Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura: a study of 52 treated and 64 untreated patients.

We have carried out sequential prospective studies of treatment with surgery alone, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy in malignant mesothelioma of the pleura. The survival of treated patients was contrasted with that of 64 contemporary untreated patients whose clinical condition at presentation was comparable with that of the treated patients. Non-radical surgery alone (28 patients) was of palliative benefit, particularly for the control of recurrent pleural effusions, and may have prolonged survival in one patient with localised malignant mesothelioma. Chemotherapy with doxorubicin, vincristine, and cyclophosphamide (12 patients, with preceding surgery in eight) was without objective benefit. Megavoltage radiotherapy by an off axis beam rotational technique (12 patients, with preceding surgery in eight) abolished pain and dyspnoea and may have prolonged survival in one patient and terminated recurrent pleural effusions in three, but it was of no value in the other patients. There was no significant difference in survival between treatment groups or between treated and untreated patients, and no difference when mesotheliomas of epithelial, sarcomatous, and mixed cell types were examined separately. Treatment of this disease appeared to fail because of the unresponsiveness of the tumour to existing forms of treatment and the advanced stage of the disease at clinical presentation.