Mesothelioma: treatment and survival of a patient population and review of the literature
Thursday, September 1st, 2005.
Anticancer Research. 2005 Sep-Oct;25(5):3671-6. [Link]
Stathopoulos J, Antoniou D, Stathopoulos GP, Rigatos SK, Dimitroulis J, Koutandos J, Michalopoulou P, Athanasiades A, Veslemes M.
SOLCA Study Group and First Department of Medical Oncology, Errikos Dunant Hospital, Athens, Greece. dr-gps@ath.forthnet.gr
Abstract
Background: Our purpose was to evaluate the survival of patients with pleural and intraperitoneal malignant mesothelioma and, particularly, to estimate the efficacy of chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy and surgery. A review of the literature with respect to these parameters is included.
Patients and Methods: Thirty-five patients with malignant mesothelioma (28 with pleural and 7 with intraperitoneal) were enrolled. Twenty-eight patients underwent chemotherapy, 7/35 radiation and 9/35 surgery (2 with pleural and 7 with abdominal disease). Combination chemotherapy included cisplatin-gemcitabine, cisplatin (or carboplatin) with premetrexed and doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide.
Results: In 2/28 patients with pleural mesothelioma the tumor was excised and in 7 with intraperitoneal disease, surgical therapy was palliative and there was survival prolongation. Radiotherapy was only palliative. Chemotherapy produced a very low response: 2/28 (7.14%) patients achieved a partial response. The median survival was 17 months, 4-year survival, 24.4% and 5-year survival, 12.12%. No serious toxicity was observed.
Conclusion: Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and intraperitoneum is a slow-growing disease which is indicated by the long survival, despite the failure of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.
Glossary
- therapy
- any of the measures taken to treat a disease. Unproven therapy is any therapy that has not been scientifically tested and approved. Use of an unproven therapy instead of standard (proven) therapy is called alternative therapy. Some alternative therapies have dangerous or even life-threatening side effects. For others, the main danger is that a patient may lose the opportunity to benefit from standard therapy. Complementary therapy, on the other hand, refers to therapies used in addition to standard therapy. Some complementary therapies may help relieve certain symptoms of cancer, relieve side effects of standard cancer therapy, or improve a patient's sense of well-being. The ACS recommends that patients considering use of any alternative or complementary therapy discuss this with their health care team.
- radiation therapy
- treatment with radiation to destroy cancer cells. This type of treatment may be used to reduce the size of a cancer before surgery, to destroy any remaining cancer cells after surgery, or, in some cases, as the main treatment.
- pleura
- (pler-uh) the membrane around the lungs and lining of the chest cavity. (Pleural mesothelioma.)
- oncology
- (on-call-o-jee) the branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
- chemotherapy
- (key-mo-THER-uh-pee) treatment with drugs to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy is often used with surgery or radiation to treat cancer when the cancer has spread, when it has come back (recurred), or when there is a strong chance that it could recur.
- tumor
- an abnormal lump or mass of tissue. Tumors can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
- mesothelioma
- a tumor derived from mesothelial tissue, such as the peritoneum (lining the abdomen) or pleura (lining the lungs). More on mesothelioma.
