Articles Posted in Mesothelioma Clinical Trials

Clinical trials looking at new ways to treat mesothelioma patients are currently be conducted at the UC Davis Medical Center, near Sacramento, California. Specifically researchers are looking at mesothelioma treatment with the substance Cederanib Maleate. The substance is also sometime referred to as Recentin, or AZD2171 in the literature.

Cederanib Maleate is a type of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. It is thought to prevent the spread of cancer by working to slow the growth of vessels supplying the blood that nourishes the cancer cells, and blocking some of the enzymes that aid cancer cell growth. It is theorized that Cederanib Maleate may be effective in actually killing cancer cells in some circumstances.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that forms in cells that make up the mesothelial lining that surrounds the lungs, heart, and stomach. Mesothelioma occurs in individuals decades after they breathed in, or swallowed, asbestos fibers. Presently there is no known cure for pleural mesothelioma. One third of all mesothelioma patients are veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Asbestos was used extensively aboard U.S. Warships throughout the 20th Century. Construction workers, including those who worked in the vicinity of asbestos cement pipe, asbestos cement, asbestos containing roofing materials, and asbestos containing insulation, also are at greater statistical risk for developing mesothelioma. Mesothelioma also has developed in the children and spouses of those who were occupationally exposed to asbestos. In those cases, family members were exposed to asbestos fibers that made there way into the family home, deposited on the clothes of the worker. Mesothelioma has resulted in even brief exposures to asbestos fiber.

Thousands of cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States every year. Many mesothelioma patients also file lawsuits in the hopes of gaining compensation to assist them gain medical treatment and care for their families. The treatment of mesothelioma can be very expensive, requiring multiple hospital procedures, treatments, and surgeries.

Patients who participate in the Cederanib Maleate mesothelioma clinical trial will receive Cederanib Maleate introduced into the chemotherapy regimine of pemetrexed disodium IV, and Cisplatin. The purpose of the study is to determine the recommended dose of Cederanib Maleate, and compare survival rates of those treated with the drug, to those treated without it. The toxicity levels of the drug will also be measured, and tissue samples from the tumors will be collected for tissue banking and further research.

Attorney Mike Mandelbrot, founder the nationally recognized Asbestos Legal Center, whose firm has given sizeable donations to mesothelioma medical research, spoke of the importance of mesothelioma clinical trials. “Every mesothelioma patient should discuss with their medical provider whether participation in a clinical trial is appropriate in their treatment. Only through medical research, can we one day cure this terrible disease.”

If a mesothelioma patient lives outside of the state of California, the Cederanib Maleate clinical trial is also occurring at medical facility locations in other states.
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Mesothelioma patients are currently being recruited from all over the state of California to participate in a clinical trial studying the four month progression-free survival in patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma, after treatment with the drug Everolimus.

Everolimus, also known by the brand name Afinitor, is a relatively new drug that has been used by cancer doctors since 2009 to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma (cancer of the kidney). Typically, the drug Everolimus has been prescribed in circumstances when other medications have proven to be unsuccessful in treating the cancer cells.

Similar to the conditions present in the mesothelioma clinical trial that is now occurring in California, Everolimus is also used to treat inoperable brain tumors that cannot be treated with surgery, in patients with a genetic condition that causes tumors to grow in many organs.

Everolimus treats cancer by inhibiting the reproduction of cancer cells and by decreasing their blood supply. It is the type of drug known as kinase inhibitor.

Patients who are accepted into the mesothelioma clinical trial will receive oral Everolimus once every day for 28 days. This course of medication will repeat every twenty eight days in the absence of disease progression or any evidence of unacceptable toxicity in the patients. After completion of the treatment, the patient’s health will be monitored and followed by the oncologists conducting the study for three years.

Attorney Mike Mandelbrot, founder of the Asbestos Legal Center in San Francisco, who has pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to mesothelioma medical research, hailed the study. “In the fight against mesothelioma, cutting edge research is vital in the effort to defeat the disease.”

Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Individuals, such as those whom served in the United States Navy, or whom were employed in the construction industry, later develop mesothelioma decades after their exposures to asbestos have occurred. There are thousands of new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed every year in the United States. Litigation resulting from asbestos caused disease, such as mesothelioma, has both curbed the use of asbestos domestically in the United States, and provided compensation to thousands of victims and their families. Often times that compensation is used for medical bills resulting from the disease, such as surgery, overnight hospital stays, and other medical treatments.

And in somes cases the costs of treatments provided in clinical trials are covered by the oncology treatment center conducting the research, by a grant from the government, or by the pharmaceutical company associated with the drug that is being researched.

Individuals with mesothelioma over the age of 18, of either sex, are encouraged to discuss whether or not to apply for acceptance into the clinical trial with their treating physicians.

The Callifornia locations where the Everolimus clinical trial is occurring include: Marysville, California; Orange, California; Pleasanton, California; and Davis, California. The Everolimus Mesothelioma clinical trial is also occurring at locations outside of the state of California.
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