Oct
3
2011

Should I Consider a Clinical Trial in the Treatment of My Malignant Mesothelioma?

Most doctors agree that clinical trials are of paramount importance in the search for a cure for malignant mesothelioma. Scientific consensus is that conventional therapies presently are not curative of the disease. It takes years for new therapies to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. As a result, clinical trials are a chance for patients to be exposed to novel therapies. In some instances, existing, approved drugs are repurposed in new combinations.

To find a list of clinical trials, you can go to the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) website: http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/search. There are numerous clinical trials listed on this site, all with different drug combinations and approaches.

The AsbestosLegalCenter.org (1-800-970-3878) is proud to support the research that is taking place at the Pacific Heart Lung and Blood Institute in Los Angeles, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Cameron, and encourages patients to contact Clare Cameron at the Institute, at (310) 478-4678, to discuss what treatment options are available.

How do you decide which therapy is the best?

The evaluation and initial determination of whether one qualifies for a particular clinical trial is an important discussion a patient must have with his or her physician. In general, patients must be carefully selected for these trials. Patients must meet certain criteria to participate in any given study. You cannot simply choose a clinical trial. You must be evaluated by physicians to see if you have the right ”markers” for enrollment in the clinical trial. While enrollment in clinical trials offers no guarantee that they will work, all patients should be encouraged to consider them.