Japan Study Find Standard Chemotherapy Still Best Hope for Mesothelioma

The long-standing chemotherapy combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed will remain the front-line treatment regimen for mesothelioma patients in the foreseeable future, despite recent efforts to develop newer and more effective drugs. Nothing better has emerged. Researchers at the Shizuoka Cancer Center and Juntendo University in Japan recently concluded that the cisplatin/pemetrexed (Alimta) combination remains the best choice. "It should continue to be the standard, front-line chemotherapeutic regimen for inoperable MPM (malignant pleural mesothelioma)," wrote the authors of the March study, published in Respiratory Investigation. The medications are most effective with asbestos-related cancer when used in conjunction with surgery and radiation, but more often they are used alone with patients who are not surgical candidates because the cancer already has metastasized. Although Alimta was not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until 2004, it has been used since the mid-1990s after it was granted an early compassionate-use exception. It was the first medication specifically approved for the treatment of mesothelioma. It has been used for almost two decades in combination with cisplatin, and both drugs increase the effectiveness of the other. Study Compares Chemotherapy Combinations Gemcitabine, carboplatin, doxorubicin and vinorelbine are other chemotherapy drugs used, but often found to be less successful. More are being tested in clinical trial...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Treatment & Doctors Source Type: news