Conventional Treatment and its Effect on Survival of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Western Australia

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Abstract
Analysis of the survival of all 81 cases of pathologically confirmed malignant pleural mesothelioma in Western Australia between Jan. 1957-Dec. 1980 revealed a median survival from diagnosis of 5.1 mo. (mean 7.8 mo). The average time between presentation and diagnosis was 3.4 mo. Survival was better in younger subjects and subjects selected for surgery but was unrelated to sex, symptoms at onset, history of asbestos exposure, tumor morphology, therapy other than surgery or year of presentation. The selection of subjects at earlier clinical stages for surgical intervention is considered to account for their longer survival. The outlook for patients with this disease remains poor; this is still no optimism for future advances in therapy.