The Food and Drug Administration approved Alimta in February 2004 to treat malignant mesothelioma. According to Lilly, the maker of Alimta, when this drug is combined with cisplatin and surgery is not an option, it is the first and only chemotherapy drug approved for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Chemotherapy involves the use of one or more chemicals that damage or destroy cancer cells. Alimta is a type of chemotherapy that can be used by itself as a treatment for locally advanced or wide-spread cell lung cancer after prior chemotherapy.
Clinical studies showed that when Alimta was administered to pleural mesothelioma patients, in conjunction with cisplatin, the average survival rate for patients was 3 months longer than for patients who were only treated with cisplantin. These pleural mesothelioma patients had prior chemotherapy and surgery was not an option.
Other types of mesothelioma include peritoneal, which develops in the lining around the abdomen, and pericardial, which develops in the lining around the heart. Alimta is approved for treatment only of pleural mesothelioma.
For more on mesothelioma information click here.