Meta-Analysis Finds Lung-Sparing Surgery the Best Option for Most Mesothelioma Patients
There is now more evidence to support the growing number of experts who favor lung-sparing P/D surgery over radical extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. There has been an ongoing debate within the surgical community over which procedure carries the most benefit with the least risk. The late David Sugarbaker, MD, of Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston was a pioneer of the EPP procedure, which involves removing not only the diseased pleural lining where mesothelioma tumors grow, but also the nearest lung, most of the diaphragm, the pericardium, and other at-risk tissues. But it turns out that, although Sugarbaker and his team were able to show a mesothelioma survival benefit with EPP, their results,…
