Imaging characteristics of pleural tumours

Our plain-English summary of Imaging characteristics of pleural tumours, by L. De Paoli, E. Quaia, G. Poillucci, et al (Insights Into Imaging, 2015).

The study

• Authors: L. De Paoli, E. Quaia, G. Poillucci, A. Gennari, M.A. Cova
• Journal: Insights Into Imaging
• Published: 2015;6(6):729-40
• Cited by: 14 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Unlabelled: Malignant mesothelioma is doubtless the more known pleural tumour. However, according to the morphology code of the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O), there are several histological types of pleural neoplasms, divided into mesothelial, mesenchymal and lymphoproliferative tumours, that may be misdiagnosed. In this paper we summarise and illustrate the incidence aspects and the clinical, pathological and radiological features of these neoplasms.

Teaching Points: • According to the ICD-O, there are 11 different histological types of pleural neoplasm. • Imaging, clinical and histopathological aspects of these neoplasms may be overlapping. • Knowledge of different pleural tumours plays an important role for diagnosis orientation.

In plain English

This article was a pictorial review by radiologists in Trieste, Italy. It did not report a new study of patients. Using the World Health Organization classification based on the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, the authors described 11 histological types of pleural tumour, grouped as mesothelial, mesenchymal and lymphoproliferative tumours. Drawing on published literature and illustrated with example images, they summarised how often these tumours occur and their clinical, pathological and imaging features. They described diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma as the most common primary malignancy of the pleura, with a mean survival time of 1 year from diagnosis. The review described pleural plaques as indicative of asbestos exposure. It stated that solitary fibrous tumour has no correlation with asbestos exposure, and that the link with asbestos for well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma and localised mesothelioma remains unclear. The authors concluded that mesothelioma is not the only pleural tumour, that other types can mimic it, and that knowing all types is important for diagnosis, prognosis and patient management.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Pictorial review (narrative review of the literature illustrated with imaging examples); no original patient data
• Who was studied: No study population. The review covered the types of pleural tumour listed in the WHO/ICD-O classification.
• Exposure: No exposure was studied. Asbestos was discussed only in describing pleural plaques, solitary fibrous tumour, and well-differentiated papillary and localised mesothelioma.
• Main results:
  • According to the ICD-O, the review listed 11 histological types of pleural tumour.
  • The review described diffuse malignant mesothelioma as the most common primary malignancy of the pleura.
  • The review described the prognosis of malignant mesothelioma as always poor, with a mean survival time of 1 year from diagnosis.
  • Pleural plaques were described as indicative of asbestos exposure. They typically become visible 20 or more years after asbestos fibres are inhaled, and unlike mesothelioma they usually do not infiltrate adjacent structures.
  • Solitary fibrous tumour was described as representing less than 5% of pleural tumours, with no correlation with asbestos exposure.
  • For well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma and localised mesothelioma, the review stated that the correlation with asbestos exposure remains unclear, with few reported cases.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that mesothelioma is the most frequent pleural tumour but not the only one. They wrote that other types can mimic it, and that knowing all pleural tumour types is important for differential diagnosis, prognosis and patient management.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Neoplasm.

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