MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA FOLLOWING RADIATION-THERAPY

BACKGROUND: Studies of the growing population of long-term survivors of cancer have led to increased recognition of the neoplastic complications of therapy. The causes of secondary malignancies are probably multifactorial, but radiation therapy and chemotherapy have certainly been implicated in the development of posttherapy neoplasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case of pleural mesothelioma after successful radiation therapy for Hodgkin's disease is described with a review of radiation-associated mesotheliomas reported in the literature. In Hodgkin's disease, patients may receive radiation, chemotherapy, or combined treatment; the most common secondary malignancy is acute nonlymphocytic leukemia while sarcomas are the second most common solid tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Although mesothelioma is an uncommon sarcoma, its occurrence has been documented numerous times after exposure to diagnostic or therapeutic radiation.