The search to find more effective methods of treating mesothelioma is an international one with researchers around the world sharing theories and outcomes in hopes that the rare and fatal form of cancer can eventually be eradicated. Among the more promising ideas to have been introduced recently comes from Italy, where researchers are putting a newly-created drug-infused film on areas from which pleural mesothelioma tumors have been removed in hopes that it will prevent the cancerous cells from returning.
Initial reports on the outcome of this new approach to treating pleural mesothelioma have been extremely promising, especially because the therapy has been shown to have little to no toxic side-effect. The study was recently published by researchers from the University of Parma in the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Science. The researchers found that after placing a polymer film coated with cisplatin on the surgical site, both animal and human patients experienced improved outcomes. They also found that in mice the treatment “almost completely prevented tumor recurrence.”
The typical pleural mesothelioma patient will go through a course of radiation therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy drugs administered intravenously. However, the results have been less than satisfying because the cancer returns due to the microscopic cancer cells left behind and patients suffer from the toxic side effects of the chemotherapeutic drugs that reduce their quality of life. Using a polymer film treated with both pemetrexed and cisplatin shows signs of being less toxic while at the same time providing a higher plasma concentration of the drugs than is achieved through other methods.
It is through these types of innovations that mesothelioma patients are likely to achieve the best medical outcomes. For more information on these and other breakthroughs, as well as helpful resources for mesothelioma patients and their caretakers, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
