Orphan Drugs Increase for Mesothelioma
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Orphan Drugs Increase for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

There is some good news for mesothelioma sufferers in a recent report from Thomson Reuters on the orphan drug market. According to Reuters, rare diseases like mesothelioma are “winning unprecedented attention” from drug manufacturers. More than a quarter of the 39 new drugs approved by the FDA in 2012 were granted orphan drug status because they were designed to treat diseases (such as mesothelioma) that affect fewer than 200,000 people a year. Mesothelioma is an aggressive asbestos-linked cancer of internal membranes. It is considered an orphan disease because it claims the lives of about 2,500 Americans annually. The Reuters report on orphan drugs is good news for mesothelioma patients because few treatment options currently exist for them and their prognosis is…

New Drug May Slow Spread of Mesothelioma
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New Drug May Slow Spread of Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

The first trials of a new drug for mesothelioma show it might be able to help slow the progression of the disease in patients with a certain genetic abnormality. About half of mesothelioma patients have been found to be lacking a gene responsible for suppressing the growth of tumors. The gene, called NF2, produces a protein called merlin which, in turn, regulates another protein called focal adhesion kinase (FAK). When NF2 is inactivated, merlin is lacking and unchecked FAK activity can cause mesothelioma cells to become active and spread. But a multi-center Phase I study of a compound called GSK2256098 suggests that it may be able to slow or even stop the spread of this cancer by restoring the activity of NF2…

Heated Chemo in Mesothelioma Challenged by New Study
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Heated Chemo in Mesothelioma Challenged by New Study

ByAlex Strauss

A procedure that involves washing heated chemotherapy drugs through the open body cavity after mesothelioma surgery may not be as helpful as some mesothelioma experts had hoped. A study on hyperthermic chemotherapy perfusion conducted by researchers in the thoracic surgery department at the David Geffen School of Medicine suggests that most mesothelioma cells lines are relatively unaffected by heat. The laboratory study included three kinds of mesothelioma cell lines, along with lung cancer cells, hamster-derived ovarian cells, and normal lung fibroblasts. First, the growth rate of each type of cell was measured in the lab. Next, to test the impact of heat alone and different types of cells, the cells were exposed to 37, 42 and 45 degrees centigrade for 20, 40 or…

New Orphan Drug Approved for Mesothelioma
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New Orphan Drug Approved for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Patients suffering from malignant pleural mesothelioma, a virulent asbestos-linked cancer, now have another drug option to choose from. Amatuximab, an investigational cancer drug made by Morphotek, has been granted orphan drug status by the FDA. The Orphan Drug Act allows the FDA to designate a drug as an orphan drug if it is used to treat fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Any illness that affects fewer than 200,000 people is considered a rare disease. Mesothelioma is one of the rarest of rare diseases, claiming the lives of about 2,500 Americans annually. Without the Orphan Drug Act, there is less incentive for a company like Morphotek to even work to develop drugs for a disease like mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a…

Cancer Drug May Improve Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival
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Cancer Drug May Improve Long-Term Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

The case of a German man who has lived more than 9 years with malignant mesothelioma is bringing attention to the drug that may have helped him defy the odds. Mesothelioma is an aggressive malignancy of the pleural, peritoneal or pericardial membranes. It is most closely associated with occupational or environmental exposure to the toxic mineral asbestos and has a median survival of just 12 months after diagnosis. But the 67-year-old former German asbestos worker who is the subject of a new published report has stable mesothelioma, almost a decade after his initial examination. Writing on the case in the medical journal Onco Targets and Therapy, doctors at the University of Essen say the patient was diagnosed with mesothelioma after a CT…

Cediranib Fails Phase II Mesothelioma Trial
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Cediranib Fails Phase II Mesothelioma Trial

ByAlex Strauss

Some disappointing news for mesothelioma patients and doctors who had high hopes for the chemotherapy drug cediranib.  The oral cancer drug, made by Astra Zeneca, failed to produce the results researchers were looking for in a phase II trial. It also caused a host of serious side effects and was “poorly tolerated” at the only dose high enough to show any clinical improvement in mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer, claiming an estimated 2,500 lives in the U.S. each year. Typically caused by inhalation or ingestion of the mineral asbestos, mesothelioma spreads across the membranous linings around the lungs, heart or abdominal organs. It is usually fatal. Studies have found that patients with higher serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor…

Orphan Drug Shows Survival Advantage in Mesothelioma
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Orphan Drug Shows Survival Advantage in Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Long-term follow-up on a second-line drug for mesothelioma confirms its potential for prolonging survival. NGR-hTNF is a vascular targeting agent that appears to be able to seek out tumor cells and disrupt their blood vessel formation. It is currently the only drug in Phase III clinical trials specifically for mesothelioma patients whose disease has returned after chemotherapy. Presenting at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the drug’s maker, Italy-based MolMed S.p.A., said three year follow-up on Phase II mesothelioma trial subjects demonstrated a definite survival advantage among those who received the drug. Because it combines a peptide (NGR) with a cytokine (TNF), the NGR-hTNF is classified as a peptide/cytokine complex.  In Phase II clinical trials, its…

Effectiveness of Mesothelioma Drug Improved by Other Compounds
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Effectiveness of Mesothelioma Drug Improved by Other Compounds

ByAlex Strauss

Two new studies suggest that a popular mesothelioma drug becomes more effective when combined with other compounds. Pemetrexed (Alimta) is considered a gold standard chemotherapy treatment for mesothelioma, a cancer of the membrane that surrounds the lungs and other internal organs. For mesothelioma, pemetrexed is frequently combined with the platinum-based agent, cisplatin. Although many drugs interact with each other or trigger drug resistance, there has been little study of the interaction between these two key mesothelioma drugs. To better understand the relationship between pemetrexed and cisplatin, a team of Japanese researchers used the combination to treat mesothelioma cells in the lab. Although the team did find resistance to either pemetrexed or cisplatin in the mesothelioma cell lines they tested, they confirmed…

Vatalanib Not Effective as a ‘Single Agent’ for Mesothelioma
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Vatalanib Not Effective as a ‘Single Agent’ for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

There has been a setback for doctors hoping the drug vatalanib would be a viable alternative to chemotherapy for mesothelioma patients. Scientists with the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), a research team based at the University of California, have ruled out further study on the medication as a single agent (administered by itself) after a phase II trial found no significant survival benefit among mesothelioma patients. Vatalanib is an oral medicine classified as an anti-angiogenesis drug, designed to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels necessary to ‘feed’ a growing tumor. Although vatalanib has shown promise in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and has been compared to Avastin (bevacizumab), another anti-angiogenesis drug being tested for mesothelioma, the…

New Approach to Predict Mesothelioma Drug Response
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New Approach to Predict Mesothelioma Drug Response

ByAlex Strauss

In the ongoing worldwide effort to find better treatments for mesothelioma cancer, a group of Italian doctors believe they have a better way of determining which patients will respond to a cancer medication called Gefitinib. A cell protein called Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in the cells of certain types of cancers, including mesothelioma.  EGFR overexpression can cause uncontrolled cell replication and faster tumor growth.  As an effective EGRF inhibitor, Gefitinib can sometimes help stop that uncontrolled growth.   But the treatment doesn’t work as well in all patients. In a study published in the Public Library of Science, the Italian researchers say the presence of estrogen and estrogen receptors may help determine which mesothelioma patients need Gefitinib most. …