Mesothelioma and small cell lung cancer

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma and small cell lung cancer, by A.S. Tsao, J. Heymach (Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 2011).

The study

• Authors: A.S. Tsao, J. Heymach
• Journal: Journal of Thoracic Oncology
• Published: 2011;6(11 Suppl 4):S1825-6
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This two-page article was a meeting report, not an original study. The authors summarized conference presentations on drug treatments for malignant pleural mesothelioma and for small cell lung cancer. It did not discuss asbestos or any other cause of these cancers. For mesothelioma, it reported that the standard first treatment for patients whose tumors could not be removed by surgery remained platinum pemetrexed chemotherapy. It described a large phase II trial in which adding bevacizumab to cisplatin-gemcitabine did not improve progression-free or overall survival in the full study population. It said that other targeted drugs tested after first treatment gave only modest results. A phase III trial of vorinostat versus placebo had enrolled 660 patients, with results still to come. Preliminary results of an early trial of dasatinib given before surgery suggested that a tumor marker (Src kinase Tyr419) might predict response. For small cell lung cancer, it reported early results such as a 70% response rate with cediranib plus etoposide and cisplatin. The authors concluded that the development of new drugs for both cancers was promising.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Meeting report summarizing conference presentations on treatment of mesothelioma and small cell lung cancer; not an original study
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the report describes trials in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
• Exposure: Not applicable: the article does not discuss asbestos or any other exposure; it concerns drug treatments
• Main results:
  • As described in the presentation, the front-line standard of care for patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma remained platinum pemetrexed
  • In a large phase II randomized trial reported at the meeting (another group's trial), adding bevacizumab to cisplatin-gemcitabine did not improve progression-free or overall survival in the intention-to-treat population
  • In that trial, patients with serum VEGF levels below the median who received bevacizumab had superior overall survival. A p value of 0.028 is printed, but the comparison symbol is missing from the text
  • Phase I and II studies of targeted agents in the salvage (after first treatment) setting for mesothelioma gave only modest results in general. Studies of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor monotherapy and of imatinib mesylate were negative
  • An international phase III trial of vorinostat versus placebo in second- and third-line mesothelioma treatment had completed accrual of 660 patients; its results were not yet available
  • Preliminary results of a phase I neoadjuvant dasatinib trial at MDACC suggested that Src kinase Tyr419 overexpression may be a valid baseline biomarker predicting response to dasatinib
  • A phase I trial of cisplatin-pemetrexed-imatinib mesylate in unresectable mesothelioma seemed to stabilize the cancer more than achieve a response. The follow-on trial SWOG 0905 established a phase II cediranib dose of 20 mg by mouth daily
  • In small cell lung cancer, phase I testing of cediranib with etoposide and cisplatin showed a median progression-free survival of 8.9 months and an objective response rate of 70%
  • Among 29 patients with small cell lung cancer or pulmonary carcinoid given the BCL-2 inhibitor ABT-263, one had a durable partial response and eight had prolonged stable disease
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the development of novel agents in both mesothelioma and small cell lung cancer is promising

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Small Cell Lung Cancer.

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