alignant cells and less so against others; effective with pleural mesothelioma, perhaps, but ineffective with the pericardium. The point is that these two drugs have proven the ability to successfully kill some of the cancer cells some of the time and so many of the clinical trials involve using other cancer chemotherapy drugs in conjunction with pemetrexed, cisplatin, or both.
All of the chemotherapy drugs used in mesothelioma clinical trials such as these have been approved for treatment of other types of tumors. For example some drugs such as Bortezomib act by stopping blood flow to a tumor, and by killing certain enzymes that allow malignant cells to proliferate. There is currently a clinical study using this drug in conjunction with cisplatin to test the success with malignant mesothelioma tumors.
Onconase is a drug that impacts the RNA in some cancer cells, causing them to die. Clinical trials using this chemotherapy drug in conjunction with other drugs that starve tumors by choking off blood supply or that somehow suppress the ability of malignant cells to multiply are underway in several locations. Some of these trials are sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, some are generated in foreign medical centers, and some are undertaken by cancer centers in the U.S. with the assistance of grants from the NIH.
There are also trials underway attempting to establish effective methods of using photodynamic therapy to target diseased cells, along with other methods that are meant to protect the healthy cells surrounding tumors. Destroying healthy cells has always been an issue with chemotherapy and radiotherapy; today researchers are using new technology and molecular knowledge to try and find healthier ways to treat post-operative malignant mesothelioma.
- Localized Benign Pleural Mesothelioma, Altin, et al, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Department of Pulmonology, Turkey, 2003
- Detailed Guide: Malignant Mesothelioma, American Cancer Society, http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_is_malignant_mesothelioma_29.asp?sitearea=
- Malignant Mesothelioma Diagnosis, American Cancer Society, http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_3X_How_is_malignant_mesothelioma_diagnosed_29.asp?sitearea=
- Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, Boutin et al, European Respiratory Journal, p. 5, 1998
- What's New in Malignant Mesothelioma Research and Treatment, American Cancer Society, http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_6X_Whats_new_in_malignant_mesothelioma_research_and_treatment_29.asp?sitearea=