Interim results of pleurectomy/decortication and intraoperative intrapleural hyperthermic cisplatin perfusion for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma intolerable to extrapleural pneumonectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Surgical procedure for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) remains controversial. We reviewed our protocol including pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who were intolerable to extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: From June 2010 to April 2014, 14 patients with MPM were intended to treat with multimodality therapy including surgery. Four patients who were intolerable to EPP received a protocol consisting of P/D and intraoperative intrapleural hyperthermic cisplatin perfusion, followed by systemic chemotherapy. Ten patients received trimodality treatment of EPP, systemic chemotherapy, and intensity modulated radiation therapy for hemithorax. Surgical outcomes of acute operative results and interim survivals were examined and compared between the groups.

RESULTS: All patients obtained macroscopic complete resection and received multimodality treatment in P/D and EPP groups. Operation time was longer in P/D group; however, there were no differences in ICU stays or hospitalizations. Four patients in P/D group and seven patients in EPP group experienced postoperative complications; however, there was no operative morality. EPP group suffered from cardiac complications and P/D group had prolonged airleak. Full walk recovery was obtained earlier in P/D group. One patient in P/D group had a local recurrence 11 months after surgery, while the other three patients survived 23-41 months with no evidence of diseases.

CONCLUSIONS: P/D and intraoperative intrapleural cisplatin perfusion achieved a favorable macroscopic resection in patients with MPM who were intolerable to EPP. Postoperative complications were manageable and survival could be promising. Further study warrants with a larger number of patients.