Anti-cancer agent of benefit in pleural mesothelioma
Pemetrexed, an anti-cancer agent, could be beneficial
for the treatment of pleural mesothelioma (a malignant tumour of the lining
of the lung), newly presented data suggest.
In a phase II study, 62 patients with advanced mesothelioma
who had not received chemotherapy and who were not amenable to curative
therapy were treated with pemetrexed 500mg/m2, given as a 10-minute
intravenous infusion. Treatment was repeated every three weeks (median
of three cycles) and tumour response recorded.
Results from the study show that, to date, the median
survival time is 10.7 months and the median time to progression is 5.4
months (confidence intervals not given). Adverse events included granulocytopenia
(grade 3/4), thrombocytopenia, anaemia, fatigue, anorexia, nausea and
febrile neutropenia.
The data were presented at the 11th European Cancer
Congress in Lisbon on 23 October. Pemetrexed is an antifolate agent that
targets several enzymes in the folate pathway necessary for thymidine
and purine synthesis.
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