ABSTRACT
Background: The exact role and type of surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) remains controversial. This study aimed at analyzing a 20-year single center perioperative experience in MPM surgery at our high-volume thoracic surgery center and comparing the overall survival after trimodal extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) and extended pleurectomy and decortication combined with hyperthermic intrathoracic chemoperfusion (EPD/HITOC) and adjuvant chemotherapy with that after chemotherapy (CTx) alone. Methods: Patients with epithelioid MPM treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, EPP and adjuvant radiotherapy within a trimodal concept or EPD/HITOC in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy between 2001 and 2018 were included in this retrospective analysis. Surgical cohorts were compared to patients treated with standard chemotherapy. Results: Overall, 182 patients (69 EPP, 57 EPD/HITOC, 56 CTx) were analyzed. Due to occupational exposure to asbestos for most of the patients, 154 patients (84.6%) were male. The patients in the surgical cohorts were significantly younger than those in the CTx cohort. There was no significant difference between the proportion of patient age and side. The median overall survival of the EPD/HITOC cohort with 38.1 months was significantly longer than that of the EPP and CTx cohorts (24.0 and 15.8 months). Better survival was significantly associated with an ECOG 0 performance status, age below 70 years, and negative lymph node status. In the multivariate analysis, EPD/HITOC was significantly associated with improved overall survival. Perioperative morbidity was lower in the EPD/HITOC group than in the EPP cohort. Conclusions: EPD/HITOC is feasible and safe for localized epithelioid pleural mesothelioma. Changing the surgical approach to a less radical lung-sparing technique may improve overall survival compared to trimodal EPP.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Lung-sparing cytoreductive surgery by extended pleurectomy and decortication (EPD) in combination with hyperthermic intrathoracic chemoperfusion (HITOC) forms a promising treatment strategy for malignant pleural mesothelioma and recurrent pleural thymic malignancies. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to scrutinize the surgical procedure and perioperative patient management with emphasis on perioperative morbidity and local tumor control. METHODS: In 2014, a standardized EPD and HITOC procedure was implemented at the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg. This retrospective analysis included clinical data of consecutive patients with pleural mesothelioma and pleural metastasized malignancies treated by EPD and HITOC. The surgical procedure, perioperative management, lung function data, and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. RESULTS: In the time range between April 2, 2014 and July 2018, 76 patients with pleural malignancies have been treated with EPD and HITOC, and were analyzed retrospectively. It included 61 patients with pleural mesothelioma and 15 patients with pleural metastases of thymic malignancies (12), non-small cell lung cancer (1), colorectal carcinoma (1), and sarcoma (1). Perioperative morbidity following EPD and HITOC treatments represented 23.7% of overall malignancies, while 30- and 90-day mortality were 0 and 1.3%, respectively. Median PFS lasted 18.4 months for mesothelioma and 72.2 months for thymic malignancies. CONCLUSION: Combining EPD with HITOC can be performed in patients with either pleural mesothelioma or pleural metastases resulting in low perioperative morbidity and mortality as well as remarkable local tumor control.
