A critical update on prognostic and predictive biomarkers in malignant pleural mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a devastating and treatment-resistant disease. Currently, well-established prognostic and predictive biomarkers are rare in clinical practice, whereas there is a whole body of various MPM biomarker studies published in medical literature in the past decades. Besides well-established pathological parameters, including histological subtype, disease stage, or level of lymph node involvement, blood parameters and circulating proteins related to a proinflammatory phenotype are emerging as prognostic biomarkers. Here we provide an overview about the current status of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in MPM, with a strong emphasis on their applicability in clinical practice.