Electrochemotherapy for Mesothelioma May Relieve Pain, Shrink Tumors
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Electrochemotherapy for Mesothelioma May Relieve Pain, Shrink Tumors

ByAlex Strauss

There’s new evidence that a technique called electrochemotherapy (ECT) may relieve mesothelioma pain and even shrink tumors. It may be an option for patients who have not had success with other treatments.  Cancer researchers with the Italian Ministry of Health recently conducted the first test of electrochemotherapy on pleural mesothelioma and several other rare cancers.  They found that zapping tumors with electricity helped the medicine go through the cell membranes. The treatment reduced pain for every patient tested. In most cases, it also slowed down or even temporarily stopped their tumor growth.   How Electrochemotherapy Works Malignant mesothelioma is a rare membrane cancer. Chemotherapy is the main treatment for mesothelioma. But more than half of mesothelioma tumors do not respond to…

Triple Therapy May Become New First-Line Treatment for Mesothelioma
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Triple Therapy May Become New First-Line Treatment for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A combination of three powerful mesothelioma therapies could become a new first-line treatment for mesothelioma if an upcoming clinical trial is successful. The makers of the experimental immunotherapy drug ONCOS-102 announced the new clinical trial. It will enroll up to 100 mesothelioma patients from around the world.  The trial will test ONCOS-102 along with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and standard chemotherapy. Keytruda is an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Both ONCOS-102 and Keytruda have shown some promise when combined with mesothelioma chemotherapy. Targovax hopes that the triple therapy approach will produce an even more powerful first-line treatment for mesothelioma. Clinic Trial of ONCOS-102 A first-line treatment is a treatment for mesothelioma patients who have not yet had any other therapies. Most patients start with…

First-Line Immunotherapy May Be Better Than Chemo for This Mesothelioma Subtype
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First-Line Immunotherapy May Be Better Than Chemo for This Mesothelioma Subtype

ByAlex Strauss

A new study suggests that people with sarcomatoid mesothelioma may fare better if they have first-line immunotherapy before considering chemotherapy.  Chemotherapy is the standard first-line treatment for most people with mesothelioma. But a report in the journal Translational Lung Cancer questions the wisdom of that trend. The study focused on the outcomes of patients with the sarcomatoid mesothelioma subtype. These patients lived longer after immunotherapy than patients with other subtypes.  When first-line immunotherapy worked best, patients produced more white blood cells. Researchers say these patients might do well to avoid having chemotherapy first. Chemotherapy as Standard Mesothelioma Treatment First-line immunotherapy is not the typical mesothelioma treatment. Most mesothelioma patients have chemotherapy with Alimta (pemetrexed) before other treatments.  Alimta is the…

Immunotherapy with Durvalumab: Record Survival in Inoperable Mesothelioma
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Immunotherapy with Durvalumab: Record Survival in Inoperable Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

There is new evidence that the immunotherapy drug durvalumab may make chemotherapy more effective for people with inoperable pleural mesothelioma. Researchers recently achieved record mesothelioma survival times with this combination. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer with a poor prognosis. Surgery can sometimes help if it is caught early. But only a small percentage of patients are candidates for mesothelioma surgery. Most have chemotherapy, which is only moderately effective.  But new research presented to the nation’s largest gathering of cancer doctors shows the immunotherapy drug durvalumab may help.  Doctors at Johns Hopkins combined durvalumab with standard mesothelioma chemotherapy. Study participants lived an average of 8 months longer than is typical with this disease.  If further studies confirm the benefit, it could…

Chemoperfusion Treatment for Mesothelioma: Chemo Without the Side Effects?
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Chemoperfusion Treatment for Mesothelioma: Chemo Without the Side Effects?

