Özet:

Objectives: Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a poor prognosis cancer that affects pleura. This study was designed for examination of the differences between MPM patients which who were received only supportive treatment and supportive treatment plus pleurodesis. Materials and methods: The files of 96 MPM patients were analyzed retrospectively who were followed up in Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital. Age, gender, exposure of asbestos, diagnostic methods, histopathological types and treatment regimens were recorded. Results: The mean age of 96 MPM patients were 60.4 ± 12.6 years. The sixty-three (65.6%) patients were male and 33 (34.4%) were female. A total 75 (78.1%) patients have environmental asbestos exposure and mean environmental asbestos exposure time was 33 years. The epithelial type of pleural mesothelioma was determined in 63 patients. Pleural fluid cytology was positive in 30 patients. The most detected symptom was dyspnea which was determined in 91 cases. Thirty patients were taken only supportive treatment and 66 were taken supportive treatment plus pleurodesis. The median survival time was 10 months in the total of the two groups. Median survival was 10.7 months, in the group that treated with pleurodesis and 9.1 months in the group that not treated with pleurodesis. However, this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.35). Conclusions: Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer which is resistant to many therapeutic options. Progressive dyspnea is primary symptom in these patients and often depends on the pleural fluid. Pleurodesis is an option to control the fluid. However, there is not any contribution on survival, alone. Extensive investigations are needed on this topic.

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