ABSTRACTS FOUND IN VARIOUS MEDICAL JOURNALS

The Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America

Abstracts Found in Various Medical Journals Concerning Peritoneal Mesothelioma Peritoneal mesothelioma in a 17-year-old boy with evidence of previous exposure to chrysotile and tremolite asbestos. Intraperitoneal cisplatin and etoposide in peritoneal mesothelioma: favorable outcome with a multimodality approach. Intestinal obstruction due to diffuse peritoneal fibrosis at 2 years after the successful treatment of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma with intraperitoneal mitoxantrone. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in childhood with long-term survival. Successful therapy of peritoneal mesothelioma with intraperitoneal chemotherapy alone. A case report. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Efficacy of cisplatin-based intraperitoneal chemotherapy as treatment of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Death certificate categorization of malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in a cohort of asbestos insulation workers. Asbestos, laryngeal carcinoma, and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in an insulation worker. Year: 1994 Peritoneal mesothelioma in a 17-year-old boy with evidence of previous exposure to chrysotile and tremolite asbestos. Abstract: We describe a case of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma arising in a 17-year-old boy. The diagnosis was based on a comprehensive study including light microscopy, histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, evaluation of the clinical course, and autopsy examination. Analytical transmission electron microscopy showed a concentration of 510,000 asbestos fibers/g dry lung tissue. The fibers were represented by chrysotile (62%) and tremolite (38%) asbestos. About 40% of the total fibers were longer than 5 microns. The presence of tremolite fibers was probably due to environmental exposure to contaminated cosmetic talc. This is the first reported case of pathologically proven exposure to asbestos dust in malignant mesothelioma of childhood and adolescence. Hum Pathol1994 Jun, vol. 25, pages 617-622 UNITED STATESAndrion A and Bosia SDivision of Pathological Anatomy, City Hospital, Asti, Italy.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1993 Intraperitoneal cisplatin and etoposide in peritoneal mesothelioma: favorable outcome with a multimodality approach. Abstract: Ten patients with histologically documented peritoneal mesothelioma were treated with intraperitoneal cisplatin 200 mg/m2, sodium thiosulfate rescue and etoposide 65-290 mg/m2 every 4 weeks for a maximum of six cycles. All had epithelial or mixed epithelial-fibrous histology. Toxicity was tolerable, with 50% sustaining grade 3 or 4 granulocytopenia. There was one episode of neutropenic fever. Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy occurred in one patient, grade 1 in five patients. Complete remission occurred in one of five patients with measurable disease. Median survival for patients whose tumors were surgically debulked to < 2 cm residua prior to treatment was 22 months, while it was 5 months for those with measurable, surgically inaccessible disease (P = 0.0731 by Cox regression proportional hazard model). These data suggest that patients who present with resectable disease may benefit from an aggressive adjuvant approach. This possibility warrants prospective testing in a randomized clinical trial. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol1993, vol. 32, pages 204-208 GERMANY Langer CJ and Rosenblum NDepartment of Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1992 Intestinal obstruction due to diffuse peritoneal fibrosis at 2 years after the successful treatment of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma with intraperitoneal mitoxantrone [published erratum appears in Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 1992;30(3):249] Abstract: A 44-year-old man who had achieved a complete remission of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma after the intraperitoneal administration of 25 mg/m2 mitoxantrone presented with clinical and radiological signs of intestinal obstruction suggestive of recurrent disease at about 2 years following the initial treatment. However, laparotomy revealed extensive adhesive fibrosis but no sign of malignant mesothelioma. The peritoneal complications of intraperitoneal cytostatic treatment are discussed. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol1992, vol. 29, pages 405-408 GERMANY Vlasveld LT and Taal BGDepartment of Medical Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Huis, Amsterdam.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1991 Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in childhood with long-term survival. Abstract: A diffuse, well-differentiated, malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) developed in a nine-year-old girl. She received limited chemotherapy and radiation therapy and is alive and well without clinical evidence of disease 109 months after diagnosis. The neoplastic cells stained immunohistochemically for cytokeratin and epithelial membrane antigen but were unreactive with B72.3, anti-carcinoembryonic antigen, and anti-Leu-M1. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells had abundant desmosomes, numerous tonofilament bundles, and variable-length microvilli. These findings confirm the mesothelial nature of the cells. Features consistent with malignancy included DNA aneuploidy by flow cytometric analysis and diffuse peritoneal involvement. The three previously described survivors with MPM were also premenarchal girls. Some MPMs in premenarchal girls have an indolent biologic behavior similar to that of low-grade peritoneal serous neoplasia or well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma in adult women. Am J Clin Pathol1991 Apr, vol. 95, pages 493-498Geary WA, Mills SE and Frierson HF, JrDepartment of Pathology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1992 Successful therapy of peritoneal mesothelioma with intraperitoneal chemotherapy alone. A case report. Abstract: Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a disease that remains relatively refractory to conventional intravenous chemotherapy with currently available agents. Single-agent and combination chemotherapy offer a response rate of 20%. Direct intraperitoneal administration of some chemotherapeutic agents results in a significant pharmacologic advantage with much greater area under the concentration versus time curve (AUC). We report a case of a patient with peritoneal mesothelioma treated with combination intraperitoneal cisplatin and Ara-C who achieved a pathologic complete remission. This patient is still alive and has been in complete remission for 53 months. This combination of intraperitoneal chemotherapy deserves further evaluation in malignant mesothelioma. Am J Clin Oncol1992 Dec, vol 15, pages 528-530 UNITED STATES Garcia Moore MLSection of Medical Oncology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida 33121.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1991 Intraperitoneal chemotherapy for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma [published erratum appears in Eur J Cancer 1991;27(12):1717] Abstract: 4 patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma have been treated with intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the Netherlands Cancer Institute in the recent years. 1 patient achieved a complete remission for 36+ months and another patient had a partial remission that lasted for 10 months. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy alone or in combination with other treatment modalities may yield a response rate of 58% with 24% complete remissions in 70 patients reviewed in the literature. Although these data should be considered with caution because of the heterogenicity of the patient group treated, cisplatin-based intraperitoneal chemotherapy seems to be the best available treatment for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma at present. Eur J Cancer1991, vol. 27, pages 732-734 ENGLAND Vlasveld LTDepartment of Medical Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1992 Efficacy of cisplatin-based intraperitoneal chemotherapy as treatment of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Abstract: In an effort to examine the potential clinical utility of intraperitoneal (i.p.) therapy in the management of patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, 19 individuals with this disease were treated with a cisplatin-based i.p. treatment regimen. All but 1 patient also received i.p. mitomycin. The treatment was generally well tolerated, although a maximum of only four or five courses of cisplatin (100 mg/m2 every 28 days) and mitomycin (5-10 mg/treatment given 7 days after each i.p. cisplatin administration) could be administered, the treatment principally being stopped because of disease progression or catheter failure. Of 15 patients with malignant ascites, 7 (47%) experienced control of fluid reaccumulation ranging from 2 months to 73+ months (median 8 months). While the median survival for the 19 patients was only 9 months, 4 (21%) patients survived for more than 3 years from the initiation of therapy, and 2 patients are currently alive and clinically disease-free more than 5 years from the start of the i.p. treatment program. We conclude that a subset of patients with peritoneal mesothelioma, principally those with small-volume residual disease following surgical tumor debulking, can benefit from a cisplatin-based i.p. treatment strategy with control of ascites and prolonged disease-free survival. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol1992, vol. 118, pages 547-550 GERMANY Markman M and Kelsen DBreast/Gynecology Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021.

