Medications Used to Treat Mesothelioma

Date Posted: January 17, 2012

Because it is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer, conventional mesothelioma treatments often consist of a chemotherapy regimen, many times using a combination of drugs. Although every patient is different, the most common drugs used in treatment for mesothelioma are pemetrexed, cisplatin and gemcitabine. In some cases, doctors also administer carboplatin, onconase and navelbine in combination with the other drugs.

Premetrexed

Premetrexed, which is sold under the brand name Alimta, is the only drug approved by the FDA to treat mesothelioma when surgery is not an option. Premexetred and folic acid are chemically similar and the drug works by inhibiting three enzymes necessary to produce RNA and DNA. Cells cannot reproduce without these enzymes which keeps the cancer from growing. Premetrexed shows the most promise in developing cures for mesothelioma.

Cisplatin

Cisplatin, a platinum-based drug, is used in conjunction with premetrexed in conventional mesothelioma treatments. Cisplatin makes it impossible for cells to duplicate by cross linking DNA. Although cisplatin alone does not provide cures for mesothelioma, used in combination with other drugs, it has shown promise in the fight against the disease. Cisplatin and Alimta are the only FDA approved drugs used for the specific treatment of pleural mesothelioma, which accounts for more than 75% of documented cases of the disease.

Gemcitabine

Gemcitabine, an antimetabolite, is marketed under the brand name Gemzar. Gemcitabine works by replacing a portion of DNA with an enzyme that causes tumor cells to arrest their growth. Unfortunately, the drug also kills healthy cells that are undergoing DNA replication as well, which can lead to unpleasant side effects. As part of a treatment for mesothelioma, gemcitabine is normally combined with other drugs, such as cisplatin or premetrexed.

Onconase

The use of onconase is currently undergoing clinical trials at Columbia University as a potential cure for mesothelioma. Onconase is a derivative of eggs and early embryos of the northern leopard frog which speeds up another enzyme that breaks down RNA. Because RNA is necessary for the development of mesothelioma, onconase has shown promise in killing the malignant cells while sparing healthy cells in the body.

Navelbine

One of the newest treatments for mesothelioma is navelbine which works by stopping cancer cells from separating into 2 new cells and blocking the cancer from growing. In recent clinical trials, 25% of mesothelioma patients had positive responses to the drug, and in some cases, the disease stabilized for several months. Although the use of this drug for treatments of mesothelioma is still in the early stages, it does show promise for use in the future.

In addition to chemotherapy drugs such as premetrexed, cisplatin and gemcitabine, drugs are also administered to mesothelioma patients to offset the side effects of the cancer treatments. In most cases, patients are given anti-nausea medications such as Compazine, Torecan, Zofran and Kytrel since nausea is the most common side effect of conventional mesothelioma treatments.