Author’s response to reviews Title: Exploring the characteristics of patients with mesothelioma who chose active symptom control over chemotherapy as first-line treatment: a prospective, observational, single centre study

1) In the background section, the authors state that "the only treatment that extends survival is chemotherapy." There have not been phase III trials in surgery, radiation therapy, or currently used immunotherapy agents, so this statement cannot be said. I suggest changing the sentence to something more along the lines of 'chemotherapy is the current standard of care to improve survival.' AR – This sentence has now been changed (page 5, para 1, line 2-3).