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1991 Death certificate categorization of malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in a cohort of asbestos insulation workers. Abstract: Accuracy of diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma (pleural and peritoneal) was studied in a cohort of asbestos insulation workers in the United States and Canada. Initial clinical diagnosis, clinical diagnosis at death and death certificate diagnosis were compared with the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma ascertained by full data review at the Division of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York ('best evidence'). In both groups the death certificate diagnosis was somewhat less frequently accurate than clinical diagnosis at death. Knowledge of the patients' occupational history by the attending physician and its relation to accuracy of diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is considered. Ribak J, Lilis R, Suzuki Y, Penner L and Selikoff IJDivision of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York.J Soc Occup Med1991 Autumn, vol. 41, pages 137-139 ENGLAND

* * * * * * * * * * Year: 1991 Asbestosis, laryngeal carcinoma, and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in an insulation worker. Abstract: Asbestos associated diseases consist of both benign and malignant conditions. A rare constellation of asbestosis, laryngeal carcinoma, and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma occurring in a patient with long term occupational exposure to airborne asbestos fibers is presented. The observation illustrates the powerful disease-causing potential of occupational exposure to asbestos. A brief discussion of multiple primary neoplasms associated with exposure to asbestos is also presented. Br J Ind Med1991 May, vol. 48, pages 338-341 Fischbein A and Luo JCDepartment of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, University of New York, New York 10029.

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Asbestos Legislation Update
Research Interest in Asbestos-Related Cancer Intensifies
Nine Questions and Answers on Chrysotile and Health
Abstracts Found in Various Medical Journals Concerning Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Asbestos and Cancer - The First Thirty Years
Asbestos and Cancer - The International Lag
Asbestos in Drinking Water and Cancer Incidence in San Francisco
Asbestos Concentration On Marine Vessels
Asbestos in Strange Places: Two Case Reports of Mesothelioma Among Merchant Seamen
Asbestos in the Workplace and the Community
Asbestos-Related Disease in Plumbers and Pipefitters Employed in Building Construction
Malignant Mesothelioma of the pleura: current surgical pathology
Call for an International Ban on Asbestos
Chrysotile Asbestos is the Main Cause of Pleural Mesothelioma
Environmental asbestos exposure and malignant pleural mesothelioma

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