Swiss researches are reporting unusual side effects in one patient arising from mesothelioma treatment with the popular chemotherapy drug pemetrexed. One of the side effects is potentially life-threatening. Approved by the FDA in 2004 and sold under the brand name Alimta, pemetrexed was the first drug developed specifically for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. Four years later, it was also approved for the treatment of lung cancer. Pemetrexed is a folate antimetabolite that inhibits certain key enzymes and prevents the formation of DNA and RNA critical for mesothelioma cells to function and replicate. It is most often combined with a platinum-based drug like cisplatin or carboplatin in the treatment of mesothelioma. In a report in the journal Lung Cancer, doctors from … Continue reading Unusual Chemo Side Effects in One Mesothelioma Patient »