UK Study Matches Mesothelioma Treatments to Genetic Profile

University of Leicester researchers soon will open the first molecularly stratified clinical trial for malignant mesothelioma with the hope of moving the future of treatment toward more personalization. The phase II trial in the United Kingdom is designed to match therapy with a patient’s specific genetic profile. “We’re trying to bring the right drug to the right patient at the right time,” Professor Dean Fennell, chair of thoracic medical oncology at Leicester and chief trial investigator, told Asbestos.com. “We need to find different treatments that work for different people. This is a step in that direction.” The British Lung Foundation funded the clinical trial, which is expected to start early in 2019 and conclude by 2022. “The problem with mesothelioma has been the one-size-fits-all approach to drug development, and it hasn’t worked,” Fennell said. “We are now entering the era of personalized treatment for many cancers, including this one.” Mesothelioma Treatment Advances Overdue A combination of chemotherapy with cisplatin and pemetrexed is still the only FDA-approved treatment for unresectable mesothelioma. The treatment hasn’t changed in 14 years, contributing to the typically dismal prognosis. Various experimental drugs — particularly immunotherapy drugs — have shown great effectiveness in select individuals but little effectiveness for the majority of patients. The lack of consistency, in part, has been attributed to specific genetic ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news