Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: Preliminary Toxicity Results of Adjuvant Radiotherapy Hypofractionation in a Prospective Trial (MESO-RT)

Simple Summary In this publication, we report preliminary toxicity results of a prospective phase II trial where the first 20 patients with in lung presence of pleural mesothelioma were treated with accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy. No G3-G4 acute and late toxicity was found, while the most common acute toxicity was pneumonitis with 65.0% G1 and 10% G2. The median OS was 33.1 months (95% CI:14.4-not estimable) and the median Time To Progression was 18.2 months (95% CI:11.3-not estimable). The trial is ongoing, but these results can be considered encouraging. Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare malignancy with an overall poor prognosis. The standard therapeutic strategy in early-stage disease is trimodality therapy. In this publication, we report the preliminary toxicity results of the first 20 patients treated with accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy. Between July 2017 to June 2019, 20 MPM patients were enrolled and treated with accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy using helical tomotherapy and intensity-modulated arc therapy. The prescription dose was 30 Gy in five daily fractions, while an inhomogeneous dose escalation to 40 Gy was prescribed based solely upon the presence of gross residual tumor. Only one case of G3 toxicity was reported, which was a bilateral pneumonitis that occurred two years after treatment probably due to superinfection. Median Time to Progression reached 18.2 months while one- and three-year Overall Survival rates were 85% (95% CI:60.4-94.9) and 49.5% (95% CI:26.5-68.9), respectively. Treatment of the intact lung with pleural intensity-modulated arc irradiation is a novel treatment strategy that appears to be safe, feasible, and without a high grade of lung toxicity. Survival rates and Time to Progression are encouraging.

Automated summary

This publication presents preliminary toxicity results of a phase II trial using accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy in 20 patients with pleural mesothelioma. The treatment showed no severe acute or late toxicity, with pneumonitis being the most common acute toxicity. The median overall survival was 33.1 months and the median time to progression was 18.2 months, indicating encouraging results for this treatment approach.