Short communicationPathological complete response in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients following induction chemotherapy: Predictive factors and outcomes

•Rarely, treated mesothelioma patients attain pathological complete response.•No patient or tumour factors were associated with pathological complete response.•Complete responders trended toward improved survival.

A small proportion of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) achieve pathological complete response (CR) following treatment with current practice induction chemotherapy. Our analysis of 58 patients with MPM treated with platinum-based chemotherapy showed 4 patients (7%) attained pathological CR at subsequent extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). Patient and tumour factors such as age, gender, smoking habit, histological subtype, and clinical stage were not found to be associated with pathological CR. Patients with pathological CR had longer disease-free survival (29.2 vs. 13.8 months; p = 0.08) and overall survival (76.4 vs. 23.4 months; p = 0.06) but this did not reach statistical significance. Our study suggests that patients who achieve pathological CR after chemotherapy may have improved survival in MPM.