Targeted therapy in malignant mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a highly aggressive neoplasm of serosal surfaces, such as the pleura and the peritoneum. Its incidence is increasing worldwide, due to a widespread exposure to asbestos. Aggressive multimodal strategies including pleuropneumonectomy are under evaluation but concern selected...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Targeted oncology 2008-07, Vol.3 (3), p.217-221
Main Author: Bréchot, Jeanne-Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedicine
Cancer
Chemotherapy
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Oncology
Review
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Summary:Malignant mesothelioma is a highly aggressive neoplasm of serosal surfaces, such as the pleura and the peritoneum. Its incidence is increasing worldwide, due to a widespread exposure to asbestos. Aggressive multimodal strategies including pleuropneumonectomy are under evaluation but concern selected patients and rarely permit a long-term survival. Numerous chemotherapy agents have been tested, alone or in combination. The doublet cisplatin–pemetrexed has emerged as the chemotherapy standard in this disease. However, the benefit of this regimen remains modest. Emerging targeted therapies in oncology accompany a better knowledge of tumor biology. This paper sums up the knowledge in malignant mesothelioma biology and the results of the few trials with targeted therapies conducted in this devastating disease.
ISSN:1776-2596
1776-260X
DOI:10.1007/s11523-008-0089-2