{"id":1110,"date":"2018-07-31T19:16:18","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T23:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/?p=860"},"modified":"2025-08-11T13:13:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T17:13:00","slug":"second-line-chemotherapy-mesothelioma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/blog\/second-line-chemotherapy-mesothelioma\/","title":{"rendered":"Second-Line Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most mesothelioma patients undergo standard chemotherapy, which can kill mesothelioma cells and prevent them from spreading. Patients usually receive a combination of <a href=\"\/treatment\/chemotherapy\/drugs\/\">chemotherapy drugs<\/a>, including \u201cfront-line\u201d drugs\u2014proven combinations for combating <a href=\"\/mesothelioma\/\">mesothelioma<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The current first-line combination is <a href=\"\/treatment\/chemotherapy\/drugs\/cisplatin\/\">cisplatin<\/a> and <a href=\"\/treatment\/chemotherapy\/drugs\/alimta\/\">pemetrexed<\/a>\u00a0(Alimta), which has proven to best improve survival in mesothelioma patients.<\/p>\n<p>Chemotherapy fights mesothelioma at many disease stages. The doctor will customize the drug combination depending on the patient. For example, patients in the early stages of mesothelioma are often prescribed multimodal therapy, as they are able to endure higher levels of treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the first-line treatments are not always able to fight cancer on their own. After first-line therapy or aggressive multimodal therapy, patients often stop responding to treatment. Many patients will choose to undergo second-line chemotherapy at this point.<\/p>\n<p>Download our <strong>Free Chemotherapy Guide<\/strong> to learn about the top cancer drugs for mesothelioma, what to expect, and how to manage side effects.<\/p>\n<div id=\"28840\" class=\"one-off-28840 widget widget_oscar-vque one-off\" data-vqueid=\"28840\"><style type=\"text\/css\" data-style=\"one-off\">.one-off-28840{margin:60px auto;max-width:335px}.one-off-28840:first-child{margin-top:0}.one-off-28840:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.one-off-28840>a{background:#2F293D;display:block;padding:20px;padding-bottom:35px;border-radius:10px;color:#fff;text-decoration:none}.one-off-28840 img.mobile-only{margin:0 auto 20px;max-width:177px;width:100%}.one-off-28840 img:not(.mobile-only){display:none}.one-off-28840 .vque-content{font-size:16px;text-align:center}.one-off-28840 strong.heading{font-size:24px;display:block;margin:0}.one-off-28840 .subheading{font-size:14px}.one-off-28840 ul{font-size:16px;text-align:left;list-style:none;max-width:265px;line-height:1.4;margin:15px auto 25px}.one-off-28840 ul li{padding-left:28px;margin-bottom:15px}.one-off-28840 ul li:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.one-off-28840 ul li:before{font-family:\"mesohope\"!important;line-height:1;content:\"\\e904\";border:0;position:absolute;left:0;top:0;background:#0FAEBF;width:20px;height:20px;border-radius:20px;line-height:20px;text-align:center;font-size:12px}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.one-off-28840{max-width:620px}.one-off-28840>a{padding:0;background:linear-gradient(90.42deg,#2F293D 51.6%,#4A415F 109.35%)}.one-off-28840>a>div{display:block;display:flex;align-items:end;flex-wrap:wrap;position:relative}.one-off-28840 .vque-content{width:65%;padding:30px;text-align:left}.one-off-28840 img.mobile-only{display:none}.one-off-28840 img:not(.mobile-only){display:block;width:250px;margin-bottom:0;position:absolute;bottom:0;right:0}.one-off-28840 ul{max-width:none}.one-off-28840 ul li{margin-bottom:10px}}<\/style><a href=\"\/chemotherapy-guide\/\" title=\"Free Chemotherapy Guide\u2028for Mesothelioma Patients\" class=\"cte\" data-ce-category=\"In-Content Ads\" data-ce-label=\"Free Chemotherapy Guide\u2028for Mesothelioma Patients Ad\"><div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div class=\"image-fade\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/thank-you-page-chemotherapy-img.png\" alt=\"Chemotherapy Guide Images\" class=\"mobile-only\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/chemo-guide-img.png\" alt=\"Chemotherapy