Conventional treatment and its effect on survival of malignant pleural mesothelioma in Western Australia

Analysis of the survival of all 81 cases of pathologically confirmed malignant pleural mesothelioma in Western Australia between January 1957 and December 1980 has revealed a median survival from diagnosis of 5.1 months (mean 7.8 months). The average time between presentation and diagnosis was 3.4 months. Survival was better in younger subjects and subjects selected for surgery but was unrelated to sex, symptoms at onset, history of asbestos exposure, tumour morphology, therapy other than surgery or year of presentation. The selection of subjects at earlier clinical stages for surgical intervention is considered to account for their longer survival. The outlook for patients with this disease remains poor and there is still no optimism for future advances in therapy.