title: Comprehensive treatment of malignant mesothelioma patients after the failure of systemic chemotherapy.
abstract: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive neoplasm usually arising from the mesothelial surfaces of the pleural or peritoneal cavity. Currently, no standard therapy is available. The most commonly used therapy is cytoreductive surgery combined with systematic chemotherapy, but the median overall survival (OS) is less than 12 months; moreover, treatments are lacking for patients in whom chemotherapy has failed and/or who cannot withstand surgery. We investigated multiple minimally invasive therapies (cryosurgery, photodynamic therapy and intracavity chemotherapy) for the treatment of MM patients in whom systemic chemotherapy had failed. Twenty-seven patients were divided into comprehensive (combination of the three therapies) and palliative (intracavity chemotherapy only) treatment groups. The OS of patients who received comprehensive treatment was significantly longer than that of those who received palliative treatment (median OS: 64 vs. 9 months, P<0.001). This interesting result was not associated with treatment timing, but was closely associated with repeated treatments.
authors.affiliation: Fuda Hospital, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Science, No. 91 Judezhong Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510305, China.
authors.forename: Jibing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yuanying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Chunyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Kecheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003452:Cryosurgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents