James Jett, MD, of National Jewish Health in Denver, moderated the press briefing where the study results were presented and called MAPS a “landmark study” that could change the standard of care in this malignancy. Martin J. ­Edelman, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, agreed with Dr. Jett’s comments during his discussion of MAPS at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Dr. Edelman noted that mesothelioma is a highly aggressive and lethal disease that is occasionally resectable and responds only modestly to chemotherapy. The MAPS findings suggest that the triplet of pemetrexed/cisplatin/bevacizumab will become a new standard of care, he said.

“How these findings will be integrated with other novel therapies for mesothelioma will be the subject of future studies,” Dr. Edelman said. “Nevertheless, it’s nice to have a positive trial in mesothelioma.” ■

Disclosure: Drs. Edelman and Jett reported no potential conflicts of interest.