Since 2016, Mesothelioma UK has funded the National Mesothelioma Audit (NMA). Prior to this, mesothelioma was included in the National Lung Cancer Audit.  

Mesothelioma UK has partnered with the Royal College of Physicians since 2016 to produce the audit.   

There are four main aims for the NMA: 

1. Maintain and enhance the profile of mesothelioma, a disease with poor outcome and variation in care 
2. Build upon the recommendations of the previous mesothelioma report and allow organisations to measure and demonstrate improvement over time 
3. Embed a process of data collection for mesothelioma in clinical teams linked to an infrastructure that has a robust long-term future 
4. Set new standards for mesothelioma 

The NMA report uses data provided by Public Health England, the Welsh Cancer Network, the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, lung cancer teams in Guernsey and the national peritoneal mesothelioma multidisciplinary team (MDT) at Basingstoke to provide a summary of key findings, national averages and geographical variance across an agreed list of mesothelioma service performance indicators and patient outcomes. 

The most recent report can be read here.  

Highlights from the most recent report include improvements in survival, clinical nurse specialist assessment, pathologic subtyping and multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussion, with particular note of a doubling of referrals to the national peritoneal mesothelioma MDT since the last report published in 2018.   

The use of systemic anticancer therapy and radical surgery remains stable for malignant pleural mesothelioma, although there is a decline in the use of radiotherapy. 

Across the UK, at cancer alliance and organisation level, variation in active treatment and outcomes persist. The aim is that data from this report will be used by all those responsible for commissioning and providing mesothelioma services to improve the quality of care for all people diagnosed with this asbestos cancer, moving forwards. 

Archive of reports  

National Mesothelioma Audit report 2018 (audit period 2014-16)  

National Lung Cancer Audit Pleural Mesothelioma report 2016 

National Lung Cancer Audit Pleural Mesothelioma report 2014  

This audit, produced by the Royal College of Physicians, was commissioned to obtain an accurate and up-to-date picture of mesothelioma multidisciplinary team (MDT) services across the UK, and to identify any variation in access to specialist services and treatments for mesothelioma patients. 

All known MDTs (174) across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were invited to take part in the audit, of which 125 (72%) MDTs actively participated in the study. Variation was identified across all participating MDTs in the access to services offered to mesothelioma patients. 

Overall, 17 MDTs self-identified as providing specialist mesothelioma services, managing over 25 new cases per year. 

Comparing service provision across all participating MDTs, patients who were referred to one of the 17 specialist mesothelioma MDTs appeared more likely to benefit from access to a mesothelioma-specific clinical nurse specialist 53% (9/17) vs 14% (18/125) and on-site access to mesothelioma clinical trials 88% (15/17) vs 33% (40/121). 

 This audit was supported by the Pat Stone Foundation, to whom we are very grateful.  

 Read the full report here.