Guide Images\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vque-content\">\r\n<strong class=\"heading\">Free Chemotherapy Guide\u2028for Mesothelioma Patients<\/strong>\r\n<span class=\"subheading\">Written by cancer nurses<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Top chemo drugs explained<\/li>\r\n<li>Preparing for your first session<\/li>\r\n<li>Managing side effects like\u2028nausea & fatigue<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><strong class=\"button arrow\" title=\"Download It Now\">Download It Now<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>\n<h2>What Is Second-Line Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma?<\/h2>\n<p>Second-line chemotherapy refers to the combination of chemotherapy drugs doctors prescribe after patients stop responding to first-line treatments. Second-line treatments are also an option for patients who are experiencing severe side effects that make it unreasonable for them to continue on the original treatment plan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some chemotherapy drugs used as second-line treatments include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Carboplatin<\/h3>\n<p>Carboplatin (often sold as Paraplatin or Paraplatin Nova Plus) was derived from cisplatin by Dr. Tom Connors and Dr. Ken Harrap of Michigan State University in the 1970s. It has the same benefits as cisplatin, but is less toxic and causes fewer side effects.<\/p>\n<p>While it&#8217;s usually used to treat ovarian cancer and stop it from spreading into the abdomen, carboplatin has proven effective in treating mesothelioma.<\/p>\n<p>Carboplatin stops mesothelioma cells from replicating by attacking them at a genetic level, killing them off and slowing down cancer growth. It is often combined with Alimta (another chemotherapy drug) to amplify its effects.<\/p>\n<h3>Gemcitabine<\/h3>\n<p>Gemcitabine (Gemzar) is a chemotherapy medication originally used to treat breast, ovarian, pancreatic and non-small cell lung cancers. It can be given to mesothelioma patients on its own and its effects, when combined with cisplatin, are currently being tested.<\/p>\n<p>Gemcitabine interferes with the cancer cell\u2019s metabolic process to prevent replication. It has so far shown promising results in pleural mesothelioma patients. Some mesothelioma specialists are hopeful it will be an effective <a href=\"\/mesothelioma\/pericardial\/\">pericardial mesothelioma<\/a> treatment.<\/p>\n<h3>Onconase<\/h3>\n<p>Onconase (ranpirnase) is an enzyme-based drug. It&#8217;s currently being tested and has yet to be FDA approved. This chemotherapy drug differs from others in the way it attaches to cancer cells and spares healthy cells. Onconase is still undergoing clinical trials for mesothelioma.<\/p>\n<h2>Testing Second-Line Chemotherapy\u00a0in Clinical Trials<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"\/treatment\/clinical-trials\/\">Clinical trials<\/a> test new treatments and treatment combinations as well as testing other cancer treatments in mesothelioma treatment. Clinical trials testing second-line chemotherapy for mesothelioma can offer renewed hope for patients.<\/p>\n<p>The results from clinical trials help researchers develop new and improved treatment methods for patients who don&#8217;t respond to standard therapy.<\/p>\n<p>If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial to receive second-line chemotherapy treatment options for mesothelioma, contact our Patient Advocates today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most mesothelioma patients undergo standard chemotherapy, which can kill mesothelioma cells and prevent them from spreading. Patients usually receive a combination of chemotherapy drugs, including \u201cfront-line\u201d drugs\u2014proven combinations for combating mesothelioma. The current first-line combination is cisplatin and pemetrexed\u00a0(Alimta), which has proven to best improve survival in mesothelioma patients. Chemotherapy fights mesothelioma at many disease&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mesothelioma-treatment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesotheliomahope.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}