Another Study Suggests Ovarian Cancer Chemotherapy Drug May Help Mesothelioma Patients .August 16th, 2016 .
Last month, researchers from Switzerland published a study where they expressed great hope that a drug usually used for ovarian cancer chemotherapy may present a significant improvement in patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. Now, another recent study also suggests that this drug, derived from the Caribbean sea squirt, may be deadly to mesothelioma cells while causing little damage to healthy cells nearby.
In June, a study published in the journal Lung Cancer by Swiss researchers showed that two mesothelioma patients treated with the combination of cisplatin (the go-to chemotherapy drug for mesothelioma) and PM01183 ( Lurbinectedin ) exhibited both a reduction in tumor size and more manageable side effects than seen in other, more traditional mesothelioma chemotherapy treatments.
PM1183 ( Lurbinectedin ) is a version of the drug Yondelis ( Trabectedin ), which is used to treat ovarian cancer in Europe and Japan and comes from sea squirts. This drug has been noted to be very effective in treating forms of ovarian cancer which are known to be especially chemo resistant, as was documented by researchers from Japan in the journal PLoS One in March. Like some types of ovarian cancer, mesothelioma is another form of cancer which has been historically resistant to chemotherapy. In many cases, patients with advanced mesothelioma seek palliative (not potentially curative) treatments to alleviate pain and symptoms, but many forms of chemotherapy present such nasty side effects that the risks of the treatment are deemed too high for patients who are already very weak.
With PM01183 ( Lurbinectedin ), however, the Swiss researchers saw such a reduction in harsh side effects that they suggest the drug may be Beneficial in Both Curative and Palliative Capacities .
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