New Drug for Mesothelioma

The FDA recently approved a brand new drug used to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer sometimes related to asbestos exposure.

The drug is named Alimta, or pemetrexed disodium, and it’s distributed by Eli Lilly and Company. Alimta is meant to be used along side cisplatin.

Only concerning a pair of,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed every year within the U.S. Patients live, on average, 9 to 13 months when diagnosis.

In a randomized clinical trial, patients receiving Alimta along side cisplatin lived a median of twelve months when the trial began, compared with 9 months for those on cisplatin alone.

Alimta should be supplemented with vitamin B-12 and folic acid to decrease the incidence and severity of adverse effects.

Those effects embody 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, like fever and chills

source :http://mesotheliomaprognosis.info/mesothelioma-cat/new-drug-for-mesothelioma/