A trial looking at vinorelbine for people with advanced pleural mesothelioma (VIM)
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This trial looked at vinorelbine for people with mesothelioma of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma). It was for people whose mesothelioma had continued to grow despite treatment.
The trial was supported by Cancer Research UK. It was open for people to join between 2016 and 2018. The team presented the results at a conference in 2021.
More about this trial
Mesothelioma can start in lining of the lungs or the abdomen. When it starts in the lining of the lungs it is called pleural mesothelioma. You may here this called malignant pleural mesothelioma, or MPM.
Doctors often treat pleural mesothelioma with chemotherapy. But sometimes the cancer continues to grow or spreads to other parts of the body. This is called advanced cancer.
Doctors wanted to find out if a chemotherapy drug called vinorelbine (Navelbine) is a useful treatment for mesothelioma.
When this trial was done, some doctors were using it to treat advanced pleural mesothelioma. But it hadn’t been tested in a randomised clinical trial. So they didn’t know for sure how well it worked.
The other treatment option is what doctors call active symptom control, or ASC. This includes treatments such as:
- painkillers
- steroids
- blood transfusions
People in this trial had either active symptom control, or active symptom control and vinorelbine.
The main aim of this trial was to find out if vinorelbine can help stop mesothelioma growing.
Summary of results
The trial team found that vinorelbine may be a useful treatment for pleural mesothelioma.
Trial design
This trial was for people who had already had chemotherapy for pleural mesothelioma, but their cancer had continued to grow.
A total of 154 people joined the trial. They were put into 1 of 2 treatment groups at random:
- 98 people had vinorelbine and active symptom control (ASC)
- 56 people had active symptom control alone
Results
The research team looked at how long it was before the cancer started to grow again. They found it was:
- 4.2 months for those who had vinorelbine and ASC
- 2.8 months for those who had ASC alone
They also looked at how long people lived. They found there wasn’t much difference between the groups:
- 9.3 months for those who had vinorelbine and ASC
- 9.1 months for those who had ASC alone
Other research had suggested that having a change in a gene called BRCA may mean that vinorelbine works less well. And having a normal BRCA gene may mean that it works better.
The team compared the results of those who had a change in a BRCA gene and those who didn’t. They found there was no difference between them.
Side effects
Most people who had vinorelbine had at least one side effect. Most were mild or didn’t last long. These included tiredness and constipation.
But a few side effects were more severe. These included:
- a drop in white blood cells
- shortness of breath
- lung (respiratory) infection
We have more information about the side effects of vinorelbine in our Cancer drugs section.
Conclusion
The trial team concluded that vinorelbine can help stop mesothelioma growing. They say it could be a useful treatment for people with advanced pleural mesothelioma.
They suggest that doctors consider it as a treatment option for this group of patients.
Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (
) but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Recruitment start:
Recruitment end:
How to join a clinical trial
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Chief Investigator
Professor Dean Fennell
Supported by
Cancer Research UK
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
Pierre Fabre Ltd, UK
University of Leicester
Centre for Trials Research (formerly Wales Cancer Trials Unit)
Other information
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUK/12/056
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
