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Cancer Center to Treat Mesothelioma Patients Exposed to Vermiculite
Mesothelioma Screening and Clinical Trials:
DETROIT, MI — April 9, 2004 — The Karmanos Cancer Institute in Michigan has established the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos–Related Cancers, a project to diagnose and treat mesothelioma patients who have been exposed to asbestos in vermiculite, an ore resembling mica that is used in certain types of home insulation. Goals include rapidly screening large numbers of people who have been exposed to asbestos, detecting mesothelioma at an early stage, and increasing the basic scientific understanding of the disease.
The Karmanos Cancer Institute and its new center are involved in clinical studies using the anticancer drug ALIMTA® (pemetrexed), which blocks the enzymes necessary for cancer cells to synthesize thymidine and purine. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a combination of ALIMTA® plus a standard chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, to treat pleural mesothelioma, the form of the disease that attacks the lining of the lungs and chest cavity. (See FDA Approves Sale of ALIMTA®.) Although ALIMTA®/cisplatin does not cure mesothelioma, the drug combination can prolong patients’ lives and improve their respiratory function.
In one clinical trial, Karmanos doctors will consider the combination of ALIMTA® plus gemcitabine on mesothelioma patients. Gemcitabine is an antimetabolite that blocks tumor growth by preventing cancer cells from making DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). In previous clinical trials, gemcitabine has achieved modest positive results against mesothelioma when combined with either of two anticancer platinum–based compounds, oxaliplatin or carboplatin (Clin Lung Cancer. 2003 Mar; 4(5): 294–7; also see Gemcitabine and Carboplatin May Be Helpful in Mesothelioma Treatment).
The ALIMTA®/gemcitabine clinical trial is open to patients with either pleural mesothelioma or peritoneal mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the abdomen or stomach area). They must also be mesothelioma patients who cannot undergo surgery because their cancer is too advanced.
Another clinical trial at Karmanos combines surgery, radiation, and the FDA–approved combination of ALIMTA® plus cisplatin to treat pleural mesothelioma patients. They will undergo chemotherapy with ALIMTA®/cisplatin, followed by a type of surgery known as an extrapleural pneumonectomy. The extrapleural pneumonectomy removes portions of the lung, the “parietal pleura” (the lining of the lung), the pericardium (the lining of the heart) and the diaphragm. Its goal is to remove as many cancer cells as possible. Surgery will be followed by radiation treatment. To be eligible for this clinical trial, patients must have adequate heart and lung function to withstand the rigors of surgery.
For contact information about mesothelioma clinical trials at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, see the facility’s web page. For information about mesothelioma clinical trials at other locations, check the National Cancer Institute web site. You should consider participating in a clinical research trial only after you have carefully discussed the option with your doctor.
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