Mesothelioma Treatment: Alimta^® Therapy

The FDA approved the use of Alimta^® in combination with cisplatin for the treatment of mesothelioma in 2004. This is the only FDA-approved chemotherapy treatment for mesothelioma. To learn more about each of these agents, please continue reading.

About Alimta

Alimta is the brand name for the drug compound Pemetrexed, which was developed by Edward C. Taylor at Princeton University, and which is manufactured and marketed by Eli Lilly.

Pemetrexed/Alimta is a folate antimetabolite and works by inhibiting the normal metabolic functions involved in cell division. Alimta inhibits three enzymes that are essential to the formation of DNA and RNA, which are the necessary elements in the growth of all cells—both normal cells and cancer cells. Because cancer cells divide at a much higher rate than normal cells, the inhibition of DNA and RNA formation slows the growth of these tumor cells—ideally, arresting any further growth.

About Cisplatin

Cisplatin is a platinum-based chemotherapy agent used to treat a variety of cancers. When it was approved in 1978, it was considered a watershed moment for chemotherapy drugs. Cisplatin disrupts cell division (mitosis) by altering a cell’s DNA structure. Mitosis is a strictly regulated process and when a damaged cell starts to divide, the body destroys it if the damage can't be repaired. With cisplatin-affected cells, DNA is altered in a manner that cannot be remedied, so apoptosis, the process by which the body destroys damaged cells, is triggered and the cancerous cell is removed from the replication cycle.

Treatment Regimen

A patient is normally given the Alimta/cisplatin treatment regimen on an outpatient basis, i.e., the patient will be living at home and will travel to his or her cancer center for the treatments. The treatment cycle works in 21-day periods. On the first day of each cycle, the patient is given the drug combination. First, Alimta is given and then 30 minutes later cisplatin is delivered. No further therapy is delivered for the next 20 days, which gives the body’s normal cells time to recover. As each cycle is 21 days, every 22nd day another set of doses will be given. A patient’s doctor will decide how many cycles will be necessary at the start of treatment, but tests during the cycle may lead to adjustments.

During a treatment cycle, the patient will also be given folic acid and vitamin B₁₂. These supplements have been shown to limit the occurrence and severity of some of the side effects associates with Alimta Therapy. It is very important for the patient to follow whatever supplement schedule the doctor has developed.

For more information about Alimta Therapy, please visit Eli Lilly's official Alimta website: www.alimta.com.