Åslaug Helland1, Steinar Solberg2, Odd Terje Brustugun3. 1. Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital-The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway. 3. Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital-The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: otr@ous-hf.no.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Asbestos-related malignant pleural mesothelioma is one of the most lethal tumor types. The advent of antimetabolite treatment as pemetrexed, introduced in the early 2000s, may have increased survival on a population basis. In this study, we have analyzed population-based incidence and survival data over the last 40 years. METHODS: Complete national data on 1686 patients from the Cancer Registry of Norway sampled from 1970 to 2009 are presented, with incidence rates in 5-year periods. Relative survival for 1 year and 3 years and median survival in 5-year intervals were calculated. RESULTS: The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma has been significantly and steadily increasing from 1970 until 2009, with 50 patients diagnosed in the period 1970-1974 and 377 diagnosed in 2005-2009. The incidence was highest among men in all time periods. A slight decline was observed in the last period. The 1-year survival rate increased from 20.7% to 44.0% during the period 1970-2009, whereas the 3-year survival rate remained below 10%. Median survival increased from 4.0 months in the first period to 9.3 months in the last period. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma follows the curve of asbestos exposure with a 20- to 40-year lag. There has been a significant increase in survival, most likely because of earlier diagnosis and improvements in cytostatic treatment.
BACKGROUND:Asbestos-related malignant pleural mesothelioma is one of the most lethal tumor types. The advent of antimetabolite treatment as pemetrexed, introduced in the early 2000s, may have increased survival on a population basis. In this study, we have analyzed population-based incidence and survival data over the last 40 years. METHODS: Complete national data on 1686 patients from the Cancer Registry of Norway sampled from 1970 to 2009 are presented, with incidence rates in 5-year periods. Relative survival for 1 year and 3 years and median survival in 5-year intervals were calculated. RESULTS: The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma has been significantly and steadily increasing from 1970 until 2009, with 50 patients diagnosed in the period 1970-1974 and 377 diagnosed in 2005-2009. The incidence was highest among men in all time periods. A slight decline was observed in the last period. The 1-year survival rate increased from 20.7% to 44.0% during the period 1970-2009, whereas the 3-year survival rate remained below 10%. Median survival increased from 4.0 months in the first period to 9.3 months in the last period. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma follows the curve of asbestos exposure with a 20- to 40-year lag. There has been a significant increase in survival, most likely because of earlier diagnosis and improvements in cytostatic treatment.
Authors: A Linton; N Pavlakis; R O'Connell; M Soeberg; S Kao; S Clarke; J Vardy; N van Zandwijk Journal: Br J Cancer Date: 2014-09-04 Impact factor: 7.640
Authors: Swaantje Casjens; Daniel G Weber; Georg Johnen; Irina Raiko; Dirk Taeger; Carmen Meinig; Susanne Moebus; Karl-Heinz Jöckel; Thomas Brüning; Beate Pesch Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2017-10-11 Impact factor: 2.692