First drug treatment for pleural mesothelioma set to be launched
The first drug to be licensed for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma will be launched by Eli Lilly next week.
Pemetrexed (Alimta) is administered in combination with cisplatin for
this indication, on the first day of each 21-day cycle of treatment.
The number of cycles of treatment is at the doctor’s discretion.
The drug is a folic acid analogue that works by disrupting metabolic
cell replication processes that depend on folate.
Most cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma are related to asbestos
exposure. Despite the ban on use of asbestos, the number of diagnoses
of this type of cancer is rising annually because of the latency period
of the disease.
Hilary Calvert, professor of medical oncology at the Northern Institute
of Cancer Research, University of Newcastle upon Tyne said: “This
form of cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage at which point
treatment with radiation therapy or surgery is not an option.
“Until now there has been no licensed chemotherapy available and
patients have been more likely to have treatment aimed to relieve the
symptoms
rather than to control the disease.”
In phase three trials chemotherapy-naive patients treated with pemetrexed
and cisplatin were shown to have a median survival of 2.8 months longer
than those treated with cisplatin alone (PJ, 1 June 2002, p756).
To reduce skin reactions a corticosteroid should be given the day before,
on the day of and a day after, the pemetrexed administration. Vitamin
supplements are also required.
Pemetrexed is also indicated as monotherapy for the treatment of patients
with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer after
prior chemotherapy.
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