Hyperthermia combined with intra-thoracic chemotherapy and radiotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Background: Prognosis for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) remains poor and such patients require intensive treatment. Few studies have examined hyperthermia for MPM. The present study investigated the feasibility of hyperthermia combined with weekly chemo-radiotherapy for patients with MPM and estimated the efficacy of this regimen.Methods: A total of 11 patients (median patient age was 67 and all had pleural effusion) with MPM were enrolled in this study. The treatment regimen comprised of weekly thermo-radiotherapy with intra-thoracic chemotherapy 2–5 times at initiation of treatment. Hyperthermia was performed once per week for ∼60 min. Hemithorax external radiotherapy was administered once weekly on the same day as hyperthermia and just before thermochemotherapy. Median total radiation dose was 6 Gy (range, 2–10 Gy). Chemotherapy was administered into the thoracic cavity through a tube. Chemotherapeutic agents administered were CDDP for seven patients, carboplatinum (CBDCA) for thre...