Can Robotics Make Mesothelioma Surgery Safer?
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Can Robotics Make Mesothelioma Surgery Safer?

ByAlex Strauss

A Chandler, Arizona man is recovering after becoming the second person in the world to undergo robotic surgery for mesothelioma. Carlos Tarazon, a 67-year-old former construction worker, was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma after spending more than 20 years in the construction industry. He had exhausted his treatment options when he was referred to University of Arizona Medical Center thoracic surgeon Farid Gharagozloo, MD, who elected to perform robotic-assisted extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). Gharagozloo had performed the world’s first robotic EPP just days before. Pleural mesothelioma invades organ membranes, the chest well, and, often, the lungs. EPP involves removing not only the diseased lung lining, but also the lung itself, portions of the chest wall, the membrane around the heart, and all…

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Tested
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Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Tested

ByAlex Strauss

A clinical trial in Japan is testing the theory that high levels of chemotherapy delivered before other treatments may pave the way for more successful mesothelioma surgery. The administration of very high levels of chemotherapy drugs as a first-line cancer treatment is known as induction chemotherapