From Victor Roggli and colleagues: Diffuse Malignant Mesothelioma in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2015 Apr 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Malignant (Diffuse) Mesothelioma in Patients With Hematologic Malignancies: A Clinicopathologic Study of 45 Cases.

Li X1, Brownlee NA, Sporn TA, Mahar A, Roggli VL.

Author information

• 1From the Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (Drs Roggli and Sporn); the Department of Pathology, Tianjin Haihe Hospital, Tianjin Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Tianjin, China (Dr Li); the Pathology Associates of Greenville, Greenville, South Carolina (Dr Brownlee); and the Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia (Dr Mahar).

Abstract

Context .- Ionizing radiation has a role in the development of malignant mesothelioma, in several epidemiologic studies, including patients with hematologic malignancies. 

Objective .- To study the clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with malignant mesothelioma and hematologic malignancies with and without a history of radiotherapy. 

Design .- From a database of approximately 3600 patients with malignant mesothelioma, we identified 45 patients (1%) who also had hematologic malignancies. We examined clinicopathologic features and noted whether the patient had received radiotherapy for malignancy, comparing those with and those without such exposure. 

Results .- Among the 45 cases, 18 (40%) had Hodgkin lymphoma, 15 (33%) had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 10 (4%) had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and 2 (22%) had chronic myelogenous leukemia; 20 patients (44%) had a history of radiotherapy, and 23 (51%) did not. Most patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (16 of 18; 90.0%) received radiation, whereas none of the patients with leukemia (0 of 12) and only 20% (3 of 15) of the patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma did so. Patients without radiation were older than patients who received radiotherapy (median, 73 versus 54 years, respectively; P < .001), had a shorter interval from diagnosis of hematologic malignancy to that of mesothelioma (median, 2 versus 24 years, respectively; P < .001), and had a shorter survival period (median, 6.0 versus 14.0 months, respectively; P = .02). Epithelial mesotheliomas were proportionately more common in patients with a history of radiotherapy. 

Conclusions .- Patients with mesothelioma and hematologic malignancies with a history of radiation tended to be younger, had a longer interval from diagnosis of hematologic malignancy to that of mesothelioma, had a longer survival period, and were more likely to have the epithelial variant compared with patients without radiotherapy.