Gemcitabine

Gemcitabine is an intravenous chemotherapy drug that interferes with cancer cells' ability to copy their DNA, causing them to die. It is used to treat several cancers linked to asbestos exposure, including non-small cell lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma, often in combination with a platinum drug such as cisplatin or carboplatin.

Origin

Gemcitabine was synthesized at Eli Lilly and Company in the 1980s as a fluorinated analog of the nucleoside cytidine, and received FDA approval in 1996 under the brand name Gemzar. The generic name reflects its chemical class, a difluoro-substituted deoxycytidine.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For patients with pleural mesothelioma, gemcitabine is most often used as a second-line option after the standard first-line regimen of pemetrexed plus a platinum drug (with or without immunotherapy) stops working. It is also used as part of first-line chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer, which is the other major asbestos-related malignancy. Knowing what chemotherapy you received, when, and how you responded matters for your medical care and for documenting the course and severity of your illness, information your treating oncologist's records will contain and that may become part of a damages presentation in a claim.

Example Sentence

After her mesothelioma progressed on pemetrexed and cisplatin, her oncologist started a second-line regimen of gemcitabine combined with vinorelbine.

Related Terms

Pemetrexed, Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Chemotherapy, Pleural Mesothelioma, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Notes

• Ask your oncologist whether gemcitabine is being used alone or in combination, what the treatment goal is (shrinking tumor, slowing progression, symptom control), and how response will be measured (typically CT scans every 2–3 cycles).
• Request copies of your infusion records, dose adjustments, and any scans or tumor measurements. These document your treatment history for both ongoing care and any legal claim.
• Watch for and report low blood counts (infection risk, easy bruising), fatigue, fevers, shortness of breath, or flu-like symptoms; gemcitabine can also rarely cause serious lung or kidney complications.
• If you are considering or enrolled in a clinical trial, ask whether gemcitabine-based regimens disqualify you from specific immunotherapy or targeted-therapy studies you may want later.