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Journal Articles on Mesothelioma: Cancer Information for Patients and Families

Archive for the 'Survival' Category

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November 28th, 2009. Biomarkers for malignant pleural mesothelioma: current status

Future research efforts should focus on biomarkers predictive of the efficacy and toxicity of standard chemotherapy. Translational research should be systematically incorporated into the design of clinical trials assessing new targeted agents in MPM.

December 2nd, 2008. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma-Results from the International Expanded Access Program using pemetrexed alone or in combination with a platinum agent

Results: Response rates (95% CI) for PEM, PEM/CIS, and PEM/CARBO were 12.5% (3.5, 29.0), 20.0% (7.7, 38.6), and 24.1% (10.3, 43.5), respectively. Median survival for PEM was 10.3 months. One-year survival rates for PEM/CIS and PEM were 57.4% (95% CI: 10.3, 100) and 41.5% (95% CI: 4.6, 78.4), respectively, and were not available for PEM/CARBO. Anemia was the most common serious adverse event (6.4%). Neutropenia (34.6%) was the most frequent CTC grade 3 or 4 toxicity reported. Concluding statement: PEM with or without a platinum agent was both active and well tolerated in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma.

November 20th, 2008. Yang XJ, Li Y, al-shammaa Hassan AH, Yang GL, Liu SY, Lu YL, Zhang JW, Yonemura Y. Department of Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital, Cancer Center of Wuhan University, Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Center, Wuchang District, China.

Eleven patients died, three survived with tumor, and seven survived free of tumor. CRS + HIPEC was well tolerated in our selected patients with PC, some of whom had improved survival.

November 14th, 2008. Outcomes with first-line platinum-based combination chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma: a review of practice in British Columbia

No difference is seen combining platinum analogs with gemcitabine or pemetrexed. Platinum-based doublets might represent a therapeutic ceiling for cytotoxic chemotherapy in MPM.

November 5th, 2008. Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis: a case report

The patient has not received additional therapy because there has been no evidence of metastasis. He has been free of disease 3 months postoperatively.

November 5th, 2008. Case of malignant mesothelioma presenting as a perineal and intrascrotal mass

The patient died six months after the initiation of therapy. To our knowledge, 24 cases of malignant mesothelioma in the perineum or intrascrotum were reported in Japan and this case was thought to be the 25th case in Japan.

November 5th, 2008. Cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal mesothelioma

Conclusions: Cytoreductive surgery combined with intraperitoneal chemotherapy appears to be the optimal treatment for selected patients with peritoneal mesothelioma. Increased familiarity with this condition's presentation and natural history, and knowledge of available treatment options, will hopefully facilitate treatment of these patients and expedite speedy referral to appropriate treatment centres.

November 5th, 2008. Diagnostic and prognostic value of soluble mesothelin-related proteins in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma in comparison with benign asbestosis and lung cancer

Conclusion: In conclusion, SMRP add limited information to the diagnosis of MPM. Nevertheless, SMRP might be a useful measure in treatment and monitoring of MPM. The prognostic impact of SMRP in MPM is not conclusive and needs further evaluation.

November 5th, 2008. Treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma with carboplatin, liposomized doxorubicin, and gemcitabine: a phase II study

Conclusion: The treatment yields good results with a high number of responses and long survival, and a low toxicity. The long survival of the epitheloid subgroup with good prognostic factors is as good as or even better than some studies on radical surgery or multimodal treatment, underlining the need of randomized studies to evaluate such treatment options.

November 1st, 2008. Genomic events associated with progression of pleural malignant mesothelioma

Imbalances seen by ROMA were confirmed by Affymetrix genome analysis in a subset of samples. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

October 31st, 2008. Diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma: A multi-institutional clinicopathological study

Conclusions: The definitive diagnosis of early MPM is difficult, but establishing the best diagnostic modality would improve survival rates, since radical surgery is likely to be effective for resectable disease.

October 23rd, 2008. The mortality of women exposed environmentally and domestically to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia

Conclusion: Women who were former residents of Wittenoom, exposed to asbestos in their environment or in their home, have excess cancer mortality, including mesothelioma, compared with the Western Australian female population.

October 23rd, 2008. Malignant abdominal mesothelioma: defining the role of surgery

Conclusion: Surgical extirpation of MAM may be associated with significantly improved survival. All patients with MAM should be evaluated for potential surgical resection.

October 22nd, 2008. A case of solid pseudopapillary tumour of the pancreas and malignant mesothelioma

Discussion: An abdominal computerised tomogram revealed pancreatic body mass arising. Pleural fluid cytology and a pleural biopsy failed to demonstrate malignancy. The pancreatic tumour was resected by distal pancreatectomy, segmental colectomy and splenectomy. The tumour was a solid pseudopapillary pancreatic tumour (SPT) with a high metastatic potential. The patient deteriorated and a repeat biopsy of the thickened pleura confirmed malignancy which was initially thought to be metastases from the SPT. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed malignant mesothelioma. The patient developed liver metastases and died 2 years from the diagnosis of metastatic disease.

October 18th, 2008. Carboplatin and pemetrexed in the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma: A realistic treatment option?

Conclusion: The combination of carboplatin and pemetrexed may be a viable option in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

October 16th, 2008. Histologic assessment and prognostic factors of malignant pleural mesothelioma treated with extrapleural pneumonectomy

Postoperative treatment was associated with DSS and with recurrence-free survival. Our study confirms that in many cases, final histopathologic typing of MPM is influenced by complete surgical resection and that initial biopsy should be carefully weighed in the treatment stratification.

September 27th, 2008. Treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma in pediatric patients

Treatment was well tolerated, and three of these patients have achieved long-term survival. The fathers of three of the patients worked in the construction industry and may have been the source of indirect asbestos exposure.

September 23rd, 2008. Pleural fluid findings as prognostic factors for malignant pleural mesothelioma

However, none of these variables emerged as statistically significant from the multivariate Cox model. In conclusion, our results showed that there is an inverse correlation between the intensity of inflammation and survival.

September 23rd, 2008. The impact of lymph node station on survival in 348 patients with surgically resected malignant pleural mesothelioma: implications for revision of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system

Conclusion: This study confirms a preferential pattern of drainage of malignant pleural mesothelioma to N2 rather than N1 lymph nodes, but suggests that N1 only nodal involvement should be classified as lower stage disease. Multiple N2 nodal site involvement could potentially be classified as higher stage disease than single station N2. Our results emphasize the need for larger, confirmatory multicenter studies that could lead to revision of the current staging system.

September 23rd, 2008. Predicted mortality from malignant mesothelioma among women exposed to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia

Conclusion: The high toll from mesothelioma in this cohort of women and girls will continue well into the future.