Prolonged survival due to spontaneous regression and surgical excision of malignant mesothelioma

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Volume 83, Issue 1 , January 2007, Pages 314-315 [Link]

John E. Pilling MRCS^a, Andrew G. Nicholson FRCPath^b, Clive Harmer FRCP^c and Peter Goldstraw FRCS^a

^aDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, London, United Kingdom
^bDepartment of Pathology, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, United Kingdom
^cDepartment of Oncology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

We report a case of malignant pleural mesothelioma with histologically proven spontaneous regression of pleural disease. During a 12-year follow-up there was a single recurrence, which was a lesion in the chest wall at 6 years that was surgically excised. A prominent host response to tumor was seen in both the primary tumor and the recurrence.