Surgery has a key role at different points in the management of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. Diagnosis with video assisted thoracoscopy offers excellent sensitivity and specificity and a direct view of the pleural cavity to verify the extent of the tumor. Nodal involvement can be assessed by mediastinoscopy and either talc pleurodesis or partial pleurectomy can be used for symptom control in advanced stage disease. Extra Pleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) and Extended Pleurectomy Decortication (EPD) are used to prolong survival although the benefit of radical surgery has not has been fully clarified; EPP failed to show its benefit in the MARS trial and EPD is currently under investigation in the MARS2 trial. More randomized prospective trial data are needed to fully understand the role of radical surgery in the treatment of pleural mesothelioma.
Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a highly chemo-refractory and immune-evasive tumor that presents a median overall survival of 12-14 months when treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. New anti-tumor therapies as well as the concomitant reactivation of immune destruction are urgently needed to treat patients with this tumor. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential effect of ecteinascidin derivatives as lurbinectedin as new first-line treatment option in MPM, alone and in combination with immunotherapy.
The American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology aims to keep clinicians informed with brief, current reviews on essential interventional pulmonology topics, starting with malignant pleural disease.
The article consists of three parts that update readers on malignant pleural effusion: diagnosis through imaging and fluid biomarkers, management strategies including multimodal approaches and targeted therapies, and details on pleural mesothelioma.
These reviews are part of the Essential Knowledge series presented at the 2023 AABIP Annual Conference, and recorded lectures are available for access on the AABIP website.
Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated potential in inhibiting the growth of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), and their efficacy is associated with the expression of programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1). This study evaluated a PD-L1-targeted nanoprobe for detecting PD-L1 expression in a nude mouse model of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).
Methods: A PD-L1-binding peptide (WL-12) was conjugated with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) to create the nanoprobe WL-12@Fe₃O₄.
