Multidisciplinary Approach in the Evaluation and Management of Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. A Single Center Experience

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer with very dismal prognosis whose pathogenesis is mainly associated with exposure to asbestos fibers. Although recognized as a rare disease, in Italy MPM has a very high incidence due the past presence of asbestos cement factories and is a medical priority. At our Institution a dedicated integrated path to diagnose and assist patients affected by MPM has been activated since 2017. A total of 88 patients were analyzed, 61 males and 27 females, respectively. Most cases arrived from the province of Pavia (74.84%),. The mean age at diagnosis was 69.7 years, overall survival 14.2 months. Exhaustive epidemiologic and clinical data are detailed in Fig. 1. Each case was discussed by a multidisciplinary group to a proper therapeutic multimodal treatment, encopasses first line chemo (platinum/pemetrexed) and/or pleurectomy. Radiotherapy was limited to palliation of pain. Notably, we compared the use of gemcitabine vs navelbine as second line approach in case of disease progression and no statistical differences (p Malignant