Researchers from Denmark have reported that the combination of Navelbine® (vinorelbine) and Platinol® (cisplatin) is highly active in patients with newly diagnosed non-resectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. The details of this study appeared in an early online publication in the British Journal of Cancer on June 10, 2008.1
Pleural mesothelioma is a rare and lethal form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. There are about 2,500 new cases a year in the United States. Because the disease is often advanced at the time of diagnosis, average survival for those with pleural mesothelioma has been significantly less than one year. Recent studies have suggested that chemotherapy can improve quality of life and prolong survival compared with supportive care measures.
All chemotherapy for mesothelioma is palliative. Therefore, identification of a chemotherapy regimen that can improve quality of life or survival is essential for improving care in this population. The most active agents for the treatment of mesothelioma include: Platinol, Paraplatin® (carboplatin), Alimta (pemetrexed), Tomudex® (raltitrexed) and Gemzar® (gemcitabine). Currently, two drug regimens are thought to be better than single-agent therapy.
The current study evaluated a regimen of Navelbine and Platinol for the treatment of 54 patients with non-resectable mesothelioma. The median number of cycles of chemotherapy administered was four. There were two complete responses and 14 partial responses. The median survival was 16.8 months, and the median time to tumor progression was 7.2 months. The one-year survival was 61%, the two-year survival was 31%, and the three-year survival was 4%. These authors concluded that these results were as good as or better than currently used combinations for treatment of mesothelioma.
Comments: This drug combination merits further investigation as the results appear to be superior to previous studies with Gemzar-based combinations.
Related News:
Alimta® and Paraplatin® Effective in Elderly with Mesothelioma (7/9/2008)
Chemotherapy May Not Affect Survival or Quality of Life for Patients with Advanced Mesothelioma (5/21/2008)
Reference:
1 Cisplatin and vinorelbine first-line chemotherapy in non-resectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. British Journal of Cancer [early online publication]. June 10, 2008.
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