| | |

Mesothelioma Survival Rates Have Remained Flat for Decades

ByAlex Strauss
mesothelioma survival rates

Mesothelioma survival rates have stayed steady for decades, even though treatments are improving.

According to more than 25 years worth of data from the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank, people with malignant mesothelioma live a median of 15 months. That number has changed little since 1990.

Charting Mesothelioma Patients Over Time

Researchers from several major US cancer centers compiled the new report. The goal was to chart mesothelioma survival rates over time and identify factors that impact them.

The group evaluated mesothelioma survival rates from 888 cases of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in the NMVB. The NMVB houses information on more than 1400 mesothelioma cases diagnosed between 1990 and 2017.

Overall mesothelioma survival rates stayed right around 15 months. But there were differences between the two major types of mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma patients live for a median of 14 months. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of mesothelioma. It starts on the membrane that surrounds the lungs and can spread to the lungs and surrounding organs.

People with peritoneal mesothelioma live for a median of 31 months. Peritoneal mesothelioma grows on the lining of the abdomen. New treatments helped to boost peritoneal mesothelioma survival rates somewhat.

Peritoneal mesothelioma patients who have a combination of surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy live the longest.

Factors Influencing Mesothelioma Survival Rates

Mesothelioma is one of the deadliest types of cancer. But there are still cases of longer survival. Paul Kraus, the world’s longest living mesothelioma survivor, is still living 20 years after his mesothelioma diagnosis.

The researchers confirmed what other studies have found; certain people have much better mesothelioma survival rates than others. The types of patients who tend to live the longest are:

  • Under 45 years old
  • Female
  • Have the epithelioid subtype
  • Diagnosed with Stage I disease
  • Have peritoneal mesothelioma
  • Received a combination of surgery and chemotherapy

No matter which type of mesothelioma a person has, those who had both surgery and chemotherapy improved their mesothelioma survival rates. Having surgery and chemotherapy – as opposed to just one type of treatment – produced a median survival of 23 months.

For more information on long term mesothelioma survival, read Surviving Mesothelioma and Other Cancers by Paul Kraus. In it, Kraus reveals the treatments, lifestyle and diet that have helped him survive mesothelioma for more than 20 years.  

Source:

Amin, W, et al, “Factors influencing malignant mesothelioma survival: a retrospective review of the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank cohort”, June 3, 2019, F1000 Research, https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1184/v3

Similar Posts

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma
| |

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?
| |

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says there is not enough evidence to support the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of pain associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland reviewed a range of past studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy by searching databases that date back as far as 1974. To be eligible to be included in their review, the study had to focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma and radiotherapy given “with the intent of improving pain”. The study also had to report doses and fractionation of the radiotherapy and how the pain responded. In all, the researchers found eight studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy that met the criteria. Two of the studies were prospective…

Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab
|

Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab

ByAlex Strauss

A virus that causes leukemia in gibbon apes may have the power to help fight malignant mesothelioma in people. Gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) has been tested for years as a viral vector, a carrier of therapeutic genetic information, in the treatment of various human illnesses, including cancer. A new study in Japan compared GALV with a leukemia virus derived from mice to see which carrier communicated most efficiently with mesothelioma cells. While both types of viruses replicated in most of the mesothelioma cell lines tested, the mouse-derived virus was not effective in a mesothelioma cell line called ACC-MESO-1. In this cell line, only the GALV spread efficiently both in culture and in mice that had been given human mesothelioma…

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited
| |

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited

ByAlex Strauss

A form of highly-targeted radiation therapy for mesothelioma is better than it used to be, but is still risky. That is the message of a recent article on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Author Kenneth E. Rosenzweig, MD, a Radiation Oncologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reviewed recent studies on IMRT and mesothelioma. He concludes that, while the “troubling toxicity” associated with IMRT when it was first introduced has not been entirely eliminated, the fact that clinicians now have more experience with it is making a positive difference for mesothelioma patients. Before targeted therapies like IMRT were available, high-dose radiation was not usually a feasible option for mesothelioma since the irregular shape…

A Second-Line Option for Mesothelioma?
| |

A Second-Line Option for Mesothelioma?

ByAlex Strauss

Although survival was not significantly extended, the chemotherapy drug vinorelbine might be a treatment option for mesothelioma patients whose cancer has returned after first-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed. A new study on vinorelbine as a second-line treatment finds that the drug is “moderately active” in mesothelioma patients who were initially treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Pemetrexed (Alimta), along with a platinum-based drug like cisplatin, is the primary first-line drug therapy for mesothelioma. But vinorelbine is gaining attention as a possible option for mesothelioma, in part because it is available in a less expensive generic form. In “Vinorelbine in pemetrexed-pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma”, the Italian authors detail the results of their study on 59 patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma.  These patients…

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival
| |

Repeat HIPEC Improves Mesothelioma Survival

ByAlex Strauss

If one cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC procedure for mesothelioma is good, subsequent treatments may be even better. That is the central message of research conducted at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. The study’s aim was to assess overall survival among peritoneal mesothelioma patients who had not just one, but two or more rounds of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) after cytoreductive surgery. The cytoreduction/HIPEC approach has become popular for peritoneal mesothelioma, a treatment-resistant cancer of abdominal membranes caused by asbestos. Cytoreductive surgery involves removing as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible from the abdomen. Because the shape and spreading pattern of mesothelioma tumors make complete cytoreduction difficult, the surgery is often followed by a rinse with a heated solution…