New Surgery offers hope to mesothelioma victims

A new surgical treatment for malignant mesothelioma has been declared a success. The procedure is called a pleurectomy/decortication and involves removing the outermost lining of the lung. A pleurectomy/decortication is performed before a course of chemotherapy and radiation, creating a threefold treatment option.

Mesothelioma is a cancer caused primarily by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos exposure can have several profoundly negative side effects. Among them are asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a particularly aggressive cancer. Symptoms can often take 20-50 years to manifest, which is why a diagnosis of mesothelioma is often a death sentence.

However, the patients who participated in this 5-year study showed an average survival rate of nearly 3 years. Seventy-five percent of participants survived the first year, sixty-one percent survived the second, and forty-three percent survived the third.

If additional research proves as positive as this study, a pleurectomy/decortication could provide for patients a better alternative than the standard pneumonectomy, which is the removal of the entire lung.