A study recently published in the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery evaluated the survival benefit associated with surgical intervention in malignant mesothelioma.
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by asbestos exposure that exhibits a long latency period of 20 to 50 years before symptoms arise. Presently there is no proven cure for the cancer but a small number of mesothelioma patients have experienced extended or complete remission of the cancer. Worldwide research is being conducted to improve mesothelioma life expectancy and the search for a cure is ongoing.
This study included four groups of mesothelioma patients identified by ascending level of therapeutic intervention: (A) no surgery; (B) thoracotomy but no resection; (C) resection but no adjuvant treatment; and (D) resection as part of multimodality treatment. Researchers sought to identify mean survival times for each level of treatment.
Data revealed that mean survival was 16.8, 17.8 and 17 months for those having no surgery, thoracotomy alone and resection with no adjuvant treatment, respectively (groups A, B and C), and mean survival for those undergoing multimodality treatment (group D) was 32.9 months. Additionally, mean survival rate was 25.6 months in patients who had resection and 17.1 months in patients who did not.
Furthermore, researchers noted, “The survival advantage of any management that included surgical resection was estimated as being no more than 9 months. This is the most optimistic estimate and requires all observed differences in survival to be attributed to the effect of treatment and none to selection for treatment. Furthermore, within this upper estimate is included any benefit from other components of multimodality treatment.”
In conclusion, the researchers reported that “Given the burden of morbidity of resection in the management of pleural mesothelioma, this most optimistic estimate of the magnitude of any survival benefit should be taken into account in any policy decision, in clinical trial proposals and in strategies adopted by clinical teams.”
Additional information on mesothelioma and treatment options may be found through the Mesothelioma Center.
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