From a scientific paper I recently read:
Mesothelioma is predominantly a disease of men. The incidence in women remained much lower and was relatively stable over the study period. Women have been less often directly exposed to asbestos in the occupational setting but they are at risk when members of their family worked with asbestos.13 There is currently no evidence to indicate that a specific treatment leads to improved survival in mesothelioma patients.14 Our study did not show any major differences in survival across the cancer networks and provides no further advice about the choice of treatment that could lead to improved survival. Other studies have found that longer survival is associated with small epithelial type, node negative pleural mesotheliomas, aggressive surgery combined with adjuvant chemotherapy and or radiotherapy, and early stage disease, good performance status and good haematological status.9 14 15 Extrapleural pneumonectomy (removal of the pleura with the lung, pericardium and diaphragm) within multimodal treatment may be considered for patients with early stage disease, although there are no randomised trials of this treatment and complications have been reported.16 Studies have shown that the most common symptoms experienced by patients are pain, breathlessness, fatigue, appetite loss, insomnia and cough.17 18 Chemotherapy may improve some of these symptoms although not sufficiently to improve role function and at the expense of side effects. There is, however, evidence that some of these symptoms can be targeted for control using other methods. A multicentre randomised controlled trial of a nursing intervention to provide breathing control, pacing of activity, relaxation techniques and psychosocial support for patients with lung cancer or mesothelioma found improved breathlessness, performance status and emotional states in those receiving the intervention compared with controls.19 Despite some evidence of variation in treatment between cancer networks, there was no corresponding variation in survival.
Source: http://thorax.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/63/2/160?rss=1
