Asbestos Burden Predicts Survival in Pleural Mesothelioma

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Abstract
BackgroundMalignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rapidly fatal asbestos-associated malignancy with a median survival time of < 1 year following diagnosis. Treatment strategy is determined in part using known prognostic factors.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between asbestos exposure and survival outcome in MPM in an effort to advance the understanding of the contribution of asbestos exposure to MPM prognosis.MethodsWe studied incident cases of MPM patients enrolled through the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, using survival follow-up, self-reported asbestos exposure (n = 128), and a subset of cases (n = 80) with quantitative asbestos fiber burden measures.ResultsConsistent with the established literature, we found independent, significant associations between male sex and reduced survival (p < 0.04), as well as between nonepithelioid tumor histology and reduced survival (p < 0.02). Although self-reported exposur...