Malignant pleural mesothelioma localized in the thoracic wall

Our plain-English summary of Malignant pleural mesothelioma localized in the thoracic wall, by D. Morimoto, N. Fujimoto, H. Nishi, et al (Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 2012).

The study

• Authors: D. Morimoto, N. Fujimoto, H. Nishi, M. Asano, Y. Fuchimoto, K. Ono, S. Ozaki, K. Taguchi, T. Kishimoto
• Journal: Journal of Thoracic Oncology
• Published: 2012;7(10):e21-2
• Type of article: Case report
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This case report from Okayama Rosai Hospital, Japan, described one patient with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) that was localized, rather than showing the usual diffuse spread over the pleural surfaces. The patient was a 65-year-old man who had never smoked and had worked at a chemical fiber factory, where he was exposed to asbestos for 40 years. The article does not name the fiber type. He came to the hospital with a dry cough. A CT scan showed a 7-cm tumor on the left front chest wall surrounding the second rib. No pleural plaque, effusion or lymph node enlargement was detected. A needle biopsy showed epithelioid MPM. During thoracoscopy, the tumor was covered by parietal pleura, and no spread was found on the pleura. The tumor and the first, second and third ribs were removed with curative intent. Tissue tests confirmed epithelioid MPM and indicated that it arose from the parietal pleura. Six months later the tumor recurred locally, and he was treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The authors regarded the case as localized MPM.

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: case report (single patient)
• Who was studied: One 65-year-old man, a never smoker, who presented with dry cough at Okayama Rosai Hospital, Okayama, Japan; dates not given
• Exposure: Occupational asbestos exposure for 40 years at a chemical fiber factory; fiber type not stated
• Main results:
  • CT showed a 7-cm diameter tumor on the left anterior chest wall surrounding the second rib
  • No pleural plaque, effusion, or lymphadenopathy was detected
  • Epithelioid-type MPM was diagnosed from a percutaneous needle biopsy
  • At thoracoscopy the tumor was covered with parietal pleura and no dissemination was found on the pleura
  • The tumor and the involved first, second and third ribs were removed with curative intent
  • Immunohistochemistry was positive for calretinin, D2-40, Wilms' tumor 1, thrombomodulin, cytokeratin 5/6 and epithelial membrane antigen, and negative for carcinoembryonic antigen, thyroid transcription factor and napsin A
  • Tumor cells involved the parietal pleura, indicating the tumor originated there
  • Local recurrence occurred six months later, treated with radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy
• The authors' conclusion: The authors regarded the case as localized MPM (LMPM) and stated that LMPM should be considered a thoracic tumor that is localized and has spread outside the thoracic wall

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.

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