SMRP: POSSIBILE SIGNIFICATO DIAGNOSTICO NEL MESOTELIOMNA MALIGNO

The poor effectiveness of therapeutic treatment in containing the fast evolution of the Malignant Mesothelioma makes the management of new cases serious. It has been suggested that the determination of the Soluble Sieric Mesothelin (SMRP) could be an useful tool in the early diagnosis of MM and to differ it from pleural metastatic cancer. We have measured SMRP concentration with Mesomark™ ELISA test in 109 healthy asbestos notexposed subjects, 26 patients with occupational asbestos exposure without pleural or parenchimal pathologies, 48 patients with asbestosis, 110 patients with pleural plaques, 9 patients with lung cancer and in 35 patients with MM. In the group of MM, the mean SMRP concentration is 3.83 nMol/L, a value significantly higher (p<O.OS) than the healthy group, both asbestos exposed subjects (0,78 nMol!L) and not-exposed ones (0,79 nMol/L), and than patients with asbestosis (1 nMol/L), and pleural plaques (0,94 nMol/L). The highest mean value is pointed out in patients with epitheliod MM with respect to other histotypes of MM and lung adenocarcinoma cases. Our data appear to confirm previous experiences for the use of SMRP as a marker for diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma.