Localized malignant pleural mesothelioma treated by a curative intent lobectomy: a case report
Annals of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2007 Oct;13(5):349-51. [Link]
Turna A, Pekçolaklar A, Fener N, Gürses A.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yedikule Teaching Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey.
Abstract
Localized malignant mesothelioma is an extremely rare form of presentation of malignant mesotheliomas. The definitive therapeutic modality of the disease is yet to be identified. A 50-year-old male, a former smoker without occupational and/or environmental exposure to asbestos, presented complaining of an intractable cough. The chest radiography showed a left upper lobe mass. The computed tomography showed a 3.5 cm left apical mass. The biopsy showed epithelial malignant cells. The patient underwent a lobectomy. The evaluation of the specimen disclosed a biphasic malignant mesothelioma. His postoperative course was uneventful, and he has been doing well for almost 1 year. A resection of the tumor has shown to increase survival in previous reports, though the role of oncologically justifiable resection, such as a lobectomy, and the biological behavior of such tumors are still difficult to predict.