Mesothelioma Chemotherapy - Mesothelioma Treatment

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy – Alimta, Veglin and Cisplatin

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Mesothelioma chemotherapy is the treatment of malignancy through the use of anticancer drugs. Chemotherapy is both a traditional method of mesothelioma treatment and a new method of mesothelioma treatment. Scientific advances allow for the continuous development of new drugs designed to counteract certain disease characteristics. There are a number of chemotherapy drugs that are either already in use in the fight against malignant mesothelioma, or are currently undergoing clinical trials designed to test their safety and effectiveness.

Alimta Clinical Trials

Alimta is the brand name for pemetrexed, a folate antimetabolites chemotherapy drug that is chemically similar to folic acid. Alimta inhibits three enzymes (thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase) that play an integral role in the body’s formation of DNA and RNA; thus preventing cellular growth (malignancy).

As a single agent, Alimta is used to treat locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (following prior chemotherapy treatment). When used in conjunction with cisplatin (a platinum-based chemotherapy drug), Alimta is the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug that is used for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Alimta is currently being tested in combination with a variety of other chemotherapy drugs and treatment modalities. The goal of these Alimta-based clinical trials is to determine whether Alimta, in combination with other types of drugs or treatment modalities, can provide for improved survivability. Current Alimta-based clinical trials aimed at treating mesothelioma include:

Veglin Clinical Trials

Veglin is an anti-angiogenesis drug that is used to lower the levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF). VEGF is a naturally occurring protein that stimulates blood cell formation (angiogenesis), a necessary component for tumor metastasis.

Phase II Veglin clinical trials are ongoing and revolve around the study of patients suffering from renal cell carcinoma, malignant mesothelioma, leukemia and lymphoma. Phase I clinical trial results were presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2004. Findings showed that Veglin had been successful in lowering blood levels of VEGF-A and VEGF-C (types of VEGF proteins) in 47% and 21% of the trial’s 35 patients. It is hoped that Phase II clinical trials will yield similarly positive results.

Mesothelioma Treatments

Mesothelioma treatment options can vary dependent on how early a case of malignant mesothelioma is diagnosed. Although mesothelioma treatments have thus far been unable to thwart the deadly disease from metastasizing, the earlier a case of the disease is discovered, the more opportunities a specialist will have in attempting to combat the disease.

Mesothelioma treatment options are divided into two categories: traditional mesothelioma treatments and new mesothelioma treatments. Traditional mesothelioma treatments are the same methods used to treat a variety of other cancers. Traditional mesothelioma treatment options include:

  1. Surgery
  2. Chemotherapy
  3. Radiation therapy

Traditional mesothelioma treatments are often used in conjunction with one-another so as to attack a case of malignant mesothelioma from a number of different fronts.

New mesothelioma treatments have been developed with the hope of succeeding where traditional methods have not; unfortunately, results thus far have shown the new modalities to be no more effective in combating malignant mesothelioma than traditional methods. New mesothelioma treatment options include:

  1. Photodynamic therapy (PDT)
  2. Immunotherapy
  3. Gene therapy
  4. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
  5. New chemotherapy drug development

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