Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Occupational Cancers pp 295–302Cite as

Malignant Mesothelioma: Clinical and Imaging Findings

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 1025 Accesses

Abstract

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare tumor. The incidence has been rising since the 1970s with a male to female ratio of 5:1 which is likely due to the increased frequency of occupational exposure to asbestos in men. The clinical and imaging features of malignant mesothelioma vary widely depending on the stage of presentation. A significantly high index of suspicion is required to make a diagnosis due to the nonspecific nature of the symptoms, signs, and early radiology. Invasive surgical procedures are often required to obtain adequate tumor tissue samples to secure the diagnosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Wagner JC, Sleggs CA, Marchand P. Diffuse pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province. Br J Ind Med. 1960;17:260–71.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Verschraegen C. Mesothelioma: incidence and survival rates in the United States. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol. 2003;22:869.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bégin R. Asbestos related diseases. In: Harber P, Schenker MB, Balmes JR, editors. Occupational and environmental respiratory disease. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book; 1996. p. 293–321.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Sheard JDH, et al. Pneumothorax and malignant mesothelioma in patients over the age of 40. Thorax. 1991;46:584–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Law MR, Hodson ME, Heard BE. Malignant mesothelioma of the pleura: relation between histological type and clinical behaviour. Thorax. 1982;37:810–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ruffie P, et al. Diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura in Ontario and Quebec: a retrospective study of 332 patients. J Clin Oncol. 1981;7:1157–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Olesen LL, Thorshauge H. Thrombocytosis in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Cancer. 1988;62:1194–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rudd RM. Malignant mesothelioma. Br Med Bull. 2010;93:105–23.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Munkholm-Larsen S, Cao CQ, Yan TD. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. World J Gastrointest Surg. 2009;1(1):38–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Antman KH. Current concepts: malignant mesothelioma. N Engl J Med. 1980;303:200–2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Qureshi NR, Gleeson FV. Imaging of pleural disease. Clin Chest Med. 2006;27:193–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Gotfried MH, Quan SF, Sobonya RE. Diffuse epithelial pleural mesothelioma presenting as a solitary lung mass. Chest. 1983;84:99.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ng CS, Munden RF, Libshitz HI. Malignant pleural mesothelioma: the spectrum of manifestations on CT in 70 cases. Clin Radiol. 1999;54:415–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Mujoomdar AA, Sugarbaker DJ. Diffuse pleural malignancies. In: Sugarbaker DJ, Bueno R, Krasna MJ, Mentzer SJ, Zellos L, editors. Adult chest surgery. New York: McGraw Hill Medical; 2009. p. 838–48.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Heelan RT, Rusch VW, Begg CB, et al. Staging of malignant pleural mesothelioma: comparison of CT and MR imaging. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1999;172:1039–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Bernard F, Sterman D, Smith RJ, et al. Metabolic imaging of malignant pleural mesothelioma with fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Chest. 1998;9:713–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Flores RM, Akhurst T, Gonen M, et al. Positron emission tomography defines metastatic disease but not locoregional disease in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2003;126:11–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Flores RM, Akhurst T, Gonen M, et al. Positron emission tomography predicts survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2006;132:763–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ismail-Khan R, Robinson LA, Williams CC, et al. Malignant pleural mesothelioma: a comprehensive review. Cancer Control. 2006;13:255–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Metintas M, Ozdemir N, Isiksoy S, et al. CT-guided pleural needle biopsy in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1995;19:370–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Agarwal PP, Seely JM, Matzinger FR, et al. Pleural mesothelioma: sensitivity and incidence of needle track seeding after image-guided biopsy versus surgical biopsy. Radiology. 2006;241:589–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Rai AJ, Flores RM, Mathew A, et al. Soluble mesothelin related peptides (SMRP) and osteopontin as protein biomarkers for malignant mesothelioma: analytical validation of ELISA based assays and characterization at mRNA and protein levels. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2010;48(2):271–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Robinson BW, Creaney J, Lake R, et al. Mesothelin-family proteins and diagnosis of mesothelioma. Lancet. 2003;362:1612–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. West SD, Lee GYC. Management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Clin Chest Med. 2006;27:335–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Butchart EG, Ashcroft T, Barnsley WC, et al. Pleuropneumonectomy in the management of diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura: experience with 29 patients. Thorax. 1976;31:15–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Edge SB, Byrd DR, Compton CC. AJCC cancer staging manual. 7th ed. New York: Springer; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Naveed Z. Alam

  2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY, USA

    Raja M. Flores

Authors
  1. Naveed Z. Alam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Raja M. Flores
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raja M. Flores .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Sisko Anttila

  2. Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Paolo Boffetta

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Alam, N.Z., Flores, R.M. (2020). Malignant Mesothelioma: Clinical and Imaging Findings. In: Anttila, S., Boffetta, P. (eds) Occupational Cancers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30766-0_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30766-0_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-30765-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-30766-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation