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Mesothelioma Patients with a Second Cancer

ByHolly Zink
Mesothelioma Patients with a Second Cancer

Researchers in Italy looked at patients with pleural mesothelioma to see if having a second cancer affected how long they lived.

They found that having a second cancer did not make a big difference in survival for most patients, but for those with a certain type of mesothelioma, it did make things worse.

Factors for Multiple Types of Cancer

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that starts in the lining of organs, usually the lungs or abdomen. Most cases are caused by being exposed to asbestos. However, some people may have certain genes that make them more likely to get mesothelioma.

People who have a specific gene mutation called BAP1 are more likely to get mesothelioma. They could also be more likely to develop other types of cancer. But their mesothelioma may not be as aggressive as in other people.

Doctors have noticed that some people with mesothelioma also have other types of cancer. This might be because there is a genetic or family connection.

In this study, researchers looked at information about people in Italy who had mesothelioma to see if they also had other types of cancer. They wanted to see if certain factors like gender or exposure to asbestos were related to having multiple types of cancer.

Mesothelioma Patients with Other Cancers

The researchers used patient information from the Lombardy Mesothelioma Registry. This database collects information about mesothelioma cases among people who live in the Lombardy region of Italy. A total of 6,668 people with pleural mesothelioma were included in the study.

About 15% of these mesothelioma patients had another cancer. The most common second cancer types were prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer.

The researchers found that having another type of cancer did not make a difference in overall survival. A big exception to this was patients with non-epithelioid mesothelioma. These patients usually had worse overall survival.

Source

Mensi C, Stella S, Dallari B, et al. Second Primary Cancers in a Population-Based Mesothelioma Registry. Cancers (Basel). 2023;15(6):1746. Published 2023 Mar 13. doi:10.3390/cancers15061746. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc10046097/

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