COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY WITH CISPLATIN-VINBLASTINE IN MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA

From June 1985 to March 1993, 20 consecutive patients with histologica lly proven malignant mesothelioma were treated with cisplatin 100 mg/m (2) i.v. infusion on day 1 and vinblastine 6 mg/m(2) i.v. on day 1 and 8. Treatment was repeated every 4 weeks until progression. Al patient s were evaluated clinically and by CT-scan and were staged (Stage IV), according to Butchard's criteria, on entry to the study. None had pri or surgical excision. Eighty-one chemotherapy cycles were administered to 20 patients. One complete response, four partial responses, nine s table diseases and six progressions were noted. One partial responder entered complete response following an operation. Toxicity was accepta ble and no treatment-related deaths occurred. The median survival for responders was 19.3 months; for patients with stable disease 15.7 mont hs and for non-responders, 5.2 months. The mean duration of response w as 13 months. We conclude that for this small group of patients, the c ombination cisplatin-vinblastine is effective, with acceptable toxicit y in malignant mesothelioma. Further study with a larger number of pat ients is necessary.