Malignant mesothelioma. The University of Minnesota experience

Between 1950 and 1981, 31 patients with mesothelioma were treated at the University of Minnesota. An average of 0.2 to 0.6 patients were seen per year between 1950 and 1970, and since 1970 there has been an average of 1.4 to 2.4 patients per year. Twenty-seven of the 28 patients with malignant mesothelioma are known or presumed dead. Mesotheliomas occurred in all areas of Minnesota, and 28.6% of the patients had a definite history of asbestos exposure. This was also a probable cause of the disease in an additional 25% of patients. The clinical findings and course of the disease were similar to other series. The median survival of all patients was eight months. Doxorubicin-treated patients survived a median of 16 months (range, 2-36 months). Malignant mesothelioma is being increasingly recognized in Minnesota and has a grim prognosis in spite of doxorubicin therapy.