Clinical trials

Clinical trials are research studies in which you agree to receive treatment with promising new approaches that are being tested to find out if they are safe and effective. If you meet the clinical trials’ specific qualifications, your participation helps doctors find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat your mesothelioma. The goal of clinical trials is to gain reliable information about the drug while protecting you, the patient.

If there is scientific evidence a new treatment may be beneficial, researchers develop a plan called a clinical trial protocol that is to be used by every doctor who treats participating patients using the new approach. Read more at our Clinical Trials FAQs page.

Mesothelioma clinical trial
Clinical trials are divided into phases that measure both the safety of a new drug or treatment and its effectiveness for positively affecting the course of your disease. And though they can take a long time, the hope is that ultimately only beneficial drugs with acceptable side effects will be made available to those who need them. The FDA recently approved certain changes in their regulations to help speed up the approval of effective drugs, especially for cancer. More about Alimta mesothelioma clinical trial here.

Trial Phases
Though mesothelioma has no known cure at this time, clinical trials are regularly being conducted to test new drugs and procedures to fight the disease. Each trial consists of three phases:

Phase I trials usually work with a small number of people to test how new drugs or procedures can best be given.

Phase II trials give early information about how a new drug or procedure works, what benefits it might give, and how safe it is for patients.

Phase III trials test new drugs or procedures against current standard treatments. This phase usually involves many people from across the nation who receive either the new treatment or the standard treatment.

Click for answers to other questions you may have about mesothelioma clinical trials.

Eligibility
Accurate results from clinical trials require that participants fit a certain profile. Mesothelioma trials are often specific as to age, length of time since therapy, stage of disease, and other characteristics.

Current Lung Cancer Clinical Trials
Be sure to consult with your medical team about any clinical trials they may be able to recommend for you. Alternatively, the staff at The Gathering Place (216.595.9546 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) in Beachwood, Ohio, can provide help to anyone looking for a clinical trial.

If you research on your own, you should know that the number of clinical trials for tests and treatments for mesothelioma has increased dramatically in the last few years. Following are just some of the clinical trials currently underway for studying mesothelioma treatments. This list of current mesothelioma lung cancer clinical trials does not include every available trial—is grouped generally by the type of treatment being tested so that you can sort through it a little more easily. The categories are:

Drugs when surgery is ineffective
Drugs with surgery and with or without radiation therapy
Combinations of drugs
Various specific drugs
Other therapies
General testing

Testing drugs when surgery is ineffective

AZD2171 in Treating Patients With Malignant Mesothelioma
That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

Everolimus in Treating Patients With Pleural Malignant
Mesothelioma That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

Immunotoxin Therapy, Pemetrexed, and Cisplatin in Treating Patients
With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

An Efficacy and Safety Study With Vandetanib to Treat Inoperable
or Relapsed Malignant Mesothelioma

Testing drugs with surgery and with or without radiation therapy

Pemetrexed Disodium and Cisplatin Followed by Surgery With or Without
Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Surgery and Radiation
Therapy in Treating Patients With Mesothelioma That Can Be
Removed By Surgery

Testing drug combinations

Bortezomib and Cisplatin as First-Line
Therapy in Treating Patients With Malignant Mesothelioma

Cisplatin, Pemetrexed, and Imatinib Mesylate in Malignant Mesothelioma

Testing various drugs for treating patients with mesothelioma

An Efficacy Study of Milataxel (TL139) Administered Orally
for Malignant Mesothelioma

Phase II Study of Valproate and Doxorubicin in Malignant Mesothelioma

Testing various general therapies

Video-Assisted Surgery or Talc Pleurodesis in Treating Patients
With Malignant Mesothelioma

Dasatinib in Treating Patients With Previously Treated
Malignant Mesothelioma

Antineoplaston Therapy in Treating Patients With Advanced Mesothelioma

General testing

Study of Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Esophageal Cancer,
Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, Mediastinal or Chest Wall Neoplasms,
or Lung Metastases From Cancers of Non-Thoracic Origin

Optical Coherence Tomography of the Airway in Detecting Abnormal
Cells in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Lung Cancer or Lung Disease

The U.S. National Institutes of Health operates dozens of clinical trials. All are listed here.

Keywords: surgery, pemetrexed disodium, cisplatin, AZD2171, malignant pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal, tunica vaginalis mesothelioma, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy