Chemotherapy with a new antifolate, pemetrexed.
Chemotherapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma unresectable was approved in Europe in 2004. This combination of cisplatin to a new multi-target antifolate, pemetrexed (Alimta), improves length and quality of survival. In monotherapy, Alimta is indicated as second line treatment of lung cancer in non-small cell.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), said Dr. P. Ruffié (IGR, Villejuif), has long been a kind of orphan disease without treatment. It is mainly caused by exposure to asbestos while also discussing the role of genetic predisposition, ionizing radiation, some viruses. Its incidence increased by 25% every three years because of its development time (latency from thirty to forty years), the worst is yet to come: a peak of incidence is planned for 2020.
Late diagnosis.
Occupational diseases related to asbestos are underreported (25%) as the industries concerned, they could be underway to relocate in the world. The diagnosis is delayed (98% of cases) at a time when surgery and radiotherapy are not possible, the prognosis is poor, little changed by different chemo-and radiotherapy isolated tried so far. The median survival of epithelioid MPM (68% of MPM) is ten to seventeen months in the absence of any treatment, which means that half the patients died within this period, the sarcomatous MPM is resistant to treatment ( survival of four to seven months). (more…)
