Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare and fatal form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The disease is extremely aggressive and has proven challenging to physicians and researchers, who use a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation to slow its progress. Among those working to find a solution is a man considered one of the “fathers” of regional chemotherapy, who has delivered “comparably long survival” using a chemotherapy protocol called isolated thoracic perfusion with chemofiltration.
Phase II Study Offers Alternative Treatment for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
The mesothelioma study was conducted by Karl Reinhard Aigner and colleagues from the Department of Surgical Oncology, Medias Klinikum, in Burghausen, Germany. Publishing in the journal OncoTargets and Therapy, they wrote of the failure of radical surgery to deliver a definite survival advantage, and the lack of substantial effect on outcome from combination therapies.
Noting that poor outcomes seem to be a result of chemoresistance of malignant mesothelioma tumors, the group asserted that a “less straining but effective and life-prolonging” treatment was needed and that palliative measures to alleviate discomfort and pain are justified. They set out to determine whether high-exposure isolated intra-arterial chemotherapy could overcome the tumors’ chemoresistance and induce a substantial response where traditional chemotherapy administration has failed.
Study Includes 28 Mesothelioma Patients
The results of the study offer significant hope for those who have undergone previous treatment for mesothelioma. The 28 participants included five who’d undergone surgery, ten who’d undergone systemic chemotherapy, and five who’d undergone radiation. The patients’ chests were isolated via balloon catheters and pneumatic cuffs, and chemotherapy was administered directly into the aorta, with the isolated circuit maintained for 15 minutes followed by about 45 minutes of chemofiltration.
The mesothelioma patients experienced tolerable toxicity from the chemotherapy, which was attributed to chemofiltration. The researchers reported one-year survival of 49%, two-year and three-year survival of 31%, and five-year survival of 18%. Median overall survival was 12 months and progression-free survival was nine months. The researchers concluded that “ITP-F for patients with advanced plural mesothelioma, progressive after standard therapies, is an effective and well-tolerated treatment modality, offering comparably long survival.”
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, this study offers hope for extended survival and improved quality of life. For information on resources available to you, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
