Category: Clinical Trial

Few rare diseases have a vaccination available to prevent the disease from developing, or to serve as a treatment for the disease once diagnosed.  For scientists researching a vaccine for mesothelioma, a rare disease known to be caused by asbestos exposure, any successes have been fleeting.  However, researchers at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center …

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD have begun recruiting patients with pleural mesothelioma for a Phase I clinical trial.  The trial is to study the efficacy of SS1 administered concurrently with the combination chemotherapy treatment of pemetrexed and cisplatin in patients with pleural mesothelioma who have not been previously …

Many mesothelioma patients who have beaten the odds by surviving over 10 years after diagnosis attribute some of their longevity to holistic treatments.  Paul Kraus, a 14-year mesothelioma survivor, plotted his own course of treatment relying on alternative therapies, as well as yoga and meditation.  Kraus and many other cancer patients can give anecdotal evidence …

Concerned with the increasing number of diagnoses of mesothelioma in Minnesota, researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota have partnered “to harness a unique therapeutic approach aimed at the disease.”  The researchers are now recruiting for a phase I clinical trial aimed at determining the effectiveness of an engineered version of the …

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) is making one last push to get survey responses from medical or radiation oncologists that treat lung cancer patients.   The survey responses will be compiled by the Young Oncologists Committee (YOC) of ESMO for a study that “aims to understand the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy in …

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 …