Mesothelioma Treatments and Therapies

Standard treatment for all but localized mesothelioma is generally not curative.1 Surgery and radiotherapy have a limited role in highly selected mesothelioma patients and chemotherapy is the only potential treatment option for the majority of people diagnosed with mesothelioma. Sometimes, these mesothelioma therapies are combined. Despite activity of some chemotherapy, the results are still modest, with a median survival of approximately one year. For individual patients, treatment for mesothelioma depends on the location of the cancer, the stage of the disease, and the patient's age and general health. The only FDA approved chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (in combination with cisplatin) is pemetrexed (Alimta). In the key clinical trial that led to its approval for mesothelioma, Alimta was combined with another chemotherapy drug (cisplatin) and compared with cisplatin alone. The median survival for the patients who received both chemotherapy drugs was 12.1 months versus 9.3 months for mesothelioma patients who only received cisplatin.