Biomaterial Database

[The clinical picture and therapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma]. 1994

M Schiebe, and W Hoffmann, and R D Kortmann, and M Bamberg

Abteilung für Strahlentherapie, Radiologische Klinik, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.

BACKGROUND In the general population malignant pleural mesothelioma is an uncommon tumor with an average annual incidence of 15 cases per million. Its biological behavior is characterized by an infiltrating and aggressive growth. Median survival ranges between 6 and 12 months. There are different therapeutic modalities (surgical treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy), which are used alone or in combination to influence the poor outcome of pleural mesothelioma. METHODS We report about 7 of our own cases, treated with surgery and radiotherapy (4) or with a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy (3) and discuss the clinical aspects, diagnosis and the different ways of treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma and its influence on survival. CONCLUSIONS The extrapleural pleuropneumonectomy should be reserved to patients with stage I disease. Radical operation here offers some prospect of long-term survival. Palliative surgery such as pleurectomy is the treatment of choice for extended disease. Radiotherapy using doses between 45 and 50 Gy is useful in a palliative setting. Anthracyclin or cisplatin based chemotherapy may be helpful in cases with disseminated disease. Prospective trials are necessary to further clarify the role of multimodality treatment programs for malignant pleural mesothelioma.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008654	Mesothelioma	A tumor derived from mesothelial tissue (peritoneum, pleura, pericardium). It appears as broad sheets of cells, with some regions containing spindle-shaped, sarcoma-like cells and other regions showing adenomatous patterns. Pleural mesotheliomas have been linked to exposure to asbestos. (Dorland, 27th ed)	Mesotheliomas
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009367	Neoplasm Staging	Methods which attempt to express in replicable terms the extent of the neoplasm in the patient.	Cancer Staging,Staging, Neoplasm,Tumor Staging,TNM Classification,TNM Staging,TNM Staging System,Classification, TNM,Classifications, TNM,Staging System, TNM,Staging Systems, TNM,Staging, Cancer,Staging, TNM,Staging, Tumor,System, TNM Staging,Systems, TNM Staging,TNM Classifications,TNM Staging Systems
D010166	Palliative Care	Care alleviating symptoms without curing the underlying disease. (Stedman, 25th ed)	Palliative Treatment,Palliative Supportive Care,Palliative Surgery,Palliative Therapy,Surgery, Palliative,Therapy, Palliative,Care, Palliative,Palliative Treatments,Supportive Care, Palliative,Treatment, Palliative,Treatments, Palliative
D010997	Pleural Neoplasms	Neoplasms of the thin serous membrane that envelopes the lungs and lines the thoracic cavity. Pleural neoplasms are exceedingly rare and are usually not diagnosed until they are advanced because in the early stages they produce no symptoms.	Neoplasms, Pleural,Neoplasm, Pleural,Pleural Neoplasm
D011182	Postoperative Care	The period of care beginning when the patient is removed from surgery and aimed at meeting the patient's psychological and physical needs directly after surgery. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)	Care, Postoperative,Postoperative Procedures,Procedures, Postoperative,Postoperative Procedure,Procedure, Postoperative
D003937	Diagnosis, Differential	Determination of which one of two or more diseases or conditions a patient is suffering from by systematically comparing and contrasting results of diagnostic measures.	Diagnoses, Differential,Differential Diagnoses,Differential Diagnosis
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man