Malignant pleural mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Malignant pleural mesothelioma, by H.I. Pass, N. Vogelzang, S. Hahn, et al (Current Problems in Cancer, 2004).

The study

• Authors: H.I. Pass, N. Vogelzang, S. Hahn, M. Carbone
• Journal: Current Problems in Cancer
• Published: 2004;28(3):93-174
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 61 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a review, not an original study. The authors reviewed published research on malignant pleural mesothelioma, from its causes and biology to diagnosis, staging and treatment. They described asbestos as the primary cause and stated that as many as 80% of mesothelioma patients have been exposed to asbestos. They also noted that the published proportion of asbestos-associated cases ranged from 16% to 90%. They cited an analysis of cohort studies by Hughes and Weill finding crocidolite 14 times more potent than chrysotile in causing human mesotheliomas. They also cited a review of rat inhalation studies in which mesothelioma incidence was 1.8% for chrysotile, 1.3% for amosite and 1.2% for crocidolite. In a cited review of 21 studies of 1690 mesotheliomas, 96% occurred at least 20 years after exposure. The authors also discussed simian virus 40 (SV40), erionite in Cappadocian villages of Turkey, radiation and genetic predisposition. They described a phase III trial in which median survival was 12.1 months with pemetrexed plus cisplatin and 9.3 months with cisplatin alone. The authors concluded that how asbestos causes mesothelioma remained unknown.

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: Narrative review of published literature on malignant pleural mesothelioma (causes, molecular biology, pathology, diagnosis, staging, treatment)
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the authors reviewed published human, animal and laboratory studies of mesothelioma
• Exposure: Asbestos (the amphiboles amosite, crocidolite, anthophyllite, actinolite and tremolite, and the serpentine chrysotile). The authors also discussed SV40, erionite, radiation and genetic predisposition.
• Main results:
  • The authors stated that as many as 80% of mesothelioma patients have been exposed to asbestos.
  • The authors reported that the proportion of asbestos-associated mesotheliomas in the literature varied from 16% to 90%.
  • In a cited analysis of various cohort studies (Hughes and Weill), crocidolite was found to be 14 times more potent than chrysotile in causing human mesotheliomas.
  • In a cited review of about eight inhalation studies in rats (Smith and Wright), overall mesothelioma incidence was 1.8% after chrysotile, 1.3% after amosite and 1.2% after crocidolite.
  • A cited review of 21 studies of 1690 mesotheliomas found that 96% occurred at least 20 years after exposure, with a mean latency of 32 years.
  • The authors stated an estimate that less than 5% of asbestos miners exposed to very high levels of asbestos develop mesothelioma.
  • The authors reported that SV40 sequences have been found in approximately 60% of human mesothelioma samples.
  • In the villages of Karain, Tuzkoy and Sarihidir in Cappadocia, Turkey, 50% or more of deaths were reported to be caused by malignant mesothelioma.
  • In a cited 452-patient phase III trial, median survival was 12.1 months with pemetrexed plus cisplatin and 9.3 months with cisplatin alone. Response rates were 41.3% and 16.7% respectively.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that how asbestos causes or contributes to mesothelioma remained unknown. They also concluded that the pemetrexed/cisplatin combination alters the natural history of the disease.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors noted that exposure rates based on patient history, used in the studies they reviewed, are imprecise and variable.
  • The authors noted that lung fiber content results depend on the laboratory, so comparisons between laboratories are unreliable.
  • The authors noted that the impact of SV40 on overall mesothelioma incidence has not been determined.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

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

Related studies

• Telomerase activity in pleural malignant mesotheliomas — A.Y. Au, T. Hackl, et al. (2011)
• Identification of novel candidate oncogenes and tumor suppressors in malignant pleural mesothelioma using large-scale transcriptional profiling — G.J. Gordon, G.N. Rockwell, et al. (2005)
• Oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes in mesothelioma--a synopsis — J.F. Lechner, J. Tesfaigzi, et al. (1997)
• Genetic factors in the aetiology of malignant mesothelioma — M. Huncharek (1995)
• Mutational Profiling of Driver Tumor Suppressor and Oncogenic Genes in Brazilian Malignant Pleural Mesotheliomas — N.C. Campanella, E.C. Silva, et al. (2020)
• The molecular biology of lung cancer — J.A. Ross, G.D. Rosen (2002)

Browse return to medical research.