For patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma that has grown despite treatment with standard chemotherapy, no treatment has yet proven beneficial. The purpose of this study is to find out what effects, both good and bad, that everolimus has on the cancer. Everolimus works by blocking a protein that helps the cancer grow. The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if the study drug everolimus can shrink or slow the growth of mesothelioma. The safety of this drug will also be studied. The patients’ physical state, changes in the size of the tumor, and laboratory findings taken during the study will help us decide if everolimus is safe and effective.

Drug developer Bionomics Ltd plans to conduct a Phase II clinical trial of its leading compound, anti-cancer drug BNC105, on 60 Mesothelioma patients in Australia next year.

Purpose: Malignant pleural mesotheliomas (MPMs) are tumours associated with asbestos exposure involving the tissue lining surrounding the lung. Radiation therapy (RT) dramatically reduces the risk of tumour recurrence within the irradiated area (>90%). But patients continue to succumb to MPMs due to the tumour spreading outside the chest cavity. This may be due to tumour cells inadvertently contaminating areas outside the chest cavity during surgery. The study will look at whether giving a short intense course of chest radiation just prior to surgery will sterilized these tumour cells and thus, avoid or reduce contamination of the areas outside the chest cavity. The investigators hypothesize that short neoadjuvant (pre-operative) hemithoracic RT, followed by immediate planned extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) (+/- adjuvant chemotherapy) will reduce the risk of intra-operative seeding and reduce the incidence of distant metastatic disease.

Despite the best surgical efforts, complete removal of mesothelioma is possible in approximately 30% of the patients. When surgical removal is complete, chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy is recommended as an effort to improve control over the cancer and survival. This combination of treatments is called TRIMODALITY therapy. Unfortunately, the chances for the tumor coming back after TRIMODALITY therapy remains high. When surgical removal is not complete or not possible, some patients may receive chemo and/or radiation therapy to achieve control over the cancer, but the chances of tumor to growth again remains high and the chances of long term survival remains low.

After standard treatments failed to stop or slow the progression of her cancer, the first mesothelioma patient treated with a new protocol has shown a highly favorable response. These early results are similar to the investigative protocol’s success against several other very aggressive cancers.

This trial explores the use of new radiation technology (tomotherapy), to treat mesothelioma more aggressively than has been possible before. Tomotherapy’s ability to treat unusual shaped tumours, particularly when they are wrapped around sensitive normal tissues (the lung), enable higher doses of radiation to be used and this may improve its effectiveness. We will treat 17 patients with tomotherapy and assess the breathing, symptoms, and quality of life of the patients before and after treatment

Video-assisted surgery to remove part of the tissue layer covering the inside of the chest cavity may be effective in treating pleural effusion and cause less damage to normal tissue. Talc pleurodesis may keep fluid from building up in the chest cavity. It is not yet known which therapy is more effective in treating pleural effusion caused by malignant mesothelioma.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well everolimus works in treating patients with pleural malignant mesothelioma that cannot be removed by surgery.

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of sorafenib when given together with pemetrexed and cisplatin in treating patients with advanced solid tumors.

Researchers involved in a multi-center U.S. trial have reported neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Alimta® (pemetrexed) and Platinol® (cisplatin), followed by pneumonectomy and radiation therapy, may improve survival of patients with Stage I-III pleural malignant mesothelioma. The details of this study appeared in the June 20, 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.[1]