Second Treatment Course May Increase Mesothelioma Patient Survival
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Second Treatment Course May Increase Mesothelioma Patient Survival

ByHolly Zink

Oncologists report that a second treatment course may be a good option for some mesothelioma patients. Almost all mesothelioma patients experience progression after the first treatment. Recommendations for a second treatment are still unclear. There is very limited information available on second and repeat treatments. Pemetrexed combined with platinum-based chemotherapy is a standard first treatment for mesothelioma. A report in BMC Cancer says that a repeat treatment may be good for eligible patients. In this study, patients who received a second treatment of chemotherapy survived longer. Understanding Second Treatments or Retreatments Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive cancer linked to asbestos exposure. There have been several recent treatment advances. But the mesothelioma prognosis is still poor with an average…

Second-Line Treatment for Mesothelioma with Lurbinectedin
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Second-Line Treatment for Mesothelioma with Lurbinectedin

ByAlex Strauss

Swiss researchers may have finally found an effective second-line treatment for mesothelioma.  Scientists with the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research presented their findings at the recent European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Barcelona.  Mesothelioma patients who fail after first-line therapy have few options. The new study focused on lurbinectedin, a drug that impacts cancer cells at the DNA level. Early studies suggest lurbinectedin might make a good second-line treatment for small cell lung cancer.  According to the Swiss team, more than half of patients in their study responded to lurbinectedin as a second-line treatment for mesothelioma.  In Search of a Second-Line Mesothelioma Treatment Malignant mesothelioma is notoriously difficult to diagnose and even harder to treat. It is usually…

Extended Survival of Peritoneal Mesothelioma with Repeat Treatment
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Extended Survival of Peritoneal Mesothelioma with Repeat Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

There is some good news on the research front for patients with recurrent peritoneal mesothelioma. Doctors at the University of New South Wales in Australia say that treating these patients again with surgery and heated chemotherapy is extending lives, sometimes for several years. Peritoneal mesothelioma, which accounts for about 20 percent of mesothelioma cases, occurs on the peritoneal membrane that surrounds abdominal organs. Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) aims to remove as much of that diseased tissue as possible. It is often followed by heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to kill any remaining mesothelioma cells and to keep new tumors from starting. The CRS/HIPEC combination has become the gold standard first line treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma. But the authors of a new study…