Category: Clinical Trial

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 …

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is often treated with a chemotherapy combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin.  Cancer cells thrive by splitting and dividing, resulting in metastasis of the mesothelioma to other organs.  The combination of these two chemotherapy drugs slows or stops the growth of cancer cells in the body by inhibiting the enzyme action that is …

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, have begun recruiting patients with either pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma for a Phase II clinical trial.  The trial is to study IMC-A12 in patients with mesothelioma who have been previously treated with chemotherapy. Pleural mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that is …

Oxford BioMedica and a team of cancer immunologists from Cardiff University in Great Britain are collaborating to evaluate TroVax in a Phase I/II study for mesothelioma.  The study aims to examine the effect of TroVax in combination with first-line chemotherapy agents Alimta and cisplatin as a treatment against malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive …

Another new mesothelioma drug clinical trial is slated to begin in December 2009. Australian drug maker Bionomics Ltd plans to conduct a Phase II clinical trial of its anti-cancer drug BNC105. They will conduct the tests on 60 mesothelioma patients in Australia. The drug has shown great promise thus far by killing cancer cells when …

Study: Phase II Study of Everolimus (RAD001) for the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma With Merlin/NF2 Loss as a Biomarker to Predict Sensitivity Start Date: December 2009 End Date: December 2011 Recruiting Contacts: Contact: Lee Krug, MD (212)639-8420 Contact: Christopher Azzoli, MD (212)639-2131 Information: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is conducting a clinical trial for patients …