New Mesothelioma Trial to Test Tri-Modal Approach
| | | | | |

New Mesothelioma Trial to Test Tri-Modal Approach

ByAlex Strauss

Enrollment is open for a new mesothelioma trial run by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to test a three-prong approach to treatment.  Pleural mesothelioma is a lung-related cancer caused by asbestos. It is notoriously difficult to treat and highly aggressive.  The new mesothelioma trial aims to recruit 150 pleural mesothelioma patients. Patients will receive lung-sparing surgery and chemotherapy. Some will also receive intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).  Researchers will test which group does better – those who only have surgery and chemotherapy or those who also have targeted radiation therapy. They plan to measure not only survival but also complications, quality of life, and how long it takes for the cancer to come back.  Tri-Modal Treatment to Fight Mesothelioma The…

Trimodal Mesothelioma Treatment May Not Be Worth the Risk
| | | | | | | | |

Trimodal Mesothelioma Treatment May Not Be Worth the Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Japanese researchers say trimodality treatment for mesothelioma that includes chemotherapy, extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), and post-surgical radiation may not be beneficial enough to justify the risk. Pleural mesothelioma is one of the most difficult cancers to treat because it grows quickly and is resistant to most conventional therapies. Most mesothelioma patients have to have a combination of treatments. The question for researchers is, which treatment combination will provide the best mesothelioma survival outcomes. Trimodality Treatment for Mesothelioma In the newest study on trimodality treatment for mesothelioma, the Japanese team enrolled newly-diagnosed pleural mesothelioma patients who had not yet had any treatment. Study participants were given a chemotherapy combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin to shrink their mesothelioma tumors. This was followed by EPP…