[The Current Therapy of Asbestos-Associated Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma - An Expert Consensus Paper]

[Interdisciplinary diagnostics and therapy of malignant mesothelioma]

The asbestos-related malignant mesothelioma (MM) is one of the common occupational cancers in Germany with approximately 1000 new cases per year. Provided that the appropriate diagnostic criteria are fulfilled, MM can be diagnosed with high specificity from both histological and cytological specimens. However, many MM are detected cyto-/histologically only at advanced stages. Clinical/radiological aspects complement each other and enable interdisciplinary assessment of tumor stage and individualized decisions on the best possible therapeutic options. Diagnostically, video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) has the highest priority. Therapy planning is based on the MM subtype, tumor spread and stage, and the patient's clinical condition. MM has generally a very unfavorable prognosis. Accordingly, the standard therapy aims at a macroscopic radical tumor resection in terms of cytoreduction within the framework of a suitable multimodal therapy concept (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, psychooncology). The aim of palliative measures should be primarily symptom control. Overall, interdisciplinary diagnosis and therapy of MM is crucial for the best possible care of MM patients.

Prognostic value of clinicopathological characteristic of patients with Malign Mesothelioma at Mediternean region of Turkey

Aim: To define the effect of clinicopathological characteristics of patients with malign mesothelioma (MM) on overall survival. Materials and Methods: Forty-one patients diagnosed with MM who were treated at the medical oncology clinics between 2008 to 2020 were assessed. Clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival (OS) of patients, and treatment modalities analyzed. Results: Forty-one patients were included in this study. The median age of patients was 63.5. At a median follow-up of 16.7 (range:0.5-172.6) months, 78%(32) of patients died. Median OS was 17.6 months. 65.9% (27) of patients had stage 3 and 29.3% (12) had stage 4 diseases when they were diagnosed. Most of the patients were diagnosed at the advanced stage (Stages 3-4) (95.2%). The median OS of patients diagnosed with epithelioid histopathologic subtype was 32.4 months, while the median OS of those with sarcomatoid was 5.23 months, while the median OS of biphasic was 4.33 months. This difference was statistically significant (p