|

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Study: Long-Term Survival is Possible

ByAlex Strauss

physician

A new study out of Italy has some encouraging news for patients with the peritoneal form of malignant mesothelioma. The recent analysis of 108 peritoneal mesothelioma patients who underwent complete cytoreductive surgery (CRS) followed by a rinse of heated chemotherapy (HIPEC) found a 43.6% cure rate among long-term survivors.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of one of the rarest cancers. Triggered almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma affects about 2,500 Americans each year.  About a third of those patients are diagnosed with the peritoneal form of the disease, which occurs on the membrane that lines the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs.

During cytoreductive surgery, surgeons attempt to remove all traces of the mesothelioma tumor so that no cells are left that could begin growing again. It involves stripping off the peritoneum and removing any residual lesions that have spread to the surfaces of internal organs. A heated solution of chemotherapy medicines is then put into the abdominal cavity in order to kill any residual cells.

The newest study of the technique, published in the European Journal of Cancer, looked at the results of 108 cytoreductive surgeries that were followed by HIPEC with cisplatin and doxorubicin or mitomycin-C. Twenty-seven variables, including patient factors, factors related to the tumor, and those related to the mesothelioma treatment, were assessed using a technique called multivariate analysis. The tumor cells were also tested using a list of immunohistochemical markers.

Although 38.9% of the peritoneal mesothelioma patients experienced major complications after the CRS/HIPEC procedure and nearly 2% died, the median overall survival for all patients was 63.2 months. Most patients went more than 2 years (median of 25.1 months) before their mesothelioma began to grow again. And a number of patients in the analysis survived much longer. “The survival curve reached a plateau after 7 years, representing 19 actual survivors of 39 patients (43.6%),” the authors wrote in a published summary of their results.

According to the study, long-term survival among peritoneal mesothelioma patients after CRS/HIPEC was “primarily dependent on pathologic and biologic features.” Having the epithelial subtype of the disease and no cancer in the lymph nodes correlated with increased overall survival and progression-free survival.

Sources:

Baratti, D, “Diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: Long-term survival with complete cytoreductive surgery followed by hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)”, July 4, 2013, European Journal of Cancer, Epub ahead of print.

Similar Posts

  • | |

    Mesothelioma survivor Paul Kraus, alive and well 19 years after writing “Surviving Mesothelioma and Other Cancers

    ByAlex Strauss

    Paul Kraus is considered the longest documented mesothelioma survivor in the world. He was diagnosed in 1997 with mesothelioma so widespread that he was given little hope of survival. Not willing to give up, he worked with a team of doctors to create his own tailored treatment protocol. This protocol included dramatic life style change, experimental therapies, dietary changes, mind-body medicine, and other modalities. Paul was fortunate. The protocol he and his doctors created helped him keep the mesothelioma in check. His book “Surviving Mesothelioma and Other Cancers: A Patient’s Guide” details his cancer voyage, the decisions he made, and his philosophies about health and healing. This book is now the best-selling mesothelioma book in the world and has inspired…

  • | |

    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…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

    ByAlex Strauss

    A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

  • | |

    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…

  • |

    Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

  • |

    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…