Mesothelioma Research On Secondary Surgery Following Tumor Recurrence
Recently published in the January 2010 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a study titled “Second Surgery for Recurrence of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma After Extrapleural Pneumonectomy” has found mixed results on the efficacy of secondary surgery in mesothelioma patients.
Italian researchers retrospectively evaluated the outcomes of 74 malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients treated with extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), following the surgical management of their solid tumor recurrences.
Follow-up data was available for 57 patients. Of the 57 malignant mesothelioma patients with follow-up data, 11 patients experienced a solid tumor recurrence (1.5 to 12 years after the initial treatment). Of the 11 patients with tumor recurrence, a total of eight showed sufficient clinical health to undergo a secondary surgery with curative intentions.
The authors of the study report that “Chest wall resection was performed in 4 cases of parietal recurrence, radical retroperitoneal resection was done in 3 cases of retroperitoneal relapse, and segmental resection of the remaining lung was done in one case of pulmonary metastasis.”
These eight patients exhibited a median survival after secondary surgery of 14.5 months (from a range of 6 to 29 months). The study found no correlation between survival and the location of the tumor recurrence, age or disease-free interval.
The researchers concluded, “In this series, the second surgery did not offer the expected survival benefit of curative treatment strategies and should therefore be considered palliative. Second surgery may be a treatment option in a subset of patients who experience a solid recurrence of MPM that is symptomatic or near vital organs and who cannot undergo additional radiotherapy.”
Additional information about mesothelioma may be found through the Mesothelioma Center.
