Italian Study Says PET Predicts Outcomes in Chemotherapy-Responsive Mesothelioma, According to Surviving Mesothelioma
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) November 29, 2014 -- Research out of Milan suggests that positron emission tomography (PET) can provide clinicians with a wealth of important information for predicting outcomes and determining treatment response in mesothelioma. Click here to read the full story on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.
Nuclear Medicine specialists at Humanitas Research Hospital found a correlation between PET scan results and survival in the 84 percent of mesothelioma patients who were responsive to chemotherapy.
“These results confirm the role of FDG PET in the assessment of disease prognosis and treatment efficacy in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients receiving first-line pemetrexed-based chemotherapy,” says Dr. Egesta Lopci, lead author on the report.
The study, published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine, focused on 131 mesothelioma patients treated at Humanitas between 2004 and 2013.
“Because mesothelioma is so aggressive, patients and their doctors have to take advantage of every tool to select treatments and decide if they are working,” says Alex Strauss, Surviving Mesothelioma’s Managing Editor. “This study is encouraging because it suggests that FDG PET can help do that.”
For a more complete explanation of how PET may work with mesothelioma, see PET Supports Mesothelioma Diagnosis and Prognosis, now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.
Lopci, E et al, “Quantitative analyses at baseline and interim PET evaluation for response assessment and outcome definition in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma”, November 18, 2014, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Epub ahead of print, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25403555
For nearly ten years, Surviving Mesothelioma has brought readers the most important and ground-breaking news on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma. All Surviving Mesothelioma news is gathered and reported directly from the peer-reviewed medical literature. Written for patients and their loved ones, Surviving Mesothelioma news helps families make more informed decisions.
Michael Ellis, Cancer Monthy, http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com, +1 (919) 570-8595, [email protected]
Share this article