Mesothelioma Statistical Model Improves Prognosis Accuracy

Doctors may soon be giving pleural mesothelioma surgical patients a much clearer, more precise look at their future, replacing the often muddled, best-guess prognosis they have been providing. Researchers in Italy are developing a promising statistical model that will offer patients a more definitive understanding of their likely survival times. The model also could be used to improve the personalization of treatments. "Our model could be easily applied," thoracic surgeon Dr. Giovanni Leuzzi of the National Cancer Institute in Rome told Asbestos.com. "We have factors that may be combined into a scoring system to better predict the outcome after surgery." Even experienced doctors in the past have struggled to accurately predict survival time. Some pleural mesothelioma patients have survived three, four, five years or more after aggressive surgery, although the majority still live less than 12 months. Oncologists find it tough to explain why some defy the odds. "This model may be useful to identify two different groups of [mesothelioma] cancer patients: Those with favorable prognoses and those with poor prognoses," Leuzzi said. Factors in the Long-Term Survival Model The Long-Term Survival Model (LTS) stemmed from a retrospective, multicenter study across Italy that included 468 pleural mesothelioma patients undergoing extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) surgery. A total of 107 patients (22.9 percent) lived at least three years after surgery and were classified as long term surviv...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Treatment & Doctors Source Type: news