There is no standard second line treatment in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Pembrolizumab has shown to be active in in small phase II studies in MPM. Its activity however, is limited, with a response rate up to 20%. So, there is a need for new treatment combinations with drugs that might exhibit a synergistic interaction with pembrolizumab.

This early phase I trial studies how well heated intra-peritoneal chemotherapy with doxorubicin and cisplatin work for the treatment of abdominal or pelvic tumors that can be removed by surgery (resectable), does not respond to treatment (refractory), or has come back (recurrent). Heated intra-peritoneal chemotherapy is a procedure performed in combination with abdominal surgery for cancer that has spread to the abdomen. It involves the infusion of a heated chemotherapy solution that circulates into the abdominal cavity. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Heating a chemotherapy solution and infusing it directly into the abdomen may kill more cells.