Mesothelioma responds ---------------------- Glaxo
Wellcome of Research Triangle Park, N.C., said that seven of 29 patients
(24%) with pleural mesothelioma had a partial response to Navelbine
(vinorelbine) in a phase-2 trial and 16 patients (55%) achieved stable
disease. Median overall survival was 11 months, and 41% of patients were
alive a year after starting therapy, investigators reported in the Dec.1
Journal of Clinical Oncology. According to the researchers from
St.Bartholomew ’s Hospital in London, where the trial took place, other
therapies for this disease have rarely achieved response rates over 20% and
have not been shown to increase survival over supportive care. Navelbine is
approved as a first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung
cancer.
