For patients with this type of cancer, the standard of care is treatment with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is typically not used. This is because radiation to the entire lining of the lung has many side effects that are often severe including damage to the lung (pneumonitis). There is a new radiation technique using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) that has been shown to reduce many of the side effects of standard radiation therapy. This type of radiation therapy specifically targets the lining of the lung, where you have your cancer, and reduces the risk of damaging the lung itself. The purpose of this study is to test the safety and implementation of standard pleurectomy/decortication (removal of the surface lining of the lung) and standard chemotherapy followed by IMRT performed at other centers. Patients will undergo pleurectomy/decortication chemotherapy and hemithoracic pleural IMRT to the pleura in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
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number of patients ≥ grade 3 pneumonitis
Timeframe: 2 years