Drug Used to Treat Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma
Thursday, April 1st, 2010The chemotherapy drug ALIMTA, manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co., has received a recommendation from the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence as an ongoing treatment option for patients with locally advanced or mestastic non-small cell lung cancer.
The recommendation is the second step in a three-step process toward approval for funding by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. Without approval by the National Institute, patients struggle to have government health insurers pay for the drugs.
ALIMTA has previously received a positive final recommendation from the National Institute as a treatment for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the chest cavity linked to asbestos exposure. ALIMTA is given in combination with cisplatin, another anti-cancer medication, when surgery is not an option.
The National Institute’s recommendation was based on data that indicated ALIMTA improved overall survival for non squamous cell, non small cell lung cancer patients in a maintenance setting. Maintenance therapy represents a new approach to treating advanced non squamous cell lung cancer. In maintenance therapy, patients whose first line therapy controlled the disease, undergo additional treatment immediately with a maintenance regiment rather than waiting for the disease to recur before receiving additional treatment.
Being exposed to asbestos increases the risk of developing lung cancer and other serious respiratory diseases including mesothelioma and asbestosis.
In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ALIMTA for treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer to maintain the effect of the initial treatment.
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