The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new drug combination for treatment for mesothelioma, the first new treatment to come along for the asbestos-related cancer, which has the subject of mesothelioma class action lawsuits, in 16 years.
Based on clinical trials, the FDA said there was sufficient evidence to give the new immunotherapy-based approach – a combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab – its seal of approval. The pairing can now be prescribed as a “first-line treatment of adults with malignant pleural mesothelioma that cannot be removed by surgery,” the FDA’s announcement said.
“Today’s approval of nivolumab plus ipilimumab provides a new treatment that has demonstrated an improvement in overall survival for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma,” Dr. Richard Pazdur, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, was quoted in the announcement as saying.
The last and only other drug treatment approved for malignant pleural mesothelioma came in 2004, when the FDA sanctioned the use of pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin.
“Patients now have an important, additional treatment option after more than a decade with only one FDA-approved drug regimen,” Pazdur said.
The new combination therapy, classified as an immunotherapy approach, can stem the growth of tumors by enhancing T-cell function.
T-cells are generated by the body’s immune system to fight off disease.
Mesothelioma At a Glance
Mesotheliomais a rare cancer and the only form of cancer directly caused by exposure to asbestos. It can take 30 to 40 years for symptoms of the disease to surface, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and it occurs in the chest (pleural mesothelioma), the abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma), or around the heart (pericardial mesothelioma).
Patients who have mesothelioma often experience the symptoms of fever, excessive sweating, fatigue, weight loss, blood clots, and loss of appetite. Mesothelioma of the abdomen also produces belly pain, swelling of the abdomen, nausea and vomiting, and constipation, the American Cancer Society says.
In the early stages of the disease, treatment for mesothelioma might include surgery to remove the cancerous tissue and a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy to eradicate any remaining cancer cells. If the disease isn’t caught until the late stages, chemotherapy and radiation might be prescribed in addition to other therapies to suppress symptoms and make the patient comfortable, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Path to the New Treatment for Mesothelioma
Around 20,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the United States each year, most of whom have malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to reporting by HCPLive, an online resource for clinical news and information. The majority of those people have inoperable tumors by the time they are diagnosed, the publication says, and “the overall survival is generally poor with the current available therapy.”
The FDA’s approval of the new drug combination to treat inoperable malignant pleural mesothelioma was based on the randomized, open-label CheckMate trial with 605 patients, HCPLive and Medscape reported.
The trial compared the new immunotherapy with a traditional chemotherapy regimen. Participants either got intravenous infusions of nivolumab every two weeks and intravenous infusions of ipilimumab every six weeks for as long as two years or immunotherapy-based chemotherapy for as many as six cycles, Medscape said.
The results, which were presented at the World Congress on Lung Cancer 2020, showed the nivolumab-plus-ipilimumab treatment achieved a “statistically significant improvement in overall survival,” according to Medscape. Two years after taking the immunotherapy drug cocktail, 41% of patients were still alive while 27% of those taking the traditional chemotherapy were still alive. The median length of survival after the immunotherapy treatment was 18.1 months. After the chemotherapy treatment, it was 14.1 months.
The most common adverse reactions, which occurred in less than 20% of the patients participating in the trial, were fatigue, muscle pain, rash, diarrhea, nausea, decreased appetite, shortness of breath, cough, and skin irritation, the FDA reported.
Dr. Paul Baas of the Netherlands Cancer Institute lead the trial and presented the findings at the World Congress on Lung Cancer 2020. During the presentation, he said the nivolumab-ipilimumab treatment for mesothelioma should now “be considered as a new standard of care,” the website Healio reported.
The Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company manufactures nivolumab under the brand name Opdivo and ipilimumab under the brand name Yervoy.
Join a Free Asbestos Mesothelioma Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual asbestos lawsuit or asbestos class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
Get Help – It’s Free
Join a Free Asbestos Mesothelioma Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
Fill out the form below to find out if you qualify for this mesothelioma lawsuit investigation.
If you qualify, you will be contacted by the experienced asbestos attorneys within one business day by phone and/or email.
Oops! We could not locate your form.
A Complete Guide to Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuits & Settlements
Check out our in-depth asbestos and mesothelioma guide to learn more about what you need to know about asbestos lawsuits and settlements! Topics addressed include:
Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement
administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source
that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements,
drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class
Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the
status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the
settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding
your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are
expected to be mailed out.
We use cookies to improve functionality and performance, enhance user experience, and provide tailored content. Click Accept if you consent. Click Change Settings if you want to tailor the use of your cookies.
Accept
Read more
Change Settings
Cookie Box Settings
Cookie Box Settings
Privacy settings
Decide which cookies you want to allow.
You can change these settings at any time. However, this can result in some functions no longer being available. For information on deleting the cookies, please consult your browser’s help function.
Learn more about the cookies we use.
With the slider, you can enable or disable different types of cookies:
This website will:
Remember which cookies group you accepted
Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting
Essential: Allow session cookies
Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms, newsletter and other forms across all pages
Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart
Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account
Essential: Remember language version you selected
This website won't:
Remember your login details
Functionality: Remember social media settings
Functionality: Remember selected region and country
Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken
Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number
Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page
Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions
Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before
Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location
This website will:
Remember which cookies group you accepted
Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting
Essential: Allow session cookies
Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms, newsletter and other forms across all pages
Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart
Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account
Essential: Remember language version you selected
Functionality: Remember social media settings
Functionality: Remember selected region and country
This website won't:
Remember your login details
Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken
Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number
Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page
Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions
Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before
Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location
This website will:
Remember which cookies group you accepted
Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting
Essential: Allow session cookies
Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms, newsletter and other forms across all pages
Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart
Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account
Essential: Remember language version you selected
Functionality: Remember social media settings
Functionality: Remember selected region and country
Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken
Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number
Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page
Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions
This website won't:
Remember your login details
Advertising: Use information for tailored advertising with third parties
Advertising: Allow you to connect to social sites
Advertising: Identify device you are using
Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location
This website will:
Remember which cookies group you accepted
Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting
Essential: Allow session cookies
Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms, newsletter and other forms across all pages
Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart
Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account
Essential: Remember language version you selected
Functionality: Remember social media settings
Functionality: Remember selected region and country
Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken
Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number
Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page
Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions
Advertising: Use information for tailored advertising with third parties
Advertising: Allow you to connect to social sites
Advertising: Identify device you are using
Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location