Established and new treatment roadmaps for pleural mesothelioma: opinions of the Turkish Collaborative Group

Abstract

Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a cancer of the pleural surface, which is aggressive and may be rapidly fa-tal. PM is a rare cancer worldwide, but is a relatively common disease in Turkey. Asbestos exposure is the main risk factor and the most common underlying cause of the disease. There have been significant im-provements in diagnoses and treatments of many malignancies; however, there are still therapeutic chal-lenges in PM. In this review, we aimed to increase the awareness of health care professionals, oncolo-gists, and pulmonologists by underlining the unmet needs of patients with PM and by emphasizing the need for a multidisciplinary treatment and management of PM. After reviewing the general information about PM, we further discuss the treatment options for patients with PM using immunotherapy and offer evidence for improvements in the clinical outcomes of these patients because of these newer treatment modalities.