Mesothelioma

Accelerated Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy Immediately Before Surgery in Treating Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Purpose: This pilot phase 0 trial studies accelerated hypofractionated radiation therapy immediately before surgery in treating patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (cancer in the thin layer of tissue that covers the lungs and lines the interior wall of the chest cavity). Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Hypofractionated radiation therapy is a type of radiation therapy in which the total prescribed dose of radiation is divided into fewer but larger doses as compared to conventional radiation therapy. Giving accelerated hypofractionated radiation therapy immediately before surgery may improve survival, and may also reduce side effects experienced by patients with pleural mesothelioma.

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A Pilot Window-Of-Opportunity Study of the Anti-PD-1 Antibody Pembrolizumab in Patients With Resectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Purpose: This is a single institution, single-arm, window of opportunity pilot trial of pembrolizumab in patients with resectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. All patients will undergo a pretreatment PET/CT scan for clinical staging and a VATS procedure to acquire pretreatment tissue. Three cycles of pembrolizumab will then be administered (200 mg IV every 21 days). A PET/CT scan will then be repeated to assess response to pembrolizumab and then surgical resection will be performed via an extended/pleurectomy decortication at least 4 weeks after the third dose of pembrolizumab. Standard adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin and pemetrexed for 4 cycles (every 21 days) will be given starting about 6-8 weeks following surgery, after a new baseline CT scan is obtained. Restaging CT scans will be obtained to assess response after every two cycles of chemotherapy. After the completion of standard chemotherapy, optional adjuvant treatment with pembrolizumab will be given to eligible patients for 1 year post-surgery.

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Safety and Efficacy of TTFields Concomitant With Pemetrexed and Cisplatin or Carboplatin in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (STELLAR)

Purpose:The study is a prospective, single arm, non-randomized, open label phase II trial, designed to study the safety and efficacy of a medical device, the NovoTTF-100L concomitant with Pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma patients. The device is an experimental, portable, battery operated device for chronic administration of alternating electric fields (termed TTFields or TTF) to the region of the malignant tumor, by means of surface, insulated electrode arrays.

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Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Amatuximab in Combination With Pemetrexed and Cisplatin in Subjects With Unresectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM). (ARTEMIS)

PurposeThis is a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study, using a placebo control or amatuximab 5 mg/kg, administered weekly, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of amatuximab in combination with pemetrexed and cisplatin in subjects with unresectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma who have not received prior systemic therapy

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Intrapleural Photodynamic Therapy in a Multimodal Treatment for Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MesoPDT)

Purpose: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumour with poor prognosis (median survival <13 months), and high resistance to chemotherapy. Extended pleurectomy/decortication (eP/D) is a debulking surgery of MPM but cannot be considered as a curative treatment. Therefore it has been suggested that eP/D may be of interest if combined with intra-operative treatment and adjuvant therapies.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is an innovative treatment based on the rationale that tumour cells, if previously treated with photosensitizing drugs (Photofrin), will die when exposed to light at a particular wavelength. Interestingly PDT might also stimulate anti-tumour immune response through the release of tumour antigens and induced inflammation.


PDT was tested in phase I-II trials for MPM in combination with EPP or eP/D, and chemotherapy. US studies from J Friedberg et al found very promising survival results in MPM when combining eP/D, but not EPP, intra-operative PDT and chemotherapy (cisplatin-pemetrexed), with a median overall survival of 31.7 months.


However, the definitive value of intra-pleural PDT combined to eP/D in the treatment of MPM still need to be validated. The same multimodal treatment has been established in Lille, the French national expert centre for MPM, with the help of our american colleagues. Therefore, this phase II trial proposes to patients to benefit from the combination of eP/D, intra-operative PDT then chemotherapy by cisplatin-pemetrexed and prophylactic radiotherapy.


Primary endpoint is the feasibility for the patients to have the full multimodal treatment of MPM including intrapleural PDT without unacceptable or unexpected grade III-IV toxicities. Secondary endpoints are PFS, OS, ORR, and quality of life. If the feasibility of such treatment would be confirmed in France, a multicentric, randomized trial comparing this experimental treatment vs control arm (same multimodal treatment without PDT) is planned.

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Pembrolizumab in Treating Patients With Malignant Mesothelioma

Purpose:This phase II trial studies how well pembrolizumab works in treating patients with malignant mesothelioma, a cancer of the linings around the lungs (pleura) or abdomen (peritoneum). Monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, work by blocking a protein called programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) which may stimulate an immune response and kill tumor cells.

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Dendritic Cells Loaded With Allogeneous Cell Lysate in Mesothelioma Patients (MesoCancerVa)

Purpose:Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive pleural disease, related to asbestos exposure. At present, cytotoxic chemotherapy is the only evidence based treatment for the disease, but efficacy is limited. The investigators have shown both in a murine model, as for the first time in patients, that dendritic cell-based immunotherapy induces tumor specific T-cell responses. However the quality and quantity of the autologous tumor cell lysate to load the dendritic cells was a major impediment for these trials. The investigators have now developed a clinical grade allogeneic tumor cell lysate which can be used to load dendritic cells of patients.

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Safety and Efficacy of Oshadi D and Oshadi R for Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment

Purpose:Malignant mesothelioma is a rare neoplasm that arises most commonly from the mesothelial surfaces of the pleural cavity, occasionally from the peritoneal surface, and rarely from the tunica vaginalis or pericardium. It has an extremely poor prognosis with a median survival of 4 to 13 months for untreated patients 1 and 6 to 18 months for treated patients, regardless of the therapeutic approach.


The anticancer activity of Oshadi D and Oshadi R treatment was tested in preclinical studies and in phase I clinical study. Four metastatic mesothelioma patients are treated for 5 to 12 months. The Oshadi D and Oshadi R combination treatment was generally well-tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities observed.

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Intrapleural Measles Virus Therapy in Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Purpose: This phase I clinical trial investigates the side effects and the best dose of local (intrapleural measles virus therapy in treating patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The investigators anticipate that the intrapleural of the vaccine strain measles virus will enable the virus to specifically infect and kill cancer cells and spare, without damaging normal cells. Furthermore, the investigators expect the measles virus to trigger an anti-tumor immune response which will result in additional destruction of the tumor by immune cells

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Phase II Trial of Alisertib (MLN8237) in Salvage Malignant Mesothelioma

Purpose: The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if alisertib can help to control mesothelioma. The safety of this drug will also be studied. This is an investigational study. Alisertib is not FDA-approved or commercially available. It is currently being used for research purposes only. Alisertib is a drug that targets a protein called aurora A kinase in cancer cells. Aurora kinase is involved in cancer cell growth and by targeting it with an inhibitor like alisertib, researchers think the study drug can lead to cancer cell death. In the laboratory, alisertib was able to cause cancer cell death in several different types of cancer cells. Based on early data reported in the literature and other laboratory studies, aurora kinase is a relevant target in mesothelioma therapy. Alisertib is a novel compound that has a reasonable safety profile and may help this population of patients. The study doctor can explain how the study drug is designed to work.
Up to 58 participants will be enrolled in this study. All will take part at MD Anderson.

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