The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Alimta (pemetrexed disodium) for use in combination with cisplatin for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. It is the first drug approved for this condition.

Mesothelioma treatment can involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of the three. Malignant mesothelioma is, however, difficult to treat as it can spread quickly to nearby organs. Mesothelioma treatment is most successful if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage. A staging system is used to determine just how advanced the case is.

In stage 1, the disease has only spread as far as the pleura. At this stage, tests are done to make sure the cancer has not spread, and to check if the lungs and heart are functioning well. If the patient is young and healthy, aggressive surgery can be attempted. This is high-risk surgery and involves the removal of the pleura, the lung, the diaphragm and the pericardium. Radiation or chemotherapy is commonly done post-surgery to eliminate any remaining tumor cells. In heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy, surgery is followed by the direct administration of a chemotherapy agent, heated to between 40 and 48