Malignant pleural mesothelioma with a 14-year survival: a case report and electronmicroscopic study

Our plain-English summary of Malignant pleural mesothelioma with a 14-year survival: a case report and electronmicroscopic study, by M. Klima, H.J. Spjut, M.I. Bossart, et al (Journal of Surgical Oncology, 1982).

The study

• Authors: M. Klima, H.J. Spjut, M.I. Bossart, O.H. Frazier, D.H. Cooley
• Journal: Journal of Surgical Oncology
• Published: 1982;20(4):253-9
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 000682).

In plain English

This article was a case report from Houston about one woman with malignant pleural mesothelioma who had an unusually long course. She was first admitted to the Texas Heart Institute of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in 1967 at age 42 and was 56 when the article was written. The authors wrote that she was still alive 15 years after her first chest operation; the title gives a 14-year survival. Over that time, recurring tumor in her left chest and nearby areas was removed again and again. The authors' summary counts 16 operations, though other parts of the article give different numbers. Apart from surgery, her only treatment was radioactive gold seeds. The authors reviewed all available tissue sections and examined 10 specimens by electron microscopy. The tumor looked almost the same under the microscope in all 16 specimens, and no changes were found at the electron-microscope level over time. Three specimens showed a tendency toward gland-like, epithelial features, which the authors said supported the diagnosis of mesothelioma. The article did not mention any asbestos exposure for this patient. The authors concluded that a persistent surgical approach to malignant mesothelioma should be considered.

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 with review of tissue sections and electron microscopy of repeated surgical specimens
• Who was studied: one woman with malignant pleural mesothelioma, first admitted in 1967 at age 42 to the Texas Heart Institute of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston; 56 years old at the time of the report
• Main results:
  • The patient underwent 16 operations for removal of recurrent malignant pleural tumor, according to the authors' summary of her course, and recovered from each without significant morbidity.
  • Apart from surgery, the patient's only other treatment was radioactive gold seeds.
  • Of the 10 specimens examined by electron microscopy, none showed ultrastructural changes over time.
  • Under the electron microscope, the tumor cells appeared to be primitive mesenchymal cells.
  • Three specimens showed a tendency to epithelial differentiation, seen as a glandular arrangement of tumor cells. The authors said this supported the diagnosis of mesothelioma.
  • Among the authors' 36 patients with malignant mesothelioma, one other patient besides this one had prolonged survival: 8 years after surgical removal of an epithelial type of malignant mesothelioma.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that repeated removal of the recurring tumor apparently gave palliative control, and that a persistent surgical approach to treating malignant mesothelioma should be considered.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Information on two operations performed at other institutions was not available to the authors.

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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