The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology
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The prognosis of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma remains poor and although it is clear that multimodal therapy is necessary to improve long-term results, precise treatment schemes have not yet been unequivocally established. Single-modality therapy does not have a major impact on long-term survival and combined-modality therapies are being further evaluated. However, the relative contributions of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery have not been clearly determined at the present time. ⋯ The role of post-operative radiotherapy has to be further elucidated. Further treatment options that are currently explored include hyperthermic intrapleural chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy. However, no randomised comparisons are available yet.