MALIGNANT PLEURAL MESOTHELIOMA - MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS OF PROGNOSTIC FACTORS ON 113 PATIENTS

We report on clinical features of 113 cases of pathologically confirme d Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, observed in Genoa (Italy) between 19 79 and 1985. Overall median survival was 10 months. Among the pretreat ment variables studied (age, sex, asbestos exposure, pathological type , chest pain and dyspnea at the time of diagnosis), the only one of pr ognostic value in the univariate analysis was the histological subtype : median survivals were 12, 7 and 4 months for the patients in the epi thelial, mixed, and fibrosarcomatous groups, respectively (p = 0.0012) . A multivariate analysis confirmed the independent predictive power o f the histotype (p = 0.0022). A review of literature data concerning p rognostic factors in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma is presented.