P2.06-15 Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Young Adult People in Uganda

Abstract

Objectives: malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is characterized by long latency period between exposure to asbestos and development of the disease so we hypothesize that MPM in the young has different characteristics This is a retrospective study including all eligible patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma presenting to Uganda Cancer Institute, Makerere University during the period from 2014 to 2017. Patients were divided into two groups: Group 1: patients aged ≤ 45 years. Group 2: Patients aged > 45 years. Both groups were assessed regarding different clinic-pathological features .Primary Objectives: comparison of different epidemiological features of both groups. Secondary Objectives: Assessment of clinical response (CR), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in both groups 102 Patients were included with median follow up of 14.4 months. Group (1) included 35 patients with mean age 40± 3.65 years (31 to 45 years).Group (2) included 67 patients with mean age of 58.6± 8.5 years (46 to 87 years). 68% of group (1) came from endemic areas which is significantly higher than group (2): (35.8%), p = 0.02. History of Asbestos exposure was highly significantly different between the 2 groups, 77.1% in group (1) versus 38.8% in group (2), p < 0.001. Other factors showed no significant differences between the two groups. Overall clinical response (CR+PR) was 20% in group (1) versus 17.9 % in group (2). P=0.7. There was a trend towards longer median PFS in young patients, (19.8 ± 8.4 versus 6.9 ± 1.4 months). p = 0.09. The median OS of young patients is significantly longer (20.6± 6.3 months) than older patients (11.4 ± 3.6).p = 0.05. Mesothelioma in the young adult is more sensitive to asbestos exposure, has better OS and likely a different disease entity which needs further studies to understand its underlying biological features.