Chemotherapy used in multimodality treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma is typically
performed within 4-6 weeks prior to or after
surgery, and various strategies have been used with regard to the timing of chemotherapy
within a multimodality treatment.
Doctors at UCLA identified 121 patients who had undergone the
pleurectomy/decortication surgery followed by adjuvant
radiation therapy and received chemotherapy only after the first recurrence of the
disease. The results of receiving delayed chemotherapy were comparable
or better to those reported for “trimodality” therapy including
the recent MARS trial. These findings suggest that a more rational and
conservative approach to multimodality treatment of patients with malignant
pleural mesothelioma may be warranted.
Multimodality Therapy is the combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy;
and for malignant pleural mesothelioma patients eligible for surgery,
is almost always associated with the longest survival rates. Survival
of patients who receive this type of treatment varies from 16 to 22 months,
depending on the
staging, type of surgery, cell type, as well as other factors.