Source: Medical News Today

A recent Phase III study conducted by the Norwegian Lung Cancer Group has shown that a combination of ALIMTA plus carboplatin has enhanced quality-of-life benefits over the traditional therapies used for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The randomized, multicenter study enrolled 446 chemonaive patients with either Stage III-B or Stage IV NSCLC and compared quality-of-life results for the ALIMTA plus carboplatin control group vs. the GEMZAR plus carboplatin control group. The results so far released have shown that the ALIMTA control group had a more favorable toxicity profile than the GEMZAR control group.

In another trial studying the therapeutic effects of ALIMTA, the International Oncology Network Study is evaluating the safety of Avastin when added to the combination of ALIMTA plus oxaliplatin in patients with advanced NSCLC. Previous studies have shown that both ALIMTA and oxaliplatin cause activity with NSCLC and that ALIMTA has shown synergistic effects when combined with other platinum-based drugs. The endpoint of this early-stage study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination as first-line treatment for NSCLC.

ALIMTA in combination with cisplatin is also a treatment regiment for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma whose disease is unresectable or who are otherwise not candidates for curative surgery.

Labels: mesothelioma