Secondline Chemotherapy Versus Best Supportive Care in Patient with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Retrospective Study

Introduction: Mesothelioma is a rare neoplasm arising from mesothelial surfaces with the malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) as the most common form. Secondline chemotherapy in MPM is still controversial and in this study we evaluated whether it is superior to best supportive care. Materials and Methods: A total of 51 patients with MPM from Acibadem Kayseri Hospital, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital and Erciyes University were analyzed retrospectively. The patients treated with secondline chemotherapies (SLCT) were compared with those treated with best supportive care (BSC) for overall survival. Results: The median overall survival (OS) for firstline chemotherapy -> SLCT and firstline chemotherapy -> BSC groups were 20.3 and 14.7 months respectively (p=0.079). After firstline chemotherapy the median OS for SLCT and BSC were 5.9 and 4.7 months (p=0.355). Discussion: Although there was a trend for improvement in overall survival in patients treated with secondline chemotherapy, the difference was not statistically significant. Our results do not support the proposal that secondline chemotherapy could be effective in patients with MPM.