This trial was the first to report a survival advantage from chemotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma, showing a statistically significant improvement in median survival from 10 months in the patients treated with cisplatin alone to 13.3 months in the group of patients treated with cisplatin in the combination with pemetrexed and who also received supplementation with folate and vitamin B12. Vitamin supplementation was given to most patients in the trial and pemetrexed related side effects were significantly less in patients receiving pemetrexed when they also received daily oral folate 500mcg and intramuscular vitamin B12 1000mcg every 9 weeks compared with patients receiving pemetrexed without vitamin supplementation. The objective response rate increased from 20% in the cisplatin group to 46% in the combination pemetrexed group. Some side effects such as nausea and vomiting, stomatitis, and diarrhoea were more common in the combination pemetrexed group but only affected a minority of patients and overall the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin was well tolerated when patients received vitamin supplementation; both quality of life and lung function tests improved in the combination pemetrexed group. In February 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pemetrexed for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, there are still unanswered questions about the optimal use of chemotherapy, including when to start treatment, and the optimal number of cycles to give.
Aliskiren/hydrochlorothiazide, sold under the brand name Tekturna HCT among others, is a fixed-dose combination medication for the treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure). It contains aliskiren, a renin inhibitor, and hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic. It is taken by mouth.The most common side effect is diarrhea.Aliskiren/hydrochlorothiazide was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2008, and for use in the European Union in January 2009. Medical uses
Aliskiren/hydrochlorothiazide is indicated for the treatment of essential hypertension in adults. References
External links
"Aliskiren hemifumarate mixture with hydrochlorothiazide". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.