The purpose of this site is to provide helpful information to victims of mesothelioma, including information on hospitals, doctors, treatments and legal help.

Alimta Treatment for Mesothelioma Cancer Patients

Alimta is the brand name of a drug ─ pemetrexed ─ that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the mesothelioma treatment of a particular group of mesothelioma patients:

  • Those with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM)
  • Those for whom surgery is not an option

MPM is a devastating disease with no established cure. However, Alimta may be effective for some patients with mesothelioma cancer.

Alimta For Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is the most frequent type of mesothelioma diagnosis , accounting for three-quarters of all mesothelioma cases. The pleura is a tissue sac that holds the lungs and makes a cavity in the chest. Asbestos fibers that penetrate the lungs outward to the pleura can cause damage to the mesothelium, a thin and vulnerable membrane. The fibers can cause tumors in the pleura and the mesothelium that sometimes cannot be treated with surgery.

Alimta is a chemotherapy (a type of drug therapy) that may help some patients with MPM. It's a relatively new chemotherapy, and there isn't a lot of data about its effectiveness yet. For MPM, Alimta is used together with a well-established cancer agent called cisplatin as part of its FDA approval for MPM. Alimta chemotherapy is available at select cancer centers and other healthcare facilities.

Alimta For Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

The FDA has also approved Alimta to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Alimta is used alone to treat NSCLC, a disease which can arise due to asbestos exposure (although there are other possible causes of NSCLC).

Mesothelioma Treatment with Alimta

The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly makes Alimta. The drug is administered intravenously and for MPM is given in combination with the agent cisplatin once every 21 days (a three-week treatment cycle). An intravenous infusion of Alimta takes about 10 minutes, and then about 30 minutes later, the cisplatin is infused over a two-hour period. The number of treatment cycles depends on the unique circumstances of a patient's MPM.

More about Alimta for Mesothelioma Cancer

If you or your loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, you can learn more about the new Alimta chemotherapy when you contact mesothelioma treatment centers for more information. We look forward to helping you.

Alimta Treatment (english) / Tratamiento con Alimta (spanish)

ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT Thank you for your visit. This website was created to provide persons affected by mesothelioma with current, up-to-date information. The content published on this website was not written by medical professionals and should not, at any point, be mistaken for medical advice. Furthermore, the information on this site is intended for educational purposes only and should never interfere with a patient/site visitor and his or her healthcare provider. In addition, viewing the content on this website, requesting additional information, or transmitting information through a contact form should never be considered the formation of an attorney-client relationship. The material published on this site is general and may not apply to your specific circumstances. Every case comes with its own set of unique circumstances; past success discussed on this site does not guarantee future performance. Information found on this website should not be used as incentive to act without seeking counsel from a professional. For more information, please read our disclaimer. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

This website is sponsored by the law firm of Flood Law Group, LLP. While this firm maintains joint responsibility, most cases of this type are referred to other attorneys for principle responsibility.

Members of this firm are licensed in MA.

Contingent attorneys' fees refers only to those fees charged by attorneys for their legal services. Such fees are not permitted in all types of cases. Court costs and other additional expenses of legal action usually must be paid by the client. The percentage fee will be computed before or after expenses are deducted from the recovery in accordance with state laws.