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

ByAlex Strauss

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…

Overall Survival “Significantly Higher” After Second-Line Chemotherapy
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Overall Survival “Significantly Higher” After Second-Line Chemotherapy

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers in a country especially prone to mesothelioma say second-line chemotherapy with a drug called gemcitabine can significantly improve survival. Turkey is home to several cities with some of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. It is also the site of aggressive mesothelioma research. Doctors in the Department of Medical Oncology at Acibadem Kayseri Hospital in Kayseri, Turkey, have just released their findings on second-line treatment with gemcitabine (Gemzar) and the results contain some encouraging news for patients struggling with malignant pleural mesothelioma. A total of 73 mesothelioma patients from four different Turkish institutions were evaluated based on whether or not they had second-line chemotherapy with gemcitabine, an antimetabolite that prevents cancer cells from making new DNA and…

Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma Tested in Greece
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Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma Tested in Greece

ByAlex Strauss

The standard chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma is cisplatin and pemetrexed. Another chemo regimen used in the U.S. and other countries is the combination of cisplatin and gemcitabine. A recent study performed at the Athens University School of Medicine in Greece examined if the chemotherapy combination – gemcitabine plus docetaxel – were more or less effective than the two standard regimens. The reason for the study, according to the authors, was that this combination has not been investigated in mesothelioma before. Gemcitabine (marketed as Gemzar) is used in various cancers including: non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer and breast cancer. Docetaxel (marketed under the name Taxotere) is an anti-mitotic chemotherapy used mainly for the treatment of breast,…

Mesothelioma and Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy
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Mesothelioma and Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy

ByAlex Strauss

Combining aggressive surgery with chemotherapy delivered directly into the abdominal cavity may significantly extend survival in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, according to a consensus statement of peritoneal mesothelioma specialists published in the September 15 issue of the Journal of Surgical Oncology. Reaching a consensus on the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma—a cancer that affects the abdominal lining—has been difficult for doctors, because the disease progresses so quickly and conventional treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy have done little in the past to stall its progress and improve survival. However, new therapies are showing great promise, and are vastly improving the outlook for patients with this cancer. Among the most promising of these therapies is combining aggressive surgery to remove as much…

Mesothelioma and Active Symptom Control
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Mesothelioma and Active Symptom Control

ByAlex Strauss

Incorporating chemotherapy in a regimen of symptom-relieving treatments (such as steroid medications) doesn’t significantly improve survival or quality of life in mesothelioma patients, according to a study published in the May 17 issue of The Lancet. However, one chemotherapy drug—vinorelbine—is promising enough to warrant further study, the authors say. Because mesothelioma attacks the lining of the lung, it is one of the trickiest cancers to treat. Surgery is complicated because it requires either stripping the lung lining or removing the whole lung, radiation is risky because it can damage healthy lung tissue, and chemotherapy isn’t very effective against this type of cancer, says one of the lead study authors, Richard Stephens, a research scientist with the Medical Research Council Clinical…

Mesothelioma and Chemo Results
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Mesothelioma and Chemo Results

ByAlex Strauss

Patients who have already undergone chemotherapy for mesothelioma without success may benefit from a second round of treatment with the chemotherapy drug, vinorelbine, according to a study in the May 15 issue of the journal, Lung Cancer. Mesothelioma has historically been a very difficult cancer to treat. The “gold standard” therapy has been the antifolate chemotherapy drug, pemetrexed, typically combined with the platinum-based drug, cisplatin. Though some patients undergo another round of chemotherapy if their disease continues to progress, there isn’t much research to guide doctors in treating patients who don’t respond to first-line therapy. “Mesothelioma is often rapidly progressive, so patients often sadly don’t reach the second-line setting,” says Justin Stebbing MA, MRCP, MRCPath, PhD, consultant medical oncologist and…