ByAlex Strauss

New research suggests that chemoperfusion treatment for mesothelioma may buy patients more time without the side effects of traditional chemotherapy.  Chemoperfusion treatment involves injecting cancer-killing drugs directly into the vessels that feed a pleural mesothelioma tumor.  The research was presented during a virtual session of the Society of Interventional Radiology’s annual meeting. Researchers showed how this novel approach could improve quality of life for mesothelioma patients.  Limitations of Chemotherapy Pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer with few treatment options. Most mesothelioma patients start with chemotherapy. Alimta (pemetrexed) is the primary chemotherapy drug for mesothelioma.  But chemotherapy has drawbacks that chemoperfusion treatment for mesothelioma might avoid.  Conventional chemotherapy circulates drugs throughout the body. That means that normal cells can absorb them…

Predicting Kidney Damage from Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma
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Predicting Kidney Damage from Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

It may be possible to predict which mesothelioma patients are at risk for kidney damage from chemotherapy and take steps to prevent it.  Japanese cancer researchers have linked a protein called megalin to cisplatin-related nephrotoxicity.  Cisplatin is one of the main drugs used to treat mesothelioma. The researchers say people with more megalin in their urine are more likely to have kidney damage from chemotherapy with cisplatin.  Kidney Damage is a Risk of Chemotherapy Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer with no cure. Although scientists are working on other options, chemotherapy is the main treatment for mesothelioma. Most patients have a combination of Alimta (pemetrexed) and the platinum-based drug cisplatin. One of the biggest risks with cisplatin is kidney damage…

Second Line Mesothelioma Treatment Shot Down in New Study
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Second Line Mesothelioma Treatment Shot Down in New Study

ByAlex Strauss

Italian researchers say there is good news and bad news about a proposed second line mesothelioma treatment.  The good news is that the treatment did not cause major side effects in the patients who tried it. The bad news is that it also did not help them live any longer.  The treatment is a mixture of gemcitabine and imatinib. Animal studies suggested that the combination might improve mesothelioma survival.  The newly-published study shows the second line mesothelioma treatment did help control the disease in most patients. But the 23 patients who tried it only lived for a median of 5.7 months. That was not enough for doctors to recommend the combination. Mesothelioma Chemotherapy and Survival The most common first line…

Injectable Pemetrexed for Mesothelioma Now Available for the First Time
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Injectable Pemetrexed for Mesothelioma Now Available for the First Time

ByAlex Strauss

The FDA has cleared injectable pemetrexed for mesothelioma after two drug companies settled a patent dispute over the medication in December. Until now, the chemotherapy drug pemetrexed has only been available for infusion. In this form, it is called Alimta and is distributed by Eli Lilly.  But New Jersey-based Eagle Pharmaceuticals wanted to develop a form of injectable pemetrexed for mesothelioma. They received tentative approval for the drug in 2018, but it was not until the patent issue was settled that the final approval was granted.  The drug may shorten the duration of treatment for some patients with malignant mesothelioma.  Pemetrexed the Primary Mesothelioma Treatment Malignant mesothelioma is an intractable cancer that grows on the membranes around internal organs. Patients…

Immunotherapy with ONCOS-102 Shows Promise for Mesothelioma
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Immunotherapy with ONCOS-102 Shows Promise for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Early results are in on the latest trial of immunotherapy with ONCOS-102 and the news is good for pleural mesothelioma patients.  Norweigian drug maker Targovax released the news about ONCOS-102 earlier this week. The new drug is based on an oncolytic virus that targets mesothelioma cells. When the virus gets inside the cells, it triggers an immune response.  Early tests of immunotherapy with ONCOS-102 showed it helped mesothelioma chemotherapy work better. Now, a larger study appears to confirm the effect. The news could lead to new and better treatments for this intractable cancer.  What is an Oncolytic Virus? An oncolytic virus is a virus that targets cancer cells. ONCOS-102 was designed to seek out mesothelioma cells. It is made out…

Tumor Treating Fields for Mesothelioma Faces Criticism
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Tumor Treating Fields for Mesothelioma Faces Criticism

ByAlex Strauss

Tumor Treating Fields for mesothelioma is coming under fire from some other researchers. The treatment uses electricity to interfere with division of cancer cells. The FDA approved it for mesothelioma last year under the Humanitarian Device Exemption. It is only the second treatment ever approved for asbestos cancer.  But scientists in Italy and the Netherlands are disputing some of the findings from the STELLAR trial of TTFields. They published separate articles in a recent issue of The Lancet Oncology. STELLAR tested Tumor Treating Fields along with chemotherapy as a novel mesothelioma treatment. The FDA based its approval on the STELLAR results.  But the newly published articles suggest that there were problems with the trial. Both say Tumor Treating Fields is…