New data my provide important treatment advances in mesothelioma and lung cancer
Press Release by Eli Lily and Company; June 5, 2005
Patients with a cancer of the lining of the lung, known as malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), lived longer than previously reported(1), when treated with Eli Lilly and Company's Alimta(®) (pemetrexed) in combination with cisplatin, according to updated data presented today at the 11th annual Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC).
Alimta is the first and only approved therapy to show a statistically significant survival advantage in patients suffering from this difficult-to-treat cancer(2). Alimta is also approved in the United States, the European Union and several other countries as a monotherapy for second-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
"Before Alimta was available, patients suffering from mesothelioma had no hope -- rarely living a year after diagnosis," said Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, director of the Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas. "At 18 months, there is still a statistically significant difference in survival, which demonstrates patients are living longer when treated with this Alimta combination. If you look out further to 24 months, 22 percent of patients treated with Alimta are still alive."
Mature data presented at WCLC represent an update from trial results from the largest randomized, Phase III mesothelioma trial ever reported involving 448 patients published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) in July 2003(2). Today's data showed median survival of patients treated with Alimta plus cisplatin was almost thirteen (12.8) months after diagnosis and 42 percent (3.8 months) longer than patients who received cisplatin alone (p = 0.003).
In addition, 33 percent of mesothelioma patients treated with Alimta plus cisplatin survived 18 months compared with 23 percent treated with cisplatin alone. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.030). When treated with Alimta plus cisplatin, 22 percent of patients survived 24 months compared with 17 percent receiving single-agent cisplatin (p = 0.209).
When Alimta is given as a single agent, the most common side effects include disorders of the blood and lymphatic system, gastrointestinal disorders, fatigue, and rash. The risk and severity of side effects associated with Alimta can be controlled when used with folic acid and vitamin B12 -- a supplement unique to Alimta therapy.
