The First FDA-Approved Mesothelioma Drug in 15 Years
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The First FDA-Approved Mesothelioma Drug in 15 Years

ByHolly Zink

On October 2, 2020, the first FDA-approved mesothelioma drug in 15 years hit the market. They approved a new combination of drugs for mesothelioma. The combination of nivolumab with ipilimumab is now considered the first-line treatment. It is the go-to for adult patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. The FDA based approval on results from an open-label clinical trial. The results of a new study show outcomes of Mesothelioma patients over the last 2 years. This often was often six cycles of chemotherapy. Patient survival using this new combination of drugs was an average of 18.1 months. This was an increase from 14.1 months for patients who only received chemotherapy. More clinical pharmacology data also supported an alternative dosing regimen….

New Drug Targeting Fibrosis may Help Mesothelioma Patients
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New Drug Targeting Fibrosis may Help Mesothelioma Patients

ByHolly Zink

Targeting fibrosis has therapeutic benefits in mesothelioma. Most drugs have limited effects in difficult-to-treat cancers such as mesothelioma. Often this is because not enough of the drug can get into the tumor to generate an anti-tumor effect. Fibrosis is a common element of mesothelioma. It causes the area around the cancer to stiffen. Fibrosis acts as a barrier, stopping drugs from getting into the cancer tumor. This limits the immune system’s ability to detect and access the tumor to kill it. A new study is looking at how a family of proteins called lysyl oxidases can help solve this problem. These proteins are associated with fibrosis in many cancers, including mesothelioma. Oncologists targeting fibrosis and this protein family may improve…

Putting the Newest Mesothelioma “Orphan Drug” Into Perspective

Putting the Newest Mesothelioma “Orphan Drug” Into Perspective

ByAlex Strauss

Last week, the FDA announced the approval of a new orphan drug for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. According to drug manufacturer MTG Biotherapeutics, MTG-201 is an “advanced biologic therapy” that targets a particular gene defect present in cancer cells. This defect prevents cells from producing a protein that is critical in apoptosis or programmed cell death. Without it, mesothelioma cells are free to replicate out of control and migrate to others parts of the body. MTG-201 also appears to trigger the immune system to produce mesothelioma-fighting T-cell lymphocytes that can target and destroy residual cancer cells. The two mechanisms together give it the potential to help combat mesothelioma in a new and potentially more effective way than conventional therapies….

Making Mesothelioma Cells More Susceptible to Chemotherapy
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Making Mesothelioma Cells More Susceptible to Chemotherapy

ByAlex Strauss

A potential new mesothelioma drug may have moved a step closer to gaining mainstream acceptance for use in sick patients. Doctors studying the drug say they have found a way to make cells more susceptible to its damaging effects. GDC-0980, also known as Apitolisib, is a class I inhibitor of two cell signaling pathways – P13 and mTOR – both of which play critical roles in regulating the life cycle of cells, including mesothelioma cells. Because mesothelioma is so difficult to treat with standard chemotherapy drugs, researchers around the world are exploring ways to improve treatment by manipulating the vital signaling pathways inside mesothelioma cells. Now, doctors at cancer research centers in the US, the UK, and Switzerland say they…

New Delivery System May Make Popular Mesothelioma Drug More Effective
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New Delivery System May Make Popular Mesothelioma Drug More Effective

ByAlex Strauss

There is new evidence that an advanced method of delivering medicine directly into diseased cells could help make the world’s only FDA-approved mesothelioma drug more effective. Pemetrexed (Alimta) was approved for the treatment of pleural mesothelioma in 2004 and remains the only drug specifically for the treatment of this intractable cancer. Because of its toxicity, pemetrexed can’t be given in very high doses and usually has to be combined with another drug, such as cisplatin, when it is given to mesothelioma patients. Unfortunately, even this “gold standard” drug treatment is only effective about 40 percent of the time. But a new drug delivery system may boost the effectiveness of pemetrexed and improve outcomes for pleural mesothelioma patients.  Researchers in Egypt and…

Orphan Drug Improves Mesothelioma Survival in Phase II Trial
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Orphan Drug Improves Mesothelioma Survival in Phase II Trial

ByAlex Strauss

T. Researchers with the National Cancer Institute report that, when administered along with the traditional chemotherapy, amatuximab appears to be able to enhance the effectiveness of treatment and extend survival. Amatuximab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the glycoprotein mesothelin. Many types of cancer overexpress this protein, including pleural mesothelioma. Studies have found that mesothelin plays a role in cell adhesion which allows tumors to take hold and ‘seed’ new tumors in other parts of the body. By binding to the mesothelin on the surface of mesothelioma cells, amatuximab prevents this adhesion and triggers an immune response against tumors. It was granted orphan drug status in the U.S. in 2012 for its potential to improve mesothelioma treatment. It received the…

Can Statins Enhance Mesothelioma Treatment?

Can Statins Enhance Mesothelioma Treatment?

ByAlex Strauss

The cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin may boost the cancer-killing power of the mesothelioma drug pemetrexed. That news, released by a team of Korean scientists, comes on the heels of another published study showing that the statin drug atorvastatin did not kill mesothelioma in either mice or humans. Although they are primarily used to lower high cholesterol, statin drugs have been shown to have pro-apoptotic properties, meaning they can trigger the dying process in certain cells. An Australian team that recently tested atorvastatin alone found no effect on mesothelioma. But the newest test of a statin for mesothelioma paired the drug simvastatin with the gold-standard chemotherapy drug pemetrexed with more promising results. “We found that the combination of pemetrexed and simvastatin induced more…

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…

Red Wine Compound and Leukemia Drug Target Mesothelioma Cells
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Red Wine Compound and Leukemia Drug Target Mesothelioma Cells

ByAlex Strauss

The Korean researchers who were the first to study the mesothelioma-fighting effects of a chemical in red wine say combining it with a drug normally used to treat leukemia may enhance the effect. Resveratrol is a phenol derived from the skin of red grapes and found in red wine and grape juice. In 2013, researchers at Soonchunhyang University in Cheonan, Korea found that it may help fight mesothelioma by making cancer cells more sensitive to the tumor-fighting effects of chemotherapy. In their latest study, the team combined resveratrol with clofarabine, an antimetabolite marketed under the brand name Clolar and used to treat relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children. The researchers found that, when they exposed mesothelioma cells and healthy cells…

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

ByAlex Strauss

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…