INTRODUCTION Malignant mesothelioma is a rare occupational disease in Singapore. There have been few reports of this condition in Singapore. We aim to describe the clinical characteristics, management and outcomes in a case series of 16 patients diagnosed in a teaching hospital in Singapore. MATERIALS AND METHODS A chart review of all cases of malignant mesothelioma diagnosed in our instituti...

Pleural fluid characteristics of 26 patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma over an 18-year period were reviewed and compared with those of patients with effusions due to other malignancies. Survival from time of initial thoracentesis was directly correlated with pleural pH and decreased pleural fluid/serum glucose ratios but was not related to protein or LDH concentration. Decreased ple...

Malignant mesothelioma has been rare in the general population. In recent decades its incidence has risen dramatically, parallel to the increasing use of asbestos in industry since 1930. Altogether 17,800 asbestos insulation workers, members of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers (AFL-CIO-CLC) in the United States and Canada, were enrolled for prospec...

The role of second-line and salvage chemotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma treatment is not yet established. We report a case of relapsed malignant pleural mesothelioma in which the patient failed to respond to pemetrexed-based chemotherapy but was successfully treated with gemcitabine and vinorelbine. The patient underwent a left extrapleural pneumonectomy. Three years later she develo...

STUDY OBJECTIVES Pleural fluid cytology and non-image-guided Abrams or Cope biopsies have sensitivities of approximately 30% for detecting malignant mesothelioma, and thoracoscopic biopsy has a sensitivity of approximately 90%. The difference between these two probably relates to obtaining adequate tissue. The use of immunohistochemical stains allows a firm diagnosis to be made from relatively ...

AIMS AND BACKGROUND Malignant mesothelioma is a fatal cancer of increasing incidence in north-eastern Italy. Together with asbestos, the polyomavirus SV40 was hypothesized to contribute to the onset of malignant mesothelioma. To investigate the putative role of SV40 in the individual susceptibility to asbestos-induced malignant mesothelioma, we conducted a molecular epidemiological study on a s...

Biphasic malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare malignant tumor, usually presenting as a pleural-based mass in a patient with history of chronic asbestos exposure. We herein report a case of a 41-year-old man who presented with chest pain and had a chest computed tomography (CT) scan suggestive of a primary skeletal tumor originating from the ribs (chondrosarcoma or osteosarcoma), with no his...

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare malignant neoplasm that arises from mesothelial surfaces of the pleural cavity, peritoneal cavity, tunica vaginalis, or pericardium. Typically, pleural fluid cytology or closed pleural biopsy, surgical intervention (video thoracoscopic biopsy or open thoracotomy) is conducted to obtain pleural tissue specimens. However, endobronchial lesions are rarely seen and ...

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) originates in the mesothelial cells that line the pleural cavities. Most patients initially experience the insidious onset of chest pain or shortness of breath and have a history of asbestos exposure. It rarely presents as spontaneous pneumothorax. We report here two cases where malignant pleural mesothelioma presented with a spontaneous hydropneumothorax an...

Lung surfactant protein-A (SP-A) is a major phospholipid-associated glycoprotein in surfactant, and is a useful immunohistochemical marker for lung adenocarcinoma. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has not been immunohistochemically detected in mesothelioma. In pleural effusions due to malignant mesothelioma, very low concentrations of SP-A and CEA can be expected. We studied the value of combined...