient had a complete response. Fifty-seven percent reported some improvement in their symptoms. In an effort to help determine which mesothelioma patients are most likely to respond to radiotherapy, the research team correlated treatment responses with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment…

Drug May Improve Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma
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Drug May Improve Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A medication used to slow the growth of kidney cancer may help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy for mesothelioma. Temsirolimus is a kinase inhibitor, which works by blocking the action of the abnormal protein that signals replication in cancer cells. It is often used to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a cancer that begins in the kidney. But a team of researchers in Vienna has found that the drug also appears to inhibit the growth of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) cells, both in cell cultures and in animal models. The researchers used temsirolimus to ‘turn off’ the gene pathway known as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in mesothelioma cells. The mTOR pathway is responsible for signaling the growth and…

Second-Line Chemotherapy May Benefit Mesothelioma Patients
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Second-Line Chemotherapy May Benefit Mesothelioma Patients

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients whose cancer shows at least a partial response to pemetrexed-based chemotherapy may benefit from the same drug again if their cancer relapses, according to a new study. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer of the mesothelial tissue that encases internal organs. Pemetrexed-based chemotherapy has been shown to be effective for some mesothelioma patients. To date, no drugs have been approved for second-line treatment of mesothelioma, when the diseases continues to progress after first line chemotherapy. Now, a study conducted by a group of Italian researchers and published in the medical journal Lung Cancer tested the effectiveness of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for mesothelioma patients. The researchers observed the responses of 31 patients…

Mesothelioma Patients May Benefit from Second Line Chemotherapy
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Mesothelioma Patients May Benefit from Second Line Chemotherapy

ByAlex Strauss

Multiple rounds of chemotherapy, administered several months apart, might do more to help slow the progression of malignant pleural mesothelioma than a single round of chemotherapy, according to a new study. Mesothelioma, also known as ‘asbestos cancer’ attacks the membrane that surrounds the lungs and other organs. Patients with pleural mesothelioma gradually lose breathing capacity as the pleural membrane stiffens and fluid buildup inhibits the ability of the lungs to expand. Most patients diagnosed with the disease will be treated with chemotherapy as part of a multi-modality treatment approach. Cisplatin and pemetrexed (Alimta) are the most commonly used chemo drugs used in the U.S. to treat mesothelioma. But a recent French study suggests that mesothelioma patients may benefit from a…