Abstract
Previously considered to be rare, malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a highly aggressive tumor with an increasing incidence linked to asbestos exposure, its main etiological factor. MPM is also a very important issue because patients have usually a short survival (median <12 months) despite current treatments. Moreover an optimal treatment for MPM is not defined yet, even if ERS/ESTS experts recently provided clear and up-to-date guidelines on MPM management. These guidelines on chemotherapy and radiotherapy for mesothelioma, as well as new therapeutic developments, are presented in this chapter.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahamad A, Stevens CW et al (2003) Intensity-modulated radiation therapy: a novel approach to the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 55(3):768–775
Alberts AS, Falkson G et al (1988) Malignant pleural mesothelioma: a disease unaffected by current therapeutic maneuvers. J Clin Oncol 6(3):527–535
Allen AM, Den R et al (2007) Influence of radiotherapy technique and dose on patterns of failure for mesothelioma patients after extrapleural pneumonectomy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 68(5):1366–1374
Baas P, Boogerd W et al (2005) Thalidomide in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Lung Cancer 48(2):291–296
Baldini EH, Recht A et al (1997) Patterns of failure after trimodality therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ann Thorac Surg 63(2):334–338
Ball DL, Cruickshank DG (1990) The treatment of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura: review of a 5-year experience, with special reference to radiotherapy. Am J Clin Oncol 13(1):4–9
Belani CP, Adak S et al (2004) Docetaxel for malignant mesothelioma: phase II study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Clin Lung Cancer 6(1):43–47
Berghmans T, Paesmans M et al (2002) Activity of chemotherapy and immunotherapy on malignant mesothelioma: a systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis. Lung Cancer 38(2):111–121
Bolden JE, Peart MJ et al (2006) Anticancer activities of histone deacetylase inhibitors. Nat Rev Drug Discov 5(9):769–784
Boutin C, Rey F et al (1995) Prevention of malignant seeding after invasive diagnostic procedures in patients with pleural mesothelioma. A randomized trial of local radiotherapy. Chest 108(3):754–758
British Thoracic Society (2007) BTS statement on malignant mesothelioma in the UK, 2007. Thorax 62(Suppl 2):ii1–ii19
Bydder S, Phillips M et al (2004) A randomised trial of single-dose radiotherapy to prevent procedure tract metastasis by malignant mesothelioma. Br J Cancer 91(1):9–10
Byrne MJ, Davidson JA et al (1999) Cisplatin and gemcitabine treatment for malignant mesothelioma: a phase II study. J Clin Oncol 17(1):25–30
Candelaria M, Gallardo-Rincon D et al (2007) A phase II study of epigenetic therapy with hydralazine and magnesium valproate to overcome chemotherapy resistance in refractory solid tumors. Ann Oncol 18(9):1529–1538
Castagneto B, Botta M et al (2008) Phase II study of pemetrexed in combination with carboplatin in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Ann Oncol 19(2):370–373
Catalano A, Romano M et al (2002) Enhanced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a critical role in the tumor progression potential induced by simian virus 40 large T antigen. Oncogene 21(18):2896–2900
Ceresoli GL, Zucali PA et al (2006) Phase II study of pemetrexed plus carboplatin in malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 24(9):1443–1448
Ceresoli GL, Castagneto B et al (2008) Pemetrexed plus carboplatin in elderly patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: combined analysis of two phase II trials. Br J Cancer 99(1):51–56
Cortese JF, Gowda AL et al (2006) Common EGFR mutations conferring sensitivity to gefitinib in lung adenocarcinoma are not prevalent in human malignant mesothelioma. Int J Cancer 118(2):521–522
Crisanti MC, Wallace AF et al (2009) The HDAC inhibitor panobinostat (LBH589) inhibits mesothelioma and lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo with particular efficacy for small cell lung cancer. Mol Cancer Ther 8(8):2221–2231
DeVita VT Jr (1983) The James Ewing lecture. The relationship between tumor mass and resistance to chemotherapy. Implications for surgical adjuvant treatment of cancer. Cancer 51(7):1209–1220
Emami B, Lyman J et al (1991) Tolerance of normal tissue to therapeutic irradiation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 21(1):109–122
Fennell DA, JP CS et al (2005) Phase II trial of vinorelbine and oxaliplatin as first-line therapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Lung Cancer 47(2):277–281
Fizazi K, Doubre H et al (2003) Combination of raltitrexed and oxaliplatin is an active regimen in malignant mesothelioma: results of a phase II study. J Clin Oncol 21(2):349–354
Flores RM, Krug LM et al (2006) Induction chemotherapy, extrapleural pneumonectomy, and postoperative high-dose radiotherapy for locally advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma: a phase II trial. J Thorac Oncol 1(4):289–295
Garland LL, Rankin C et al (2007) Phase II study of erlotinib in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: a Southwest Oncology Group study. J Clin Oncol 25(17):2406–2413
Govindan R, Kratzke RA et al (2005) Gefitinib in patients with malignant mesothelioma: a phase II study by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B. Clin Cancer Res 11(6):2300–2304
Gregoire M, Ligeza-Poisson C et al (2003) Anti-cancer therapy using dendritic cells and apoptotic tumour cells: pre-clinical data in human mesothelioma and acute myeloid leukaemia. Vaccine 21(7–8):791–794
Gupta V, Mychalczak B et al (2005) Hemithoracic radiation therapy after pleurectomy/decortication for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 63(4):1045–1052
Gupta V, Krug LM et al (2009) Patterns of local and nodal failure in malignant pleural mesothelioma after extrapleural pneumonectomy and photon-electron radiotherapy. J Thorac Oncol 4(6):746–750
Hegmans JP, Hemmes A et al (2005) Immunotherapy of murine malignant mesothelioma using tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cells. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 171(10):1168–1177
Hegmans JP, Veltman JD et al (2010) Consolidative dendritic cell-based immunotherapy elicits cytotoxicity against malignant mesothelioma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 181(12):1383–90
Hillerdal G, Sorensen JB et al (2008) Treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma with carboplatin, liposomized doxorubicin, and gemcitabine: a phase II study. J Thorac Oncol 3(11):1325–1331
Holsti LR, Pyrhonen S et al (1997) Altered fractionation of hemithorax irradiation for pleural mesothelioma and failure patterns after treatment. Acta Oncol 36(4):397–405
Hopkins-Donaldson S, Cathomas R et al (2003) Induction of apoptosis and chemosensitization of mesothelioma cells by Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL antisense treatment. Int J Cancer 106(2):160–166
Jackman DM, Kindler HL et al (2008) Erlotinib plus bevacizumab in previously treated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Cancer 113(4):808–814
Janne PA, Wozniak AJ et al (2006) Pemetrexed alone or in combination with cisplatin in previously treated malignant pleural mesothelioma: outcomes from a phase IIIB expanded access program. J Thorac Oncol 1(6):506–512
Janne PA, Simon GR et al (2008) Phase II trial of pemetrexed and gemcitabine in chemotherapy-naive malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 26(9):1465–1471
Jassem J, Ramlau R et al (2008) Phase III trial of pemetrexed plus best supportive care compared with best supportive care in previously treated patients with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 26(10):1698–1704
Katirtzoglou N, Gkiozos I et al (2010) Carboplatin plus pemetrexed as first-line treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: a phase II study. Clin Lung Cancer 11(1):30–35
Kelly WK, O’Connor OA et al (2005) Phase I study of an oral histone deacetylase inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, in patients with advanced cancer. J Clin Oncol 23(17):3923–3931
Kindler HL, Vogelzang NJ, Chien K, Stadler WM, Karczmar G, Heimann R, Vokes EE (2001) SU 5416 in malignant mesothelioma: a University of Chicago Phase II Consortium Study. 2001 ASCO meeting. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 20:2001 (abstract 1359)
Kindler HL, Herndon JE et al (2005) Irinotecan for malignant mesothelioma: a phase II trial by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B. Lung Cancer 48(3):423–428
Kindler HL, Karrison T, Gandara DR, Lu C, Guterz TL, Nichols K, Chen H, Stadler WM, Vokes EE (2007) Final analysis of a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized phase II trial of gemcitabine/cisplatin (GC) plus bevacizumab (B) or placebo (P) in patients with malignant mesothelioma (MM). J Clin Oncol ASCO meeting Proceedings Part I. Vol 25, No. 18S (June 20 Supplement), 2007:7526
Kristensen CA, Nottrup TJ et al (2009) Pulmonary toxicity following IMRT after extrapleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Radiother Oncol 92(1):96–99
Krug LM, Pass HI et al (2009) Multicenter phase II trial of neoadjuvant pemetrexed plus cisplatin followed by extrapleural pneumonectomy and radiation for malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 27(18):3007–3013
Kruklitis RJ, Singhal S et al (2004) Immuno-gene therapy with interferon-beta before surgical debulking delays recurrence and improves survival in a murine model of malignant mesothelioma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 127(1):123–130
Lee TT, Everett DL et al (2002) Radical pleurectomy/decortication and intraoperative radiotherapy followed by conformal radiation with or without chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 124(6):1183–1189
Li Q, Yano S et al (2007) The therapeutic efficacy of anti vascular endothelial growth factor antibody, bevacizumab, and pemetrexed against orthotopically implanted human pleural mesothelioma cells in severe combined immunodeficient mice. Clin Cancer Res 13(19):5918–5925
Li L, Razak AR et al (2009) Carboplatin and pemetrexed in the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma: a realistic treatment option? Lung Cancer 64(2):207–210
Maasilta P (1991) Deterioration in lung function following hemithorax irradiation for pleural mesothelioma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 20(3):433–438
Maggi G, Casadio C et al (2001) Trimodality management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 19(3):346–350
Manegold C, Symanowski J et al (2005) Second-line (post-study) chemotherapy received by patients treated in the phase III trial of pemetrexed plus cisplatin versus cisplatin alone in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ann Oncol 16(6):923–927
Mathy A, Baas P et al (2005) Limited efficacy of imatinib mesylate in malignant mesothelioma: a phase II trial. Lung Cancer 50(1):83–86
Mikulski SM, Costanzi JJ et al (2002) Phase II trial of a single weekly intravenous dose of ranpirnase in patients with unresectable malignant mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 20(1):274–281
Miles EF, Larrier NA et al (2008) Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for resected mesothelioma: the Duke experience. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 71(4):1143–1150
Millward M, Parnis F, Byrne M, Powell A, Dunleavey R, Lynch K, Boyer MJ (2003) Phase II trial of imatinib mesylate in patients with advanced pleural mesothelioma. 2003 ASCO meeting. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 22:2003 (abstract 912)
Muers MF, Stephens RJ et al (2008) Active symptom control with or without chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MS01): a multicentre randomised trial. Lancet 371(9625):1685–1694
Nakas A, Trousse DS et al (2008) Open lung-sparing surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma: the benefits of a radical approach within multimodality therapy. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 34(4):886–891
Niyikiza C, Baker SD et al (2002) Homocysteine and methylmalonic acid: markers to predict and avoid toxicity from pemetrexed therapy. Mol Cancer Ther 1(7):545–552
Nowak AK, Byrne MJ et al (2002) A multicentre phase II study of cisplatin and gemcitabine for malignant mesothelioma. Br J Cancer 87(5):491–496
O’Brien ME, Watkins D et al (2006) A randomised trial in malignant mesothelioma (M) of early (E) versus delayed (D) chemotherapy in symptomatically stable patients: the MED trial. Ann Oncol 17(2):270–275
Odaka M, Sterman DH et al (2001) Eradication of intraperitoneal and distant tumor by adenovirus-mediated interferon-beta gene therapy is attributable to induction of systemic immunity. Cancer Res 61(16):6201–6212
Ohta Y, Shridhar V et al (1999) VEGF and VEGF type C play an important role in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in human malignant mesothelioma tumours. Br J Cancer 81(1):54–61
Okuda K, Sasaki H et al (2008) Epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutation, amplification and protein expression in malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 134(10):1105–1111
Okuno SH, Delaune R et al (2008) A phase 2 study of gemcitabine and epirubicin for the treatment of pleural mesothelioma: a North Central Cancer Treatment Study, N0021. Cancer 112(8):1772–1779
O’Rourke N, Garcia JC et al (2007) A randomised controlled trial of intervention site radiotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Radiother Oncol 84(1):18–22
Otterson GA, Herndon JE II et al (2004) Capecitabine in malignant mesothelioma: a phase II trial by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (39807). Lung Cancer 44(2):251–259
Pass HI, Kranda K et al (1997) Surgically debulked malignant pleural mesothelioma: results and prognostic factors. Ann Surg Oncol 4(3):215–222
Pass HI, Temeck BK et al (1997) Phase III randomized trial of surgery with or without intraoperative photodynamic therapy and postoperative immunochemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ann Surg Oncol 4(8):628–633
Pass HI, Brewer GJ et al (2008) A phase II trial of tetrathiomolybdate after surgery for malignant mesothelioma: final results. Ann Thorac Surg 86(2):383–389; discussion 390
Pavlakis N, Williams G et al (2002) Thalidomide alone or in combination with cisplatin/gemcitabine chemotherapy for malignant mesothelioma (MM): preliminary results from two phase II studies. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 2002;21, 2:p19b, Abstract 1885 38th Annual Meeting, May 18–21, 2002, Orlando FL
Porta C, Zimatore M et al (2005) Raltitrexed-Oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy is inactive as second-line treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma patients. Lung Cancer 48(3):429–434
Portalone L, Antilli A et al (2005) Epirubicin and gemcitabine as first-line treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Tumori 91(1):15–18
Ralli M, Tourkantonis I et al (2009) Docetaxel plus gemcitabine as first-line treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a single institution phase II study. Anticancer Res 29(8):3441–3444
Ramalingam SS, Belani CP et al (2009) Phase II study of belinostat (PXD101), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, for second line therapy of advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Thorac Oncol 4(1):97–101
Razak AR, Chatten KJ et al (2008) Retreatment with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM): a second line treatment option. Lung Cancer 60(2):294–297
Rice DC, Stevens CW et al (2007) Outcomes after extrapleural pneumonectomy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Ann Thorac Surg 84(5):1685–1692; discussion 1692-3
Rusch VW, Venkatraman ES (1999) Important prognostic factors in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, managed surgically. Ann Thorac Surg 68(5):1799–1804
Rusch VW, Rosenzweig K et al (2001) A phase II trial of surgical resection and adjuvant high-dose hemithoracic radiation for malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 122(4):788–795
Santoro A, O’Brien ME et al (2008) Pemetrexed plus cisplatin or pemetrexed plus carboplatin for chemonaive patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: results of the International Expanded Access Program. J Thorac Oncol 3(7):756–763
Scherpereel A (2007) Guidelines of the French Speaking Society for Chest Medicine for management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Respir Med 101(6):1265–1276
Scherpereel A, Berghmans T et al (2011) for the European Lung Cancer Working Party (ELCWP). Valproate-doxorubicin: promising therapy for progressing mesothelioma. A phase II study. Eur Respir J. Jan; 37(1):129–135. Epub 2010 Jun 7
Scherpereel A, Astoul P et al (2010) Guidelines of the European Respiratory Society and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons for the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Eur Respir J 35(3):479–495
M. Serke, T. Bauer (2007) Pemetrexed in second-line therapy in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings Part I. Vol 25, No. 18S (June 20 Supplement), 18198 Chicago, IL 2007 June 1–4
Sorensen JB, Sundstrom S et al (2007) Pemetrexed as second-line treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma after platinum-based first-line treatment. J Thorac Oncol 2(2):147–152
Stahel RA, Weder W et al (2009) Malignant pleural mesothelioma: ESMO clinical recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Ann Oncol 20(Suppl 4):73–75
Sterman DH, Recio A et al (2007) A phase I clinical trial of single-dose intrapleural IFN-beta gene transfer for malignant pleural mesothelioma and metastatic pleural effusions: high rate of antitumor immune responses. Clin Cancer Res 13(15 Pt 1):4456–4466
Sterman DH, Recio A et al (2010) A phase I trial of repeated intrapleural adenoviral-mediated interferon-beta gene transfer for mesothelioma and metastatic pleural effusions. Mol Ther 18(4):852–860
Strizzi L, Catalano A et al (2001) Vascular endothelial growth factor is an autocrine growth factor in human malignant mesothelioma. J Pathol 193(4):468–475
Tourkantonis I, Makrilia N et al (2010) Phase II Study of Gemcitabine Plus Docetaxel as Second-Line Treatment in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Single Institution Study. Am J Clin Oncol. May 3. [Epub ahead of print]
Tsao AS, Mehran R et al (2009) Neoadjuvant and intrapleural therapies for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Clin Lung Cancer 10(1):36–41
van Haarst JM, Baas P et al (2002) Multicentre phase II study of gemcitabine and cisplatin in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Br J Cancer 86(3):342–345
van Meerbeeck JP, Gaafar R et al (2005) Randomized phase III study of cisplatin with or without raltitrexed in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: an intergroup study of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Lung Cancer Group and the National Cancer Institute of Canada. J Clin Oncol 23(28):6881–6889
van Sandick JW, Kappers I et al (2008) Surgical treatment in the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma: a single institution’s experience. Ann Surg Oncol 15(6):1757–1764
Velcheti V, Kasai Y et al (2009) Absence of mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase domain in patients with mesothelioma. J Thorac Oncol 4(4):559
Villano JL, Husain AM, Stadler WM, Hanson LL, Vogelzang NJ, Kindler HL (2004) A phase II trial of imatinib mesylate in patients with malignant mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 22(14S):663
Vogelzang N, Taub RN, Shin D, Costanzi J, Pass H, Gutheil J, Georgiadis M, McAndrew P, Kelly K, Chun H, Mittelman A, McCachren S, Shogen K, Mikulski S (2000) Phase III Randomised Trial of Onconase (ONC) vs. Doxorubicin (DOX) in Patients (Pts) with Unresecable Malignant Mesothelioma (UMM): analysis of survival. 2000 ASCO meeting. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 19:2000 (abstract 2274)
Vogelzang NJ, Rusthoven JJ et al (2003) Phase III study of pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin versus cisplatin alone in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Clin Oncol 21(14):2636–2644
Xanthopoulos A, Bauer TT et al (2008) Gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin in pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: an observational study. J Occup Med Toxicol 3:34
Yajnik S, Rosenzweig KE et al (2003) Hemithoracic radiation after extrapleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 56(5):1319–1326
Yang CT, You L et al (2003) A comparison analysis of anti-tumor efficacy of adenoviral gene replacement therapy (p14ARF and p16INK4A) in human mesothelioma cells. Anticancer Res 23(1A):33–38
Zucali PA, Ceresoli GL et al (2008) Gemcitabine and vinorelbine in pemetrexed-pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Cancer 112(7):1555–1561
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dhalluin, X., Scherpereel, A. (2011). Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma. In: Tannapfel, A. (eds) Malignant Mesothelioma. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 189. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10862-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10862-4_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-10861-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-10862-4
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)