title: Malignant pleural mesothelioma: single-institution experience of 101 patients over a 15-year period.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but aggressive neoplasm that typically originates from the mesothelial surfaces of the pleural cavity. Exposure to asbestos is the principal etiological agent of MPM. The disease is characterized by difficult stage classification and limited consensus on therapeutic approach. We have evaluated the experience with MPM in the Antwerp University Hospital over the past 15 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  A database was created with all patients diagnosed with or treated for a MPM between 2001 and 2015. A total of 101 patients were included on which different survival analyses were performed combined with a reproduction of demographic, clinical, histologic and therapeutic data, and these were compared to literature data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vast majority of our 101 patients were male (80%) with a median age of 66 years at diagnosis with predominantly epitheloid histology (81%). Overall median survival was 18.3 months and overall 1-, 2- and 5-year survival rates were 68%, 37% and 7%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a non-significant difference in survival between the several best (b) TNM-stages (p = .356). A significant difference in survival was observed in patients undergoing surgery versus no surgery (p = .008), between the different histological types (p < .0001) and treatment with chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy with surgery (p < .0001). Smoking at diagnosis and epitheloid histology have been identified as significant prognostic factors in the multivariate Cox regression model (HR 3.13 and 0.53, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Descriptive and survival analysis of our patient database confirmed the limitations of the current staging system and were concordant with literature regarding MPM.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domen
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Laet
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Wies
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vanderbruggen
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gielis
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Jeroen M H
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lauwers
authors.affiliation: b Division of Thoracic Oncology , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.affiliation: b Division of Thoracic Oncology , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hiddinga
authors.affiliation: b Division of Thoracic Oncology , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Van Meerbeeck
authors.affiliation: a Department of Thoracic and Vascular surgery , Antwerp University Hospital , Antwerp , Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Van Schil
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D000086002:Mesothelioma, Malignant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
keywords: Malignant pleural mesothelioma; descriptive and survival analysis; single-institution experience