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. 2020 Dec 9;6(1):20200144.
doi: 10.1515/pp-2020-0144. eCollection 2020 Dec.

A review of malignant pleural mesothelioma in a large North East UK pleural centre

Declan C Murphy  1   2 , Alexander Mount  1 , Fiona Starkie  1 , Leah Taylor  1 , Avinash Aujayeb  1
Affiliations

A review of malignant pleural mesothelioma in a large North East UK pleural centre

Declan C Murphy et al. Pleura Peritoneum. .

Abstract

Objectives: The National Mesothelioma Audit 2020 showed Northumbria to have low rates of histopathological confirmation, treatment and one-year survival rates for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). We hypothesized that an internal analysis over a 10-year period provides valuable insights into presentation, diagnosis, treatment and outcomes.

Methods: A single-centre retrospective case series of all confirmed MPM patients between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2019 was performed. Demographics, clinical, radiological and histopathological characteristics and outcomes were collected. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS V26.0.

Results: A total of 247 patients had MPM. About 86% were male, mean age 75.7 years. Dyspnoea (77.4%) and chest pain (38.5%) were commonest symptoms. 64.9 and 71.4% had pleural thickening and effusion, respectively. About 86.8% had at least one attempt to obtain a tissue biopsy, but histopathological confirmation in only 108 (43.7%). About 66.3% with PS 0 and 1 (62.7% of total cohort) had at least one anti-cancer therapy. Death within 12 months was associated with disease progression within 6 months (p≤0.001). Chemotherapy (p≤0.001) and epithelioid histological subtype (p=0.01) were protective.

Conclusions: This study confirms known epidemiology of MPM, demonstrates variability in practices and highlights how some NMA recommendations are not met. This provides the incentive for a regional mesothelioma multi-disciplinary meeting.

Keywords: epithelioid; mesothelioma; pleural.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

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