{"entity":{"id":"epithelioid-vs-sarcomatoid","kind":"term","name":"Epithelioid vs sarcomatoid (biphasic) mesothelioma","aka":[],"tldr":"Mesothelioma comes in a slower 'epithelioid' form and an aggressive 'sarcomatoid' form. Chemotherapy works better in the first; immunotherapy helps most in the second.","summary":"Epithelioid (~60-70%) has median survival 14-18 months with chemotherapy; sarcomatoid (~10-20%) and biphasic (~20%) respond poorly to chemotherapy (median OS 8-12 months) but derived the largest benefit from nivolumab-ipilimumab in CheckMate 743 (OS 18.1 vs 8.8 months) and from pembrolizumab-chemotherapy. Histology is therefore the first branch in first-line decisions. BAP1 loss is common in epithelioid tumours; CDKN2A/MTAP deletion in sarcomatoid.","asOf":"2026-09-07","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesothelioma","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesothelioma"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["mesothelioma"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["checkmate-743","keynote-483","beat-meso"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Pathology"},"route":"/terms/epithelioid-vs-sarcomatoid/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"mesothelioma","kind":"cancer","name":"Mesothelioma","route":"/cancers/mesothelioma/"}],"trial":[{"id":"beat-meso","kind":"trial","name":"BEAT-meso (ETOP 13-18)","route":"/trials/beat-meso/"},{"id":"checkmate-743","kind":"trial","name":"CheckMate 743","route":"/trials/checkmate-743/"},{"id":"keynote-483","kind":"trial","name":"IND.227 / KEYNOTE-483","route":"/trials/keynote-483/"}],"pairing":[{"id":"histology-directs-first-line-meso","kind":"pairing","name":"Histology → first-line choice in mesothelioma","route":"/pairings/histology-directs-first-line-meso/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"lineage-plasticity-neuroendocrine","kind":"pathway","name":"Lineage plasticity & neuroendocrine transformation","route":"/pathways/lineage-plasticity-neuroendocrine/"}]}}