TREATING MESOTHELIOMA WITH SURGERY

Treatment Background:

On its own, surgery has not proven to be a particularly successful means with which to treat Mesothelioma. Indeed, currently available figures conclude that only 16.3 percent of all patients whose treatment is purely surgical in nature are likely to survive for five years or more.

In complete contrast, however, the treatment of malignant Mesothelioma via surgery when specifically utilized in conjunction with both chemotherapy and radiation has resulted in an average success-rate of 74.6 percent with respect to extending patient life-spans by a period of five years or more.

In other words, surgery can play a meaningful and successful role in treating Mesothelioma, provided that careful study and consideration is given to the nature of that role.

The Types of Surgery:

Palliative Surgery: While most surgeries are meant to offer a cure, some – such as palliative surgery – are designed to lessen the patient’s pain by removing obstructions, tumors and masses.

Curative Surgery: This is focused upon the removal and destruction of cancerous tissue. It may also involve the partial or complete removal of the affected bodily organ. To try and ensure that all cancerous tissue is removed, it may be necessary to also remove a certain amount of normal, healthy tissue surrounding the affected area.

Diagnostic Surgery: This process involves the removal of a tissue sample from the affected part of the patient’s body to allow it to be tested and evaluated to determine if it contains cancerous cells.

Treating Mesothelioma with Surgery:

Those areas in which surgery may play a meaningful and significant role in the treatment of Meaothelioma include the following.

Pleurectomy: In this procedure, the lining of the patient’s chest is surgically removed. In some cases, an Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) is required, and which involves the removal of the lung, the lining of the inside of the chest, the hemi-diaphragm, and the pericardium.

Thoractomy: Defined as an incision into the chest, a Thoractomy is undertaken to allow the surgeon access to the thoracic organs, and most commonly the patient’s heart and lungs.

Pneumonectomy: A Pneumonectomy (or, as it is also known, a Pneumectomy) is a surgical procedure designed specifically to remove a patient’s lung. The removal of one lobe of the lung is referred to as a Lobectomy, and that of just a segment of the lung as a Segmentectomy. The most common reason for a Pneumonectomy is to remove cancerous/tumorous tissue that has arisen as a consequence of lung cancer.

Thoracentesis: Also known as a Thoracocentesis or a pleural-tap, a Thoracentesis is an invasive, surgical procedure designed to remove fluid and/or air from the patient’s Pleural Space for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. The body cavity that surrounds the lungs is called the Pleural Cavity. The lungs are surrounded by the pleurae, which folds back to form a two-layered, membranous structure. The Pleural Space can be found between these two layers.

Paracentesis: Paracentesis is a surgical procedure in which a needle is used to drain fluid from a body cavity, and most commonly the abdomen.