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Mesothelioma News | 2007
Vinflunine Shown to Improve Response and Survival in Mesothelioma
A novel microtubule inhibitor, high-dose vinflunine, is providing encouraging response and survival rates in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology dated October 20th.
The authors explain that although a number of systemic treatments have been evaluated for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma, response rates are usually low and no survival advantages have been seen.
The overall response rate, and progression-free and overall survival rate of 67 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients was assessed by Dr. Denis C. Talbot from Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK, and colleagues in a first-line vinflunine therapy phase II study.
The authors report that the overall response rate, as assessed by an independent radiologist, was 13.8% (all partial responses), and the baseline Karnofsky performance status in most patients either maintained (60%) or improved (13.8%).
The overall median survival rate was 10.8 months, 1-year survival rate 36.9% and the median progression-free survival rate 3.2 months.
The report indicated that only 10% of cycles were delayed due to hematologic toxicity, non-study-drug-related adverse event, or other reasons.
The investigators say that Vinflunine was generally well tolerated, but must be carefully administered to minimize injection site reactions, which occurred in approximately half of the study patients.
The authors conclude "These results suggest that vinflunine is one of the most active single agents in malignant pleural mesothelioma."
The researchers added that "the results of this study, in terms of response rate and survival, suggest that vinflunine should be further evaluated in malignant pleural mesothelioma after progression with cisplatin/pemetrexed because there is no other therapy available in this setting." They further added that "synergy with cisplatin in the clinical setting should also be explored in mesothelioma."
