Is pleural infection associated with longer survival in mesothelioma?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is pleural infection associated with longer survival times in patients with mesothelioma? A retrospective cohort study linking data from the Lung Cancer Database (Lucada) to Hospital Episode Statistics and the Office of National Statistics.
IRAS ID
151477
Contact name
Nick Maskell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North Bristol NHS Trust
Research summary
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that affects the outer lining of the lung (pleura). There is no cure, and the best treatment extends life by just 3 months, on average.
Mesothelioma has a particularly bad prognosis because it is able to suppress the body’s natural defences and prevent the body from attacking the tumour. Doctors treating patients with this disease have noticed several instances in which people who get an infection around the outside of the lung (pleural infection) live longer than those without infection. It is possible that infection stimulates the body’s natural defences back into action, and encourages them to attack both the infection and the cancer.
We intend to test this theory in a rigorous scientific way, which has never been done before. There is a national database of patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, which we will match with hospital statistics to find out which people also had pleural infection. We will undertake survival analysis of patients with and without pleural infection to determine whether there was a difference between the two groups. We will examine other factors that may affect survival, including patient's age, co-morbidities, tumour type and socio-economic status. We will use statistical modelling to adjust for these variables, and also adjust for any possible confounding factors including presence of an in-dwelling pleural catheter and chemotherapy.
The data we collect will include every patient who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in a UK hospital between 2005-2012. Looking at such a large number of patients will make our calculations as robust, reliable and accurate as possible.
If an association is found between pleural infection and improved survival with mesothelioma, it will lead on to clinical trials using bacterial agents as treatment for people with mesothelioma.
REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1258
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion