Category: Clinical Trial

Late last month Cancer Research UK announced a project designed to bring personalized medicine to the forefront in Europe.  Now, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Michigan Center for Translational Pathology (MCTP) have taken on a project focused on genetic sequencing to drive personalized medicine for cancer patients with advanced or …

Patients, physicians and researchers in the mesothelioma community suffered a serious setback last week when Merck & Co. announced they have terminated the Phase III clinical trial for vorinostat. The researchers found there was no improvement in survival in patients with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma receiving the second-line treatment that had previously been treated with …

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has just begun recruiting mesothelioma patients for a study to learn about how mesothelioma affects patients’ emotional and physical well-being.  In addition, the researchers are hoping to learn more about what patients need and how they deal with the deadly illness. According to a 2007 landmark study conducted by the …

Polaris Group, who in July 2010 announced the start of their global phase 3 clinical trial to test the efficacy of ADI-PEG 20 in the treatment of mesothelioma and other cancers, will present their clinical development plans for the drug later this month at a symposium in Taiwan.  The drug, pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20), …

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare form of lung cancer that is almost always caused by asbestos exposure and is most commonly found in the outer lining of the lungs called the mesothelium.   Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments.   To date there is no cure for …

Mesothelioma, a rare asbestos-related cancer, is one of many cancers that are most often diagnosed at a late stage, making effective treatment of the disease very difficult.  There is currently no known cure for mesothelioma, but many clinical trials and studies are underway that could offer hope to mesothelioma patients through discovery of new approaches …

MolMed S.p.A., an Italian biotechnology company focused on research, development and clinical validation of novel antitumor therapies, has announced the expansion of their Phase III trial of its investigational anticancer drug NGR-hTNF for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.  10 centers in Italy are conducting the trial, and it will now be expanded throughout Europe …

Researchers reported in the December 20th issue of The Lancet Oncology that they have linked a skin rash to longer survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving a cisplatin/vinorelbine combination of chemotherapy followed by cetuximab (Erbitux).  This finding may be significant for mesothelioma patients as ongoing clinical trials for both vinorelbine and cetuximab …

Medical professionals that want to have an influence on patients and the treatment of their diseases can move beyond the traditional healthcare practitioner role and into a research role.  A clinical researcher is one medical profession that is critical for ensuring that the latest drug discoveries make it safely to the patients.  They design and …

Professor George Kannourakis of Ballarat Cancer Research Center in Australia hopes to launch a series of clinical trials focused on mesothelioma and lung cancer patients.   The clinical trials will be used to identify a method that will administer chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor, destroying only the cancerous cells while preserving healthy cells.  The pioneer …