A diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is a shock, and the more that you learn about the illness, the more frightening it becomes. Patients and their loved ones have many concerns, including side effects from the treatments used to prolong their lives. Now researchers have found that the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors significantly lowers the risk of neurologic adverse effects as compared to the use of chemotherapy.
Neurologic Adverse Effects Can Lead to Additional Suffering in Mesothelioma
Despite the development of innovative new therapies, chemotherapy continues to be the first line treatment for malignant mesothelioma. Unfortunately, adverse effects from the use of this protocol are common. The best known of these side effects include loss of hair, nausea, and fatigue, but there are several neurologic affects that occur as well.
The neurologic adverse effects that are of most concern to mesothelioma patients include peripheral neuropathy – defined as weakness, numbness, and pain from nerve damage, usually in the hands and feet — and dysgeusia – which is altered taste. Headaches are also common.
Study Offers Mesothelioma Patients Relief from Adverse Effects
In seeking a way to reduce the risk of neurologic adverse events, the researchers compared outcomes of using chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, as well as lung cancer, melanoma, multiple myeloma, head and neck cancers, gastrointestinal cancers, and genitourinary cancers.
The study included a total of 23,705 patients – 10,595 of whom had been treated using ICIs and 13,110 who had use other treatments including chemotherapy, targeted therapies, vaccines, and combination therapies, as well as placebo. They found that the risk of neurologic adverse effects was 41% lower in patients treated with ICIs than in other drug regimens or placebos.
Patients with malignant mesothelioma deserve the most effective treatments that provide the highest quality of life as well as the longest overall survival time. To learn more about the resources available to you, contact the Patient Advocates at Meseothelioma.net today, at 1-800-692-8608.
