Pleural Mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Pleural Mesothelioma, by H.J. Wanebo, N. Martini, M.R. Melamed, et al (1976).

The study

• Authors: H.J. Wanebo, N. Martini, M.R. Melamed, B. Hharis, E.J. Beattie JR
• Published: Cancer, Volume 38. December 1976
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This was a review of the records of 76 patients with pleural mesothelioma treated at Memorial Hospital from 1939 to 1972. Ten had benign and 66 had malignant tumors (39 epithelial, 27 fibrosarcomatous). Asbestos bodies were found in lung tissue from five patients. The badly scanned text appears to say that asbestos exposure was recorded in six others, all with epithelial mesothelioma. In epithelial mesothelioma confined to one side of the chest, median survival was 21 months for 17 patients whose tumor was surgically removed and 8 months for 15 treated mainly by radiation. In fibrosarcomatous mesothelioma confined to one side, median survival was 11 months for 16 patients treated mainly by surgery and 9 months for 7 treated mainly by radiation. Median survival with advanced or recurrent disease was 3 to 6 months. None of the benign tumors recurred after resection. The authors concluded that epithelial mesothelioma with diffuse pleural involvement continued to carry a grave prognosis. They also concluded that complete resection of fibrosarcomatous mesothelioma offered a significant chance of long-term survival.

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: Retrospective review of hospital records and pathology material (case series) from a single hospital
• Who was studied: 76 patients with pleural mesothelioma at Memorial Hospital, 1939 to 1972: 10 with benign and 66 with malignant mesothelioma (39 epithelial, 27 fibrosarcomatous); 29 of the malignant cases had first been treated elsewhere
• Exposure: Asbestos. The garbled text appears to say that exposure was recorded in six patients, all with epithelial mesothelioma. Asbestos bodies were found in random lung sections from five other patients (three epithelial, two fibrosarcomatous). No fiber types, jobs or doses are given. The study mainly compared treatments: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
• Main results:
  • Epithelial mesothelioma confined to the hemithorax and resected (17 patients): median survival 21 months
  • Epithelial mesothelioma treated primarily by irradiation (15 patients): median survival 8 months
  • Epithelial mesothelioma: long-term follow-up showed three five-year survivors (69, 69 and 76 months)
  • Fibrosarcomatous mesothelioma confined to the hemithorax, treated primarily by surgery (16 patients): median survival 11 months, average 17 months; three were alive and free of disease at 17, 24 and 48 months
  • Fibrosarcomatous mesothelioma treated primarily by irradiation (7 patients): all died of their disease, six within 10 months; median survival 9 months
  • Patients with advanced or recurrent disease: median survival 3 to 6 months
  • Benign mesothelioma: nine of 10 patients were treated by complete surgical resection, and none of the benign tumors recurred after resection. One patient who had only a biopsy elsewhere later had an unresectable tumor and lived 2 years before dying of advanced disease.
  • The authors reported that chemotherapy improved survival in epithelial mesotheliomas, with a less dramatic improvement in fibrosarcomatous mesotheliomas treated primarily by surgery (Table 5 figures unreadable)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that epithelial mesothelioma with diffuse pleural involvement continues to carry a grave prognosis, and that survival is better when pleurectomy with removal of most of the tumor is combined with external irradiation and systemic chemotherapy. They also concluded that in fibrosarcomatous mesothelioma, complete resection offers a significant chance of long-term survival.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Asbestos Bodies, Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Median Overall Survival, Prognosis.

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