Disease volumes as a marker for patient response in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Abstract

Background: The goal of this study was to create a comprehensive model for malignant pleural mesothelioma patient survival utilizing continuous, time-varying estimates of disease volume from computed tomography (CT) imaging in conjunction with clinical covariates. Patients and methods: Serial CT scans were obtained during the course of clinically standard chemotherapy for 81 patients. The pleural disease volume was segmented for each of the 281 CT scans, and relative changes in disease volume from the baseline scan were tracked over the course of serial follow-up imaging. A prognostic model was built using time-varying disease volume measurements in conjunction with clinical covariates. Results: Over the course of treatment, disease volume decreased by an average of 19%, and median patient survival was 12.6 months from baseline. In a multivariate survival model, changes in disease volume were significantly associated with patient survival along with disease histology, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and presence of dyspnea. Conclusions: Analysis of the trajectories of disease volumes during chemotherapy for patients with mesothelioma indicates that increasing disease volume was significantly and independently associated with poor patient prognosis in both univariate and multivariate survival models. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved.