Advances in treatment of mesothelioma

Abstract

Introduction: 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.

Areas covered: 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.

Expert opinion: 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.

Keywords: Malignant pleural mesothelioma; chemotherapy; clinical trials; immunotherapy.