Combination Medicine Therapy Radiation for Mesothelioma Cancer

Pemetrexed disodium heptahydrate, a chemical compound is L-glutamic acid, N-[4 - [2 - (2-amino-4 0.7-dihydro-4-oxo-1H pyrrolo [2,3-d] pyrimidin-5-Yl ) ethyl] benzoyl] -, disodium salt, heptahydrate. It is white with the molecular formula C20H19N5Na2O6 • 7H2O and molecular weight 597.49. Pemetrexed structural formula like this:

Senyawa Molekul Pemetrexed

Pemetrexed, which is marketed under the trade name of ALIMTA, is a chemotherapy drug that is FDA approved for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. French researchers reported in the European Lung Cancer Conference of the 2nd that the first phase of clinical trials suggest that Pemetrexed also tolerated quite well by using high doses combined with concurrent radiation therapy to improve the effectiveness of the treatment of lung cancer.

The first experiment was conducted using Pemetrexed in conjunction with cisplatin chemotherapy and radiotherapy in nine patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer. A tenth of patients excluded because of disease progression. Seven of the nine remaining patients who completed all four cycles of chemotherapy, and eight of them completed the radiation therapy.

One patient receiving the highest dose of pemetrexed grade 4 experienced septic shock, dose-limit show toxicity. But overall, pemetrexed tolerated well enough to increase the likelihood of killing cancer cells.
Reference :
First trial of pemetrexed with radiation and Chemo in lung cancer shows promising results - physorg
European Society for Medical Oncology