Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School.
It is predicted that up to 80,000 cases of mesothelioma will occur in the next 20 years, and thus it is increasingly important to better understand this disease. There is much controversy over the best treatment, which ranges from supportive care alone to aggressive debulking surgery combined with radiation and chemotherapy. This article summarizes the results with these various regimens to date, and discusses promising new options for therapy that may ultimately lead to increased survival.