Mesothelioma Symptoms - Asbestos Attorney, Veglin

Novel Cytotoxins

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Anthracyclines

Liposomal anthracyclines
Liposomal doxorubicin. Within a phase II study, the EORTC treated 35 patients with liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx^Ò) at a dosage of 45 mg m^-2 every 4 weeks (Baas et al, 2000). The drug was well tolerated, but the results were disappointing. Only two of the 31 patients (6%) showed a partial response and the median survival was 13 months.

Similar results were reported by Oh et al, who administered 50 mg m^-2 of liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil^Ò) every 4 weeks to 24 patients with pleural mesothelioma (Oh et al, 2000). With no objective responses and a median survival of only 37 weeks, the drug was considered inactive in this indication.

Liposomal daunorubicin. Liposomal daunorubicin (LD) was given to 13 patients at 120 mg m^-2 every 3 weeks, but no responses were produced (Steele et al, 2001).

Platinum compounds

ZD0473

A phase II trial (Giaccone et al, 2001) assessed the efficacy of the new generation platinum compound ZD0473 at 120 mg m^-2 on day 1 of a 21-day cycle in mesothelioma patients that had relapsed after previous platinum-based chemotherapy. Two of 10 (20%) patients, experienced tumour shrinkage and five of 10 (50%) subjects had stable disease.

Mesothelioma Information

Mesothelioma Cancer is contracted as a direct result of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is a group of six naturally occurring metamorphic minerals that were commonly used throughout the twentieth century (and today in certain locations around the world) for a variety of industrial purposes.

There are three specific types of mesothelioma asbestos:

Pleural mesothelioma, affecting the pleura (lung cavity).
Peritoneal mesothelioma, affecting the peritoneum (abdominal cavity).
Pericardial mesothelioma, affecting the pericardium (heart sac).

Mesothelioma symptoms vary dependent on the type of mesothelioma that one is suffering from; however, the most common presenting symptom is chronic chest pain caused by a buildup of fluid inside the pleural space.

Mesothelioma treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy (Alimta, Veglin, cisplatin, gemcitabine), photodynamic therapy, immunotherapy and gene therapy; however, none of the mesothelioma treatments have been able to thwart the rare yet deadly cancer type.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, contact an asbestos attorney or mesothelioma attorney to get information about your right to compensation.