Clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant mesotheliomas arising in patients with a history of radiation for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Purpose: Studies have reported an association between pleural diffuse malignant mesothelioma (PDMM) and chest radiation for lymphoma. The clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant mesotheliomas arising in these patients have not been established.

Patients And Methods: We studied 1,618 consecutive patients diagnosed with pleural PDMM from July 1993 to February 2008 and identified patients with a history of radiation for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Circulating and tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells predict survival in human pleural mesothelioma.

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) tumor cells produce copious amounts of myeloid cell-stimulating factors. The current study examined the prognostic significance of circulating monocytes and tumor-infiltrating macrophages on overall survival in patients with MPM.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed 667 patients with MPM who underwent cytoreductive surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts between 1989 and 2009.

Clinical and pathological features of three-year survivors of malignant pleural mesothelioma following extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Objective: Surgery-based multimodality therapy is associated with long-term survival in a significant number of pleural mesothelioma patients. We explored factors associated with 3-year survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, who underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy, to help refine patient selection criteria for surgery and other therapies.

Methods: With Institutional Review Board approval, we reviewed records in the International Mesothelioma Program Patient Data Registry to identify all patients, who underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma between 1 January 1988 and 31 May 2007.

Characteristics of malignant pleural mesothelioma in women.

Background: The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is higher in men than in women, likely due to increased occupational asbestos exposure among men. Women also appear to experience better long-term survival. This study evaluates the role of gender in relation to established prognostic factors in MPM.

Prevalence of in vitro chemotherapeutic drug resistance in primary malignant pleural mesothelioma: result in a cohort of 203 resection specimens.

Objective: Optimizing the multimodality treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma depends on many factors including an adequate chemotherapeutic response. Currently, chemotherapy regimens for patients with mesothelioma are empirically selected. In vitro chemotherapy resistance in human mesothelioma has not been reported.

Diffusion-weighted MRI of malignant pleural mesothelioma: preliminary assessment of apparent diffusion coefficient in histologic subtypes.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to prospectively assess, in the evaluation of patients with suspected malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values derived from diffusion-weighted images obtained with a free-breathing single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging sequence and to correlate the ADC values with the three histologic subtypes of MPM.

Subjects And Methods: Sixty-two patients with a known pleural abnormality and clinical findings suggestive of MPM underwent diffusion-weighted 3-T MRI and ADC calculation. The pathologic diagnosis was confirmed by surgical procedure.

Managing the pneumonectomy space after extrapleural pneumonectomy: postoperative intrathoracic pressure monitoring.

Objective: Rapid fluid evacuation of the pneumonectomy space can cause ipsilateral mediastinal shift, contralateral lung hyperexpansion, compromised caval blood return and a precipitous drop in cardiac output. Conversely, rapid fluid accumulation can cause contralateral mediastinal shift with compression of the remaining lung and respiratory insufficiency. In this retrospective analysis, we evaluate the efficacy of intrathoracic pressure monitoring and intermittent fluid aspiration to manage the pneumonectomy space in the early postoperative period following extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Extrapleural pneumonectomy followed by intracavitary intraoperative hyperthermic cisplatin with pharmacologic cytoprotection for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma: a phase II prospective study.

Objective: We sought to prospectively determine the feasibility and safety of hyperthermic intraoperative intracavitary cisplatin perfusion immediately after extrapleural pneumonectomy in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Methods: Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who were surgical candidates underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy followed by hyperthermic intraoperative intracavitary cisplatin perfusion, consisting of a 1-hour lavage of the chest and abdomen with cisplatin (42 degrees C) at 225 mg/m(2). Pharmacologic cytoprotection consisted of intravenous sodium thiosulfate with or without amifostine.

Waste of skin in elliptical excision biopsy of non-melanomatous skin cancer.

Our objective was to quantify the skin wasted during elliptical excision biopsy. This is defined as the difference between the excised elliptical area and the area of the original lesion. We used geometrical calculations of 26 excisional biopsy specimens from patients with non-melanomatous malignant tumours.

The elastic properties of cancerous skin: Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus.

Background: The physical properties of cancerous skin tissue have rarely been measured in either fresh or frozen skin specimens. Of interest are the elastic properties associated with the skin's ability to deform, i.e.

Direct closure of round skin defects: a four-step technique with multiple subcutaneous and cutaneous "figure-of-8" sutures alleviating dog-ears.

Excisional biopsies of rounded lesions are performed daily by surgeons. The objective of this article is to establish a surgical technique for direct closure of circular and elliptical defects without the need for additional excision of dog-ears. A four-step technique based on multiple cutaneous and subcutaneous "figure-of-8" sutures is presented.