Background: The cisplatin-pemetrexed and cisplatin-gemcitabine combinations are considered the standard treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of gemcitabine plus docetaxel in the first-line setting, as this combination has not been investigated in mesothelioma before. Patients and Methods: Twenty-five consecutive patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma were enrolled. They received 80 mg/m2 of docetaxel and 1,000 mg/m2 of gemcitabine on days 1 and 14 of a 28-day cycle. The treatment was scheduled for a maximum of 6 cycles or until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results: A total of 7 out of our 25 patients (28% ) responded to treatment. In 14 patients (56% ), the disease remained stable, while in 4 (16% ) it progressed. The median time to progression was 7 months (range: 5.4-8.6 months) and the median overall survival was 15 months (range: 12.4-17.5 months). Conclusion: The administration of gemcitabine and doctaxel appears to be promising first-line therapy for patients with mesothelioma, as it is well tolerated and appears to improve survival. Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare aggressive tumor caused mainly by occupational asbestos exposure. Its incidence reaches 100 cases/million/year in occupationally exposed populations as opposed to 1 case/million/year in the general population and data show that it will continue to increase until 2020-2030 (1).
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