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Updated: May 28, 2026
Implantation and Monitoring by PET/CT of an Orthotopic Model of Human Pleural Mesothelioma in Athymic Mice
Published on: December 21, 2019
Prophylactic irradiation of intervention sites in malignant pleural mesothelioma
Marie-Anne Froment1, Eric Fréchette, Anne Dagnault
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, 11 Côte du Palais, Québec, QC, Canada. marie-anne.froment.1@ulaval.ca
Background And Purpose:
To assess the effectiveness of prophylactic irradiation of intervention track (PIT) to prevent tumor seeding in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective review was conducted of 171 patients with a histological diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma with some undergoing prophylactic irradiation of intervention sites.
Results:
Forty-eight patients (28%) received PIT. A majority of patients were followed until death. Thoracoscopy (88%) was the procedure most often performed. Thirty-three percent of patients received chemotherapy. The median dose of PIT was 21 Gy in 3 fractions with electrons or 6 MV photons. The local progression free survival (LPFS) at the intervention site was significantly higher in the PIT group and was not influenced by chemotherapy. At 6 months, LPFS for the intervention sites was 91% with PIT and 74% without PIT (p=0.002). During the follow-up, 6 patients (13%) in the PIT group had tumor invasion of the subcutaneous tissue compared to 40 patients (33%) in the group without PIT (p=0.008).
Conclusions:
This study suggests that PIT in mesothelioma reduces the incidence of procedure tract metastasis. Finally, chemotherapy does not seem to have an influence on the incidence of tract metastasis.
