Clinical trials looking at new ways to treat mesothelioma patients are currently be conducted at the UC Davis Medical Center, near Sacramento, California. Specifically researchers are looking at mesothelioma treatment with the substance Cederanib Maleate. The substance is also sometime referred to as Recentin, or AZD2171 in the literature.
Cederanib Maleate is a type of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. It is thought to prevent the spread of cancer by working to slow the growth of vessels supplying the blood that nourishes the cancer cells, and blocking some of the enzymes that aid cancer cell growth. It is theorized that Cederanib Maleate may be effective in actually killing cancer cells in some circumstances.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that forms in cells that make up the mesothelial lining that surrounds the lungs, heart, and stomach. Mesothelioma occurs in individuals decades after they breathed in, or swallowed, asbestos fibers. Presently there is no known cure for pleural mesothelioma. One third of all mesothelioma patients are veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Asbestos was used extensively aboard U.S. Warships throughout the 20th Century. Construction workers, including those who worked in the vicinity of asbestos cement pipe, asbestos cement, asbestos containing roofing materials, and asbestos containing insulation, also are at greater statistical risk for developing mesothelioma. Mesothelioma also has developed in the children and spouses of those who were occupationally exposed to asbestos. In those cases, family members were exposed to asbestos fibers that made there way into the family home, deposited on the clothes of the worker. Mesothelioma has resulted in even brief exposures to asbestos fiber.
Thousands of cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States every year. Many mesothelioma patients also file lawsuits in the hopes of gaining compensation to assist them gain medical treatment and care for their families. The treatment of mesothelioma can be very expensive, requiring multiple hospital procedures, treatments, and surgeries.
Patients who participate in the Cederanib Maleate mesothelioma clinical trial will receive Cederanib Maleate introduced into the chemotherapy regimine of pemetrexed disodium IV, and Cisplatin. The purpose of the study is to determine the recommended dose of Cederanib Maleate, and compare survival rates of those treated with the drug, to those treated without it. The toxicity levels of the drug will also be measured, and tissue samples from the tumors will be collected for tissue banking and further research.
Attorney Mike Mandelbrot, founder the nationally recognized Asbestos Legal Center, whose firm has given sizeable donations to mesothelioma medical research, spoke of the importance of mesothelioma clinical trials. “Every mesothelioma patient should discuss with their medical provider whether participation in a clinical trial is appropriate in their treatment. Only through medical research, can we one day cure this terrible disease.”
If a mesothelioma patient lives outside of the state of California, the Cederanib Maleate clinical trial is also occurring at medical facility locations in other states.
If you or a family member would like more information about this article, or are suffering from mesothelioma, lung cancer, or any other asbestos related diseases, you can call the Asbestos Legal Center for a free consultation, at 1-800-970-3878.