title: Prognostic factors in malignant pleural mesothelioma.
abstract: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a clinically aggressive tumor originating from mesothelial cells, which line the serosal cavities. Recent years have seen extensive research aimed at identifying new therapeutic targets, predictive markers and prognostic factors in this disease. These include both serum and tissue markers, and are related to multiple cellular pathways which affect cell survival, proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, interaction with the immune response and DNA repair. Several of these molecules may become relevant for pathologists as part of the effort to select patient sub-populations for targeted therapy in the future. This review summarizes current data in this area and discusses their potential clinical relevance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Norwegian Radium Hospital, N-0310 Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, N-0316 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: bend@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000086002:Mesothelioma, Malignant; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Diagnosis; Malignant mesothelioma; Prognosis; Therapeutic targets; Tumor markers