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Review
. 2018 Jan;10(Suppl 2):S304-S310.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2017.10.19.

Chemotherapy treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a difficult history

Marika Cinausero  1   2   3 , Karim Rihawi  3 , Francesca Sperandi  3 , Barbara Melotti  3 , Andrea Ardizzoni  3
Affiliations
Review

Chemotherapy treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a difficult history

Marika Cinausero et al. J Thorac Dis. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare neoplasm that typically arises from mesothelial surfaces of the pleural cavity. Despite treatment improvements, it carries a dismal prognosis. The majority of patients either have unresectable disease or are not candidates for surgery due to medical comorbidities or old age. For such patients, chemotherapy (CT) represents the gold-standard treatment. To date, combination CT with cisplatin plus pemetrexed represents the most widely used regimen in first-line setting for patients with unresectable MPM. Other first-line options are currently available, including the use of raltitrexed instead of pemetrexed combined with platinum. In this review, we discuss the role of CT in MPM mainly focusing on the results of the trials conducted in first-line setting.

Keywords: Chemotherapy (CT); malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM); pemetrexed; platinum.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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