Role of radiotherapy in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma
Accepted: 11 July 2016
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Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive neoplasm mainly of the pleural mesothelium and asbestos is its main etiopathogenetic agent. The treatment of malignant mesothelioma can be broadly divided into curative and palliative. The curative treatment provides, for patients with favorable prognostic factors, radical surgery as part of multimodal programs (bi or trimodal, with chemotherapy and radiotherapy combined with surgery). Treatment with palliative aim is intended for patients with unfavorable prognostic factors and may include chemotherapy and/or surgery and/or radiotherapy according to the prevailing symptom. Radiotherapy has a role both in the treatment of initial forms of disease and in the prophylaxis of parietal relapses after transparietal invasive diagnostics, always, however, in selected cases, while its use in pain palliation in advanced disease is more routine.
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