Epidemiology of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: A population-based study

Our plain-English summary of Epidemiology of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: A population-based study, by S.A.S. Salo, I. Ilonen, S. Laaksonen, et al (Cancer Epidemiology, 2017).

The study

• Authors: S.A.S. Salo, I. Ilonen, S. Laaksonen, M. Myllärniemi, J.A. Salo, T. Rantanen
• Journal: Cancer Epidemiology
• Published: 2017;51:81-86
• Cited by: 14 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Background: Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPeM) is a rare cancer of the mesothelial cells in the peritoneum with poor prognosis. Earlier reports from other countries indicate an incidence of 0.2-3 new cases per million per year. No previous studies have examined the national epidemiology of MPeM in Nordic countries. This study aimed to clarify the epidemiology of MPeM in Finland over a 12-year period.

Methods: The data consisted of cancer notifications, laboratory notifications, and death certificate information in the Finnish Cancer Registry (FCR) and Statistics Finland (SF) of all MPeM patients from 2000 to 2012 in Finland. We also collected data on occupational disease compensations from the Workers' Compensation Center (WCC) of Finland. Any missing information was collected from the respective patient's file of every patient obtained from health institutions that had treated the patients.

Results: Between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012, 90 new MPeM cases (56 males, 34 females) occurred in Finland. Median annual incidence was four new cases, which corresponded to 0.74 new cases per million per year. MPeM was deemed an occupational disease in 21 patients (23.3%). 71 patients (78.9%) of whom had a known cause of death, with a median survival of 4 months. The number of deaths linked to other disease than mesothelioma was 28/74 (37.8%).

Conclusions: Our study indicates that MPeM in Finland is rare and fatal, which is in accordance with previous reports from other countries. MPeM is also a fatal disease, since most of the patients died due to MPeM.

Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

In plain English

This retrospective population-based study described malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPeM), a cancer of the mesothelial cells in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen), across Finland. The authors used Finnish Cancer Registry and Statistics Finland data, Workers' Compensation Center records and patient files for cases diagnosed from 2000 to 2012. After four misclassified cases were excluded, 90 patients (56 males, 34 females) remained. The median annual incidence was four new cases, or 0.74 new cases per million per year. MPeM was deemed an occupational disease in 21 patients (23.3%). The study did not measure asbestos exposure and named no fiber types. In 23 cases (25.6%), MPeM was diagnosed only at autopsy. Of 81 patients who died, 74 had a known cause of death, and 28 of these 74 deaths were linked to a disease other than mesothelioma. Among the 79 patients whose survival time was known, median survival was 4.0 months. The authors concluded that MPeM in Finland is rare and fatal. They noted that occupation was known for only half the patients and that true incidence may be higher.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Retrospective population-based study using national registry data and patient files
• Who was studied: 90 patients (56 males, 34 females) diagnosed with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma in Finland between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. 94 were originally notified and 4 were excluded after their files were reviewed.
• Exposure: Exposure was not measured. The authors recorded each patient's profession at the time of diagnosis and occupational disease compensation records from the Workers' Compensation Center. No fiber types are named. The most common profession group was technical and household workers and clerical workers.
• Main results:
  • Among the 90 patients, the median annual incidence was four new cases, corresponding to 0.74 new cases per million per year in Finland.
  • The mean age at diagnosis was 67.4 years.
  • MPeM was deemed an occupational disease in 21 of the 90 patients (23.3%): 19 males and 2 females. It was suspected in 3 further patients.
  • In 23 cases (25.6%), MPeM was diagnosed microscopically only at autopsy.
  • In more than half of the cases (52 of 90, 57.8%, per Table 2), the cancer had spread beyond the regional lymph nodes at diagnosis.
  • Among the 79 patients whose survival time was known, mean survival was 12.47 months and median survival was 4.0 months (range 0 to 92 months).
  • The 6 patients who were radically operated had a median survival of 59.5 months.
  • 81 patients (90.0%) died, and 74 of them had a known cause of death. In 33 of those 74 deaths, the death certificate gave MPeM as the main cause of death.
  • 28 of 74 deaths (37.8%) were linked to a disease other than mesothelioma: 18 to pulmonary diseases, 7 to cardiovascular diseases and 3 to others.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that MPeM in Finland is rare and fatal, consistent with earlier reports from other countries.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Occupation was known for only half of the patients.
  • Only occupation at the time of diagnosis was recorded, and the duration of exposure could not be determined.
  • Because MPeM is hard to diagnose, the true incidence may be higher than the study found.
  • Cancer registry notification forms may sometimes have been incomplete, and histological subtype was often not recorded.
  • The data set was small.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Peritoneal mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Epidemiology, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Mesothelial Cells, Peritoneum, Prognosis, Death Certificate, Cancer Registry, Occupational Disease.

Related studies

• Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Treatment Options and Survival — S.A.S. Salo, I. Ilonen, et al. (2019)
• Incidence and survival of peritoneal malignant mesothelioma between 1989 and 2015: A population-based study — N. Le Stang, V. Bouvier, et al. (2019)
• Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Patterns of Care and Survival in the Netherlands: A Population-Based Study — N.L. de Boer, J.P. van Kooten, et al. (2019)
• Patterns in the incidence, mortality and survival of malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, New South Wales, 1972-2009 — M.J. Soeberg, N. Creighton, et al. (2016)
• Peritoneal mesothelioma in Italy: Trends and geography of mortality and incidence — S. Conti, G. Minelli, et al. (2015)
• Treatment factors associated with long-term survival after cytoreductive surgery and regional chemotherapy for patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma — H.R. Alexander, D.L. Bartlett, et al. (2013)

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