May 18, 2015
A clinical trial focused on finding an effective treatment for mesothelioma reportedly is showing encouraging results. The clinical trial involves Defactnib (VS-6063), an Oral Focal Adhesion Kinase Inhibitor developed by the drug maker Verastem, Inc.
The Defactnib clinical trial is now underway in 13 countries with 180 patients being treated at 55 separate medical centers. Verastem hopes to recruit 372 trial participants by the end of this year.
Defactnib works by killing stem cells that are involved in the growth and the reappearance of tumors. Specifically, the drug prevents a certain kind of protein — “Focal Adhesion Kinase” — from forming. Without this protein, mesothelioma cells are unable to grow.
In the clinical trial, patients awaiting mesothelioma surgery were given a combination of Defactnib and pemetrexed during the 12 days before the operation. Pemetrexed already has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating mesothelioma. In 70 percent of patients receiving the Defactnib/pemetrexed combination, mesothelioma tumors shrank prior to the surgery.
Mesothelioma is an asbestos cancer that strikes 3,000 American families each year. The disease’s only confirmed cause is asbestos exposure.
If you (or a loved one) have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact us by email or call us at 800.226.9880 to speak with our mesothelioma lawyers, like Gary Paul and Scott Frost in our Los Angeles office, to learn more about how we can assist you and your family with a mesothelioma lawsuit.
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