Navigating Treatment Options for Pleural Mesothelioma: A Guide for Patients and Caregivers

Navigating Treatment Options for Pleural Mesothelioma: A Guide for Patients and Caregivers

ByHolly Zink

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive cancer often caused by asbestos exposure. Sadly, its slow onset and few treatment choices reduce survival rates. Yet, recent pharmacological research developments provide hope for better treatments. Understanding the Disease Pleural mesothelioma is aggressive and resists standard treatments. Efforts to identify treatment targets have shown limited success. Patients typically live less than 16 months after diagnosis, underlining the need for better therapies. Treatment usually involves chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. Chemotherapy combines drugs like cisplatin and pemetrexed to slow tumor growth and ease symptoms. Immunotherapy, with drugs like pembrolizumab, boosts the immune system’s fight against cancer in some patients. Meanwhile, research is ongoing on targeted therapies that block blood vessel formation and growth factor…

Promising Results: Pembrolizumab Enhances Mesothelioma Treatment
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Promising Results: Pembrolizumab Enhances Mesothelioma Treatment

ByHolly Zink

Pleural mesothelioma is a challenging cancer caused by asbestos exposure. It is often diagnosed in advanced stages with limited treatment options. However, a glimmer of hope has emerged in recent years with a groundbreaking approach. The addition of pembrolizumab to standard chemotherapy has shown promising results in improving the overall survival of patients with this devastating disease. A Global Effort A phase 3 clinical trial was conducted across 51 hospitals in Canada, Italy, and France. Eligible participants, aged 18 years or older, had previously untreated advanced pleural mesothelioma and a good performance status. They were randomly divided into two groups. One received intravenous chemotherapy with or without pembrolizumab. A Game-Changing Outcome The trial ran from January 2017 to September 2020…

A Step Forward in Treating Pleural Mesothelioma: The Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib Combination
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A Step Forward in Treating Pleural Mesothelioma: The Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib Combination

ByHolly Zink

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that has been challenging to treat effectively. However, recent breakthroughs in medical research are shedding new light on potential treatment options. Researchers investigated the potential of a combination therapy involving pembrolizumab and lenvatinib. Their findings were promising, with over 50% of patients experiencing tumor shrinkage. While this marks an important step forward, challenges such as side effects need to be carefully addressed in future research. Uncovering Hope for Pleural Mesothelioma Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs. It’s linked to exposure to a harmful substance called asbestos. Asbestos used to be used a lot in construction and other industries. Finding good treatments…

The Power of the Immune System in Mesothelioma Therapy
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The Power of the Immune System in Mesothelioma Therapy

ByHolly Zink

Pembrolizumab is a type of immunotherapy treatment for mesothelioma. A newly published study looks at how pembrolizumab is being used to treat this disease. Harnessing the Power of the Immune System Mesothelioma is a type of cancer caused by asbestos. When it grows in the lungs, it is called pleural mesothelioma. There are about 2,000 cases of pleural mesothelioma in the United States each year. It can often take around 40 years for symptoms of pleural mesothelioma to begin. These may include shortness of breath due to fluid around the lung, chest pain, cough, and fatigue. Conventional treatment may include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. According to medical studies, the median survival with conventional treatment is little more than a…

Radiotherapy Outcomes in Mesothelioma Linked to Pembrolizumab
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Radiotherapy Outcomes in Mesothelioma Linked to Pembrolizumab

ByHolly Zink

Canadian researchers say radiotherapy may hold the key to improving outcomes in mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a fast-growing membrane cancer caused by asbestos. Doctors have not found a single therapy that can beat it. For most patients, a combination of treatments offer the best survival odds. Pembrolizumab plus Radiotherapy Pleural mesothelioma is a rare lung-related cancer caused by asbestos exposure. There is no cure for mesothelioma. Most mesothelioma patients have a combination of therapies. Radiation is one of the methods doctors use to help slow its spread. Outcomes in mesothelioma vary widely with the use of radiotherapy. Pembrolizumab is used in combination with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for mesothelioma. Radiotherapy uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells. One…

Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy Shrink Peritoneal Mesothelioma Tumors: New Case Reports
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Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy Shrink Peritoneal Mesothelioma Tumors: New Case Reports

ByAlex Strauss

Two new case reports appear to support the idea that immunotherapy and chemotherapy can work together to fight peritoneal mesothelioma.  The case reports appears in the newest issue of the Journal of Immunotherapy. It details the cases of two patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma – a lethal cancer of the lining of the abdomen.  Both patients relapsed on standard platinum-based chemotherapy. But adding an immune checkpoint inhibitor dramatically improved their results. In one case, a patient’s tumor nearly disappeared.  Doctors at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center say the cases suggest that immunotherapy and chemotherapy might offer an alternative for patients who have run out of options.  Alternative Treatments Needed for Peritoneal Mesothelioma About a fifth of patients who…

Effectiveness of Keytruda: Dutch Study Offers Clues for Prediction
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Effectiveness of Keytruda: Dutch Study Offers Clues for Prediction

ByAlex Strauss

A new Dutch study offers some clues that might help doctors predict the effectiveness of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in individual mesothelioma patients.  Keytruda is the brand name for pembrolizumab. It is an immunotherapy drug called an immune checkpoint inhibitor. It helps unmask mesothelioma cells so that the immune system can find and fight them.  But the effectiveness of Keytruda is not consistent. Some patients respond well while others do not respond at all. The new study looked at how different people metabolize the drug. Understanding this could help doctors determine the best dose for each mesothelioma patient.  Pembrolizumab and its Link to Mesothelioma Survival Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a deadly form of lung cancer. Asbestos exposure is the main cause of…

Latest Keytruda Study Shows Limited Results for Most Mesothelioma Patients
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Latest Keytruda Study Shows Limited Results for Most Mesothelioma Patients

ByAlex Strauss

Results of the latest Keytruda study show the drug works well for a select few mesothelioma patients, but not well at all for most others. Keytruda is the brand name for pembrolizumab. It is a type of immunotherapy drug. Early studies suggested that Keytuda might offer real hope for people with the aggressive cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma.  But the latest Keytruda study shows most patients do not have lasting results with this treatment. That is especially true for patients whose cells do not express high levels of the protein PD-1. How the Latest Keytruda Study Worked Keytruda is an immunotherapy drug. It works by activating the immune system. Mesothelioma cells can use a protein called PD-1 to protect themselves from…

Immunotherapy with Keytruda for Mesothelioma: A New Case Report
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Immunotherapy with Keytruda for Mesothelioma: A New Case Report

ByAlex Strauss

  There’s more encouraging news about immunotherapy with Keytruda for people with pleural mesothelioma. The latest report comes from the University of Kansas School of Medicine.  A doctor in the orthopaedic department at the school has malignant pleural mesothelioma. He and three colleagues recently published news of his “prompt and exceptionally favorable” response to firstline treatment with pembrolizumab.  Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Several studies suggest that adding immunotherapy with Keytruda to other mesothelioma treatments may improve outcomes.  But the new case report indicates that Keytruda could also be a good firstline option for some mesothelioma patients.  How Immunotherapy with Keytruda Works Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system against the cancer….

First Patient Dosed in New Trial for Relapsed Mesothelioma
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First Patient Dosed in New Trial for Relapsed Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Doctors in the UK have started treatment on the first patient in the trial of a new drug combination for relapsed mesothelioma. The drug is called bemcentinib. It blocks a protein encoded by the AXL gene. People with mesothelioma tend to overexpress this protein. Studies show that this extra AXL protein might help cancer cells hide from the immune system. It might also help them spread to other parts of the body.  In the new trial, patients with relapsed mesothelioma will get a combination of bemcentinib and Keytruda (pembrolizumab). Keytruda is an immunotherapy drug. Like bemcentinib, it helps make mesothelioma cells vulnerable to immune system attack.  Animal studies and tests in lung cancer patients show that bemcentinib may help immune…