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Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have been recruiting patients with malignant mesothelioma for a study of the effectiveness of using a combination of chemotherapy drugs after removal of cancerous tumors.

Pleural Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung and is closely linked to inhaling asbestos fibers. The symptoms of mesothelioma which is incurable, typically appear 30 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.

Surgery remains the optimal procedure for reducing the presence of malignant mesothelioma tumors to the microscopic level. After removing visible tumors from a patient’s chest, doctors then use chemotherapy drugs to stop cancer cells from growing and spreading. Cisplatin currently is used as a drug in chemotherapy treatments.

The study, led by Dr. David Sugarbaker, a mesothelioma specialist, is exploring whether Cisplatin can be used safely in combination with another anti-cancer drug, gemcitabine to treat mesothelioma patients.

Gemcitbine, which is marketed as Gemzar, belongs to a family of drugs call antimetabolites that attack cells in the metabolic process. It prevents cells from making RNA and DNA, which stops cell growth. If cells stop dividing, they die, causing tumors to shrink. Gemcitabine has been used to treat pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian soft-tissue sarcoma, breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

As part of the study, the chest cavities of patients are bathed in the drugs for one hour after tumors are removed, and the drugs also will be warmed to a temperature of 107 degrees

Another recent study involving researchers at eight medical research universities in the U.S., Italy, France, Germany and Australia reported some success in extending the lives of patients suffering from malignant mesothelioma in the lining of the abdomen or peritoneal mesothelioma, by employing a combination of surgery and heated chemotherapy drugs.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that of 405 patients treated in the study, the overall median survival rate of the patients was 53 months, and 47 percent remained alive after five years. The high temperature of the chemotherapy solution has been found to increase its therapeutic effect. Both heat and direct contact with chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells.

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