Chemotherapy

Mesothelioma chemotherapy is a type of mesothelioma treatment modality through which the asbestos cancer is combated using a variety of anticancer drugs. Mesothelioma chemotherapy drugs are used to slow the uncontrolled division of cancer cells, while also initiating programmed cellular death.

Although chemotherapy treatments are often administered on their own, they are typically used in conjunction with surgery or radiotherapy when treating mesothelioma sufferers. Preoperative chemotherapy treatments attempt to slow the growth of cancer while postoperative chemotherapy treatments attempt to kill any lingering cancer cells. If surgery is not an option because a tumor is deemed inoperable, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are often used instead in an attempt to slow tumor metastasis.

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Drugs

Mesothelioma chemotherapy drug treatments fall into the category of traditional and new mesothelioma treatments. While traditional mesothelioma chemotherapy drug treatments have proven to be capable of temporarily slowing the growth of mesothelioma cancer, they have proven incapable of serving as a curative treatment for the aggressive asbestos disease. As such, new mesothelioma chemotherapy drugs are continuously being researched and developed with the hope that they will have more success in combating mesothelioma.

Traditional chemotherapy Drugs

The most commonly used traditional chemotherapy agent is a platinum-based drug called cisplatin. In addition to cisplatin, two other platinum-based drugs of the same class are also used to treat a variety of cancers including malignant mesothelioma: carboplatin and oxaliplatin. This family of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs is often used in combination with some of the newer chemotherapy drugs.

New Chemotherapy Drugs

Two of the newer chemotherapy drugs garnering a great deal of attention for their ability to aid in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma are Alimta and Onconase. Alimta is the brand name for pemetrexed, the only mesothelioma chemotherapy drug that has received FDA approval (when used in combination with cisplatin) for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Onconase is the brand name for ranpirnase, a type of ribonuclease protein that is extracted from the eggs of leopard frogs. Onconase degrades a variety of species of intracellular RNA within mesothelioma cancer cells (typically tRNA), inhibiting protein synthesis. By inhibiting protein synthesis, Onconase is able to block a required step in the cellular cycle, preventing the growth and proliferation of mesothelioma cancer cells.

There are a number of other drugs that are used to treat malignant mesothelioma that do not technically fall into the category of chemotherapy drug. The most notable of these new drugs is Veglin, a type of anti-angiogenesis drug that is undergoing clinical trial testing in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Side Effects

The occurrence of side effects resulting from mesothelioma chemotherapy treatments is somewhat common. The treatments are designed to chemically alter certain bodily functions, fostering the development of a number of mild to severe side effects. The most common chemotherapy side effects can include:

• Nausea / vomiting
• Weakness
• Fatigue

The aforementioned common side effects are relatively common with most types of chemotherapy, though additional side effects can be associated with treatment on a drug-by-drug basis. Different drugs treat cancer and affect the body in different ways, often eliciting very different results.

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Drug Clinical Trials

Mesothelioma chemotherapy drug clinical trials are research studies that are used to measure the safety and efficacy of newly developed anticancer agents. Chemotherapy drug clinical trials are composed of four phases:

Phase I & II: the first two phases involve testing the safety and toxicity of a newly developed.

Phase III: the third phase compares the drug to commonly used treatments/drugs in order to determine its effectiveness versus that of accepted treatment modalities.

Phase IV: the fourth and final phase follows FDA approval. The drug is branded and marketed for distribution. Long-term studies monitor any latent side effects.