Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A 2025 Update

Our plain-English summary of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A 2025 Update, by G. Cardillo, D. Waller, S. Tenconi, et al (Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2025).

The study

• Authors: G. Cardillo, D. Waller, S. Tenconi, V. Di Noia, S. Ricciardi
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Published: 2025;14(3)
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The incidence of pleural mesothelioma (PM) is slightly increasing, with 2417 new cases/year worldwide [...].

In plain English

This was an editorial, not an original study. The authors summarized published research on treating pleural mesothelioma, and the editorial did not discuss asbestos or any other cause. Citing an earlier database review, it gave the incidence as 2417 new cases per year worldwide. All the trial results it described came from other studies. In the UK MesoVATS trial, keyhole partial pleurectomy did not improve survival compared with talc pleurodesis. In the MARS 2 trial, median survival was 19.3 months with surgery plus chemotherapy and 24.8 months with chemotherapy alone. The authors argued that design problems limit how widely that trial applies. In the CheckMate 743 trial, median overall survival was 18.1 months with ipilimumab plus nivolumab versus 14.1 months with platinum-based chemotherapy. In patients with non-epithelioid tumours it was 16.5 versus 8.8 months (HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7). The authors concluded that treatment options remain limited, that no surgical therapy is universally accepted, and that further studies and randomized trials are needed.

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: Editorial summarizing published trials, guidelines and classification systems on pleural mesothelioma; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population of its own; the editorial discusses patients with pleural mesothelioma as studied in trials by other researchers
• Exposure: Not addressed; the editorial does not discuss asbestos or any other exposure, only staging and treatment
• Main results:
  • Citing a previously published National Cancer Database review (reference 1), the editorial states an incidence of 2417 new pleural mesothelioma cases per year worldwide
  • Reported from the MesoVATS trial (another study): VATS partial pleurectomy did not improve survival compared with talc pleurodesis
  • Reported from the MARS 2 trial (another study): median survival of 19.3 months in the surgical arm versus 24.8 months in the chemotherapy-alone arm. The editorial also reports better quality of life in the non-surgical arm and more serious adverse events in the surgery arm
  • Reported from the CheckMate 743 trial (another study), 3-year update: median overall survival of 18.1 months with ipilimumab plus nivolumab versus 14.1 months with platinum-based chemotherapy
  • Reported from CheckMate 743: in non-epithelioid patients, 16.5 months with dual immunotherapy versus 8.8 months with chemotherapy (HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7)
  • Reported from the IND.227 study (another study): adding pembrolizumab to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy gave a hazard ratio for overall survival of 0.79. Median overall survival was 16.13 without pembrolizumab versus 17.28 with it (units not printed), p = 0.0324
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that ways to treat pleural mesothelioma remain limited, that no surgical therapy is universally accepted and the role of immunotherapy is still debated, and that future studies and randomized trials are needed on staging, surgical criteria, and the benefits and toxicity of immunotherapy

Topics

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

Related studies

• Guidelines for Pathologic Diagnosis of Malignant Mesothelioma 2017 Update of the Consensus Statement From the International Mesothelioma Interest Group — A.N. Husain, T.V. Colby, et al. (2018)
• Guidelines for pathologic diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma: 2012 update of the consensus statement from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group — A.N. Husain, T. Colby, et al. (2013)
• Malignant pleural mesothelioma: an update on investigation, diagnosis and treatment — A.C. Bibby, S. Tsim, et al. (2016)
• Periostin expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cancer: a review and an update — L. Morra, H. Moch (2011)
• Mesothelioma trends in the United States: an update based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program data for 1973 through 2003 — B. Price, A. Ware (2004)
• Asbestos-induced lung diseases: an update — D.W. Kamp (2009)

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