title: Advances in treatment of mesothelioma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an uncommon, aggressive cancer, derived from pleural mesothelial cells, that has a close relationship to asbestos exposure. To date, MPM prognosis is poor and very few treatment options are available for both localized and advanced MPM.
  
  
  METHODS
  The standard of care is still chemotherapy with platinum derivates and antifolate agents. In the last few years, several new agents have been studied on the basis of mesothelioma carcinogenesis and invasiveness mechanisms; however, the recent results are poor and few drugs have been tested in phase III trials because of toxicity or because they did not improve patient outcomes. The aim of this review is to focus on the current available treatment for MPM through the analysis of the results comes from the phase III trials and to discuss the future perspectives in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many compounds are currently under investigation in different subsets of patients. Interesting data have come from preliminary studies on immunotherapy, but randomized studies are needed to confirm the preliminary positive results of this new strategy. A better comprehension of MPM pathogenesis should be obtained to improve and develop new diagnostic tools and target therapies.
authors.affiliation: a IRCCS San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro , UOS Tumori Polmonari , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maggioni
authors.affiliation: a IRCCS San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro , UOS Tumori Polmonari , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barletta
authors.affiliation: a IRCCS San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro , UOS Tumori Polmonari , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rijavec
authors.affiliation: a IRCCS San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro , UOS Tumori Polmonari , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Biello
authors.affiliation: a IRCCS San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro , UOS Tumori Polmonari , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gualco
authors.affiliation: a IRCCS San Martino-IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro , UOS Tumori Polmonari , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grossi
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000639:trends; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D000086002:Mesothelioma, Malignant; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D035703:Therapies, Investigational / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends
keywords: Malignant pleural mesothelioma; chemotherapy; clinical trials; immunotherapy