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Multi-Pronged Treatment May Improve Survival for Mesothelioma Patients

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Patients with stage I through III pleural mesothelioma may prolong their lives by combating the cancer with a multi-pronged treatment approach. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology states that the survival rate for patients with stage I – III pleural mesothelioma may improve by using a battery of different forms of treatment, including chemotherapy prior to surgery.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer closely associated with exposure to asbestos, often many decades ago. Microscopic asbestos particles are inhaled and lodge in the lungs.

Patients with stage I – III pleura mesothelioma have cancer limited to one side of the chest so doctors may be able to remove the cancer surgically. In some patients, with stage III mesotheloioma, the cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes.

Researchers report they began the treatment of 77 patients with pleural mesothelioma by administering chemotherapy before surgery using the medications Alimta and Platinol with the aim of first reducing the size of the cancer. The group of patients included with and without cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes.

In three patients, the chemotherapy knocked back the cancer to the extent there were no clinical signs of cancer remaining, though that doesn’t mean the patients are cured of malignant mesothelioma. Microscopic cancer cells may remain undetected.

Fifty-four patients then underwent surgery to remove the diseased lung, the second phase of the multi-pronged approach. Forty patients then received radiation therapy, the third phase of the treatment.

The median survival rate for the entire group was 17 months, but those who underwent all three rounds of treatment had a two-year survival rate of 61 percent, the researchers said.

The researchers involved in the study concluded it produced reasonable long-term survival results.

Labels: Research

posted by Wade Rawlins at 11:37 AM
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