Treating Pleural Mesothelioma With Chemotherapy

For people who have been diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in it's later stages chemotherapy is the only treatment available.

Some mesothelioma patients are diagnosed so late with the disease that surgery is no longer an option. At that point chemotherapy may become their only medical option.

Chemotherapy is generally not curative in these late stages, but only palliative to prolong an individuals life. The two most common chemotherapy agents used include Alimta and cisplatin

Alimta is the brand name for pemetrexed which is a chemotherapeutic agent that interferes with a crucial process that allows cancer cells to reproduce and spread. Specifically, pemetrexed stops the production of three enzymes that are required to feed the cancer cell.

Alimta is often used with cisplatin. Cisplatin is a platinum containing chemotherapy agent used for treating patients with pleural mesothelioma who are not good candidates for surgery. Cisplatin is also used to fight other types of cancer cells. Cisplatin inhibits DNA synthesis by causing intrastrand and interstrand cross-linking of DNA.

The combination of these two anti-cancer agents - cisplatin and alimta have been shown to prolong the life of many mesothelioma cancer patients. When Alimta is used in conjunction with cisplatin, it is the only Food and Drug Administration approved agent designated for specific use in combating malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Still there is no cure for malignant pleural mesothelioma. But hopefully there will be someday soon. Until that day arrives chemotherapy agents along with some of their terrible side affects are able to help mesothelioma patients survive just a little longer.