Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma with Tumor-Associated Blood/Tissue Eosinophilia and Increased Blood TARC/CCL17 Level: A Case Report

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a cancer of the pleura. There is an established correlation between asbestos exposure and MPM. Despite the ban of asbestos, MPM incidence is still expected to rise because of the very long lag-times between exposure and diagnosis. However, MPM remains a universally fatal cancer with median survival from diagnosis being only 9-12 months. We described a 60-year-old male with MPM presenting with various clinical manifestations, including tumorassociated blood eosinophilia, tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia, increased platelet number, hypercoagulable state and increased blood thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)/ CCL17 level. TARC/CCL17 might be a biomarker and therapeutic target for a subpopulation of patients with MPM. Yorozu H, Ito Y*, Honjo O and Koba H Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Teine Keijinkai Hospital, Japan Ito Y, et al. Journal of Respiratory Medicine and Lung Disease Remedy Publications LLC. 2017 | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | Article 1012 2 After diagnosis, two courses of carboplatin + pemetrexed were administered until progressive disease, four courses of cisplatin + gemcitabine were continued until progressive disease, and third line chemotherapy was performed. Until before the fourth chemotherapy (the second cycle of cisplatin + gemcitabine), blood tests revealed mild to severe eosinophilia (Figure 3). However, blood eosinophilia disappeared after initiating continuous low dose steroid treatment for palliative care (for appetite loss and fatigue) at the time of the fourth chemotherapy. He died of progressive respiratory failure 12 months after the diagnosis.