Serum Expression Levels of Certain miRNAs in Predicting Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Response to Chemotherapy in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Background: miRNAs are involved in tumor pathogenesis and can therefore be determined in the primary tumor, plasma and serum, and body fluids. As in various cancers, their role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) may be important. Aims: To analyze the predictive value of miR-16-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-31-5p, miR-125a-5p, miR-320a, miR-484 and miR-532-5p expressions for diagnosis, prognosis and response to treatment in patients with MPM. Study Design: Prospective case-control study. Methods: In the first phase of the study, blood samples were collected from 101 MPM patients before chemotherapy and from 24 healthy donors (HDs). In the second phase, the blood samples were collected from 74 MPM patients who had received chemotherapy when the best overall response and disease recurrence were determined. A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was undertaken to detect the miRNA expression levels. The miRNA expression profiles of MPM patients were compared with those of HDs. The associations between the expression levels of miRNAs and prognosis and response to treatment were then evaluated. Results: All miRNAs, except miR-31-5p, were expressed differently in MPM relative to that in HDs. The expression level of miR-16-5p decreased when compared with that of HDs, and the expression levels of miR-29c-3p, miR-125a-5p, miR-320a, miR-484, and miR-532-5p increased when compared with that of HDs. The sensitivity and specificity values of miR-29c-3p, miR-125a-5p, miR-320a, miR-484, and miR-532-5p for discriminating MPM from HDs were 85.9% and 59.1%, 95.1% and 62.5%, 87.1% and 79.2%, 82.2% and 58.3%, and 69.3% and 82.6%, respectively. After adjusting for the histological subtype, stage, and treatment, the miR-29c-3p, miR-125a-5p, and miR-484 were associated with longer survival. The miRNA expression levels did not change longitudinally for the determination of chemotherapy response and recurrence. Conclusion: miRNAs may be useful in diagnosing patients with MPM and provides helpful information in determining the prognosis of patients

The relationship between treatment cost and prognosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma in Turkey

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is endemic in the population exposed to asbestos and has high health-care cost with a limited life expectancy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between cost according to treatment type and prognosis in MPM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 309 patients with MPM were evaluated. Direct medical costs were estimated as the sum of hospital bills attributed to MPM for all patients followed up from hospital application to death. Three treatment strategies were compared to each other in terms of survival and median incremental costs per month gained cost. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 63.2 ± 11.2 years. The total median costs per patient and median survivals were $1838 and 5 months,$10,540 and 11 months, and $17,022 and 22 months for the best supportive care, the chemotherapy, and the multimodality groups, respectively. Factors affecting the cost of MPM were histology, treatment type, received second- and third-line chemotherapy, and number of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: MPM has a limited survival time despite treatment, and treatment cost is relatively high by prolongation of lifetime. Chemotherapy and multimodality approaches seem to be cost-effective until to be find more effective targeted therapies