Mesothelioma Drugs

The FDA recently approved a new drug used to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer usually associated with asbestos exposure. The drug is called Alimta, or pemetrexed disodium, and it's distributed by Eli Lilly and Company. Alimta is intended to be used along with cisplatin. Only about 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the U.S. Patients live, on average, nine to thirteen months after diagnosis. In a randomized clinical trial, patients receiving Alimta along with cisplatin lived an average of 12 months after the trial began, compared with nine months for those on cisplatin alone.The new SBP002 drug to treat mesothelioma has been a success so far in a test group of 13 from Perth, Australia. The SBP002 mesothelioma treatment drug is derived from the noxious weed Devil's Apple.A phase two trial of SBP002, in which the drug will be tested on about 40 people, is expected to begin next year in either Australia or the United States. [...]US scientists affiliated with Solbec were also testing SBP002 on a variety of human cancer cells in the laboratory, to determine which cancers responded best to the drug.The asbestos disease mesothelioma and skin cancer melanoma were thought to be the main targets, but the drug may also have an effect on colon, renal and lung cancers.Alimta must be supplemented with vitamin B-12 and folic acid to decrease the incidence and severity of adverse effects. Those effects include low white blood count, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, rash and diarrhea. Since the drug suppresses the bone marrow, patients are warned to report signs of infection, such as fever and chills