Malignant pleural mesothelioma and thoracic needle biopsy

Our plain-English summary of Malignant pleural mesothelioma and thoracic needle biopsy, by W. Kwee, I. Utama (Chest, 1988).

The study

• Authors: W. Kwee, I. Utama
• Journal: Chest
• Published: 1988;93(5):1115-6
• Type of article: Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a letter to the editor, written in response to an earlier article by Kim et al on diagnosing malignant pleural mesothelioma by biopsy of a lymph node in the armpit (axillary lymph node). The authors, from departments of pathology and pulmonology at a hospital in the Netherlands, described their own 37 cases of malignant mesothelioma: 32 pleural, four peritoneal and one pericardial. None showed axillary lymph node involvement. Five cases of primary malignant pleural mesothelioma had tumor in a neck (cervical) lymph node. In 14 of the 32 pleural cases, the tumor had destroyed structures between the ribs and/or the ribs themselves. The authors also reported one recent patient whose pleural malignant mesothelioma they diagnosed by a simple needle aspiration biopsy under the skin. The tissue stains were compatible with biphasic malignant mesothelioma, and the letter states that CT scan findings supported this. The authors concluded that thoracic needle aspiration biopsy is a useful diagnostic technique, offering rapid diagnosis, minimal trauma to the patient, a low complication rate and relatively low cost. The letter does not discuss asbestos exposure.

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: letter to the editor describing the authors' own series of cases and one recent case
• Who was studied: 37 cases of malignant mesothelioma (32 pleural, four peritoneal, one pericardial) seen by the authors, from departments of pathology and pulmonology at a hospital in the Netherlands; dates not given
• Main results:
  • None of the 37 malignant mesothelioma cases showed axillary lymph node involvement
  • Five cases of primary malignant pleural mesothelioma had tumor involvement of a cervical (neck) lymph node
  • In 14 of the 32 pleural mesothelioma cases, the tumor had destroyed intercostal structures and/or ribs
  • In one recent patient, pleural malignant mesothelioma was diagnosed by a simple subcutaneous needle aspiration biopsy
  • In that patient, the staining results (no epithelial mucin, hyaluronic acid present, keratin present, no carcinoembryonic antigen in the epithelial cells, vimentin positive in the fibrous component) were compatible with biphasic malignant mesothelioma
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that thoracic needle aspiration biopsy is a useful diagnostic technique, with the advantages of rapid diagnosis, minimal trauma to the patient, a low complication rate and relatively low cost

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Needle Biopsy.

Related studies

• Advantages of thoracic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy in lung cancer and mesothelioma — M. Sperandeo, L. Dimitri, et al. (2014)
• Medical thoracoscopy vs CT scan-guided Abrams pleural needle biopsy for diagnosis of patients with pleural effusions: a randomized, controlled trial — M. Metintas, G. Ak, et al. (2010)
• Percutaneous image-guided cutting needle biopsy of the pleura in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma — R.F. Adams, W. Gray, et al. (2001)
• Malignant pleural mesothelioma: US-guided histologic core-needle biopsy — A. Heilo, A.E. Stenwig, et al. (1999)
• Pulmonary needle aspiration biopsy in the diagnosis of Pancoast tumors — W.J. Walls, J.R. Thornbury, et al. (1974)
• CT-guided core-needle biopsy in omental pathology — F. Pombo, E. Rodriguez, et al. (1997)

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