MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA FOLLOWING RADIATION-THERAPY

BACKGROUND: Studies of the growing population of long-term survivors o f cancer have led to increased recognition of the neoplastic complicat ions of therapy. The causes of secondary malignancies are probably mul tifactorial, but radiation therapy and chemotherapy have certainly bee n implicated in the development of posttherapy neoplasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case of pleural mesothelioma after successful radiation th erapy for Hodgkin's disease is described with a review of radiation-as sociated mesotheliomas reported in the literature. In Hodgkin's diseas e, patients may receive radiation, chemotherapy, or combined treatment ; the most common secondary malignancy is acute nonlymphocytic leukemi a while sarcomas are the second most common solid tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Although mesothelioma is an uncommon sarcoma, its occurrence has been documented numerous times after exposure to diagnostic or therapeutic radiation.