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Implantation and Monitoring by PET/CT of an Orthotopic Model of Human Pleural Mesothelioma in Athymic Mice
07:54

Implantation and Monitoring by PET/CT of an Orthotopic Model of Human Pleural Mesothelioma in Athymic Mice

Published on: December 21, 2019

Standard therapy for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Nicholas J Vogelzang1

  • 1Nevada Cancer Institute, Las Vegas, NV 89135, USA. nvogelzang@nvcancer.org

Lung Cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
|November 18, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) treatment has improved with the novel antimetabolite pemetrexed. Combining pemetrexed with cisplatin chemotherapy offers higher response rates and increased survival for MPM patients.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Thoracic Oncology
  • Chemotherapy

Background:

  • Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has historically shown poor response to established cytotoxic agents.
  • Limited treatment options previously resulted in objective response rates below 20% and median survival under 10 months.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of novel cytotoxic agents in treating malignant pleural mesothelioma.
  • To assess the impact of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy on response rates and survival in MPM patients.

Main Methods:

  • Review of established cytotoxic agents and combination chemotherapy regimens for MPM.
  • Analysis of clinical data for novel agents, specifically pemetrexed, in combination with cisplatin.

Main Results:

  • Pemetrexed, a novel antimetabolite, demonstrated significant improvements in MPM treatment.
  • The combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin achieved objective response rates up to 45%.
  • Median survival for MPM patients treated with this combination increased to over 12 months.

Conclusions:

  • The doublet chemotherapy regimen of pemetrexed and cisplatin represents a new standard of care for first-line treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
  • Novel agents like pemetrexed have significantly advanced the therapeutic landscape for MPM.
  • This combination therapy offers improved outcomes for patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

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