British investigators report, the sorafenib, which is also known as nexavar, is well tolerated in patients with mesothelioma cancer when they complete platinum-containing chemotherapy.
Sorafenib (nexavar) is a a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor. It works by slowing the growth of new blood vessels within the tumour mass. Sorafenib also hinders the growth of some types of malignant cells.
In a trial (phase II) of sorafenib (nexavar) following first-line chemotherapy in fifty three patients with mesothelioma cancer, thirty fourth of patients were progression-free after 6 months.
Dr James Spicer and Dr Sophie Papa from Kings college, London, United Kingdom and colleagues say that the sorafenib was well tolerated and offered a length of progression-free survival that "compares favorably" to some other targeted agents in this rare disease.
From the Department of Thoracic Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Professor Paul Baas (email: p.baas@nki.nl) said: "Mesothelioma cancer is one of the most important occupational diseases. It begins to attract a lot of attention these days. Recent developments in the treatment and diagnostics of this rare disease are very important together with those presented in the ELCC 2012 meeting: improvements in the diagnosis by simply measuring biomarkers in peripheral blood samples can identify patients who can be candidates for brand new studies or financial reimbursement by their employers. Molecular biology new developments now allow us to detect circulating fragments of peptides and (micro)RNA which can play a very important role. Furthermore the understanding that targeted agents and radiation therapy may be given to those patients can result in new, promising, studies."
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