Mesothelioma relapse patients may benefit from pemetrexed-based treatment

Italian researchers are testing pemetrexed-based drugs as a second-line treatment option for mesothelioma relapse. Pemetrexed inhibits cellular formation of DNA and RNA, which cells need to survive and to grow. A study published in medical journal, Lung Cancer, covered study details.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of lung lining and lining of other abdominal cavities. It is caused almost exclusively by asbestos fibers, which, once inhaled, can begin a mutation process leading to growth of irregular malignant tumors. Mesothelioma affects a rising fifteen to twenty thousand people worldwide; it is believed that thousands of additional cases go unreported, particularly in developing countries where asbestos use high and minimally regulated.

Mesothelioma is characterized by a long latency period, between twenty and fifty years. When symptoms demonstrate they include coughing, wheezing and signs reflective of a respiratory infection. Mesothelioma treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and palliative care. There is no known cure for mesothelioma.

In the Italian study, researchers specifically found that pemetrexed drugs benefited mesothelioma patients as a second-line treatment when the same patient had benefited from same-type first-line treatments.

Thirty-one patients who had received pemetrexed-based drugs for mesothelioma at least once before where administered the same drug for relapse occurrences between 2004 and 2009. All of these patients were 3 months or more beyond their last treatments. Fifteen received pemetrexed-based drugs alone, while 16 were treated with a combination of pemetrexed-based and the current standard platinum-based drugs.

Forty-eight percent of patients tested showed shrunken tumors or tumors that had stopped growing. A 10.5 month average progression-free survival time also followed for the 48% of patients responding well to treatments. This additional survival time was consistent for patients who had experienced an average of 12 months progression-free survival time following first-line same-type treatments. Patients that did not experience as much as 12 months progression-free survival time after first-line treatments averaged only 2.5 months following second-line same-type treatments.

A Japanese study published in the International Journal of Clinical Oncology reported similar findings. Patients who responded well to pemetrexed-based drugs as a first-line treatment benefited from the same type second-line treatments.

Study authors concluded, however, that more research is necessary to better decide how to treat relapse in mesothelioma cases.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 at 8:14 AM and is filed under General, Treatments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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Mesothelioma treatments may benefit from new research

New cancer research may prove helpful in the fight against mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused almost solely by toxic asbestos fibers. These fibers, once inhaled, can start a mutation process in cells of lung and abdominal cavity lining. Mesothelioma can take decades to demonstrate symptoms making it hard to detect. Once it has been diagnosed, typical prognoses include an average life expectancy of eighteen months.

Although many mesothelioma patients are choosing palliative care, which focuses on pain management and bettering quality of life, there are many aggressive mesothelioma treatments available. A combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and rehabilitative therapies are typically administered in a mesothelioma case. However, mesothelioma has proved somewhat chemotherapy resistant and continues to be considered incurable.

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, grants have been distributed to further cancer research. Agios Pharmaceuticals, a recipient of such a grant through the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Program (QTDP), has been studying cancer metabolism. Following an exciting discovery of a connection between slowed growth in lung cancer cells and the diabetic drug metformin, cancer metabolism testing is proving positive.

With $488,000 in funding from QTDP, Agios Pharmaceuticals is one of the leading groups in metabolism research. Chief executive David Schenkein said, “Nutrient supply and deprivation is becoming potentially the next big wave.”

Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is another company to receive funding through QTDP for cancer treatment research. Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals said, “Just as the body needs nutrients to survive, cancer cells depend on certain nutrients to make energy and to proliferate.”

Until now, typical cancer treatment has focused on removal of the malignancy and attack on remaining cancerous cells. This approach often leaves surrounding healthy tissues vulnerable to the same attack, allowing patients’ quality of life to suffer as well

Cancer metabolism research is taking a new approach. Like other living organisms, cancer needs an energy source to continue growing. Glucose is a primary food, or energy source, for cancer. Researchers are testing the potential of cutting of a cancer’s glucose supply in hopes this will render the cancer unable to continue growing and spreading.

New cancer research is welcome as mesothelioma cases in America and worldwide are thought to be rising. Three thousand Americans suffer with mesothelioma each year, while the numbers worldwide are believed to be as much as ten times higher. The World Health Organization estimated ninety thousand mesothelioma cases as we head into what may be the peak of this fatal disease.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 16th, 2010 at 8:48 AM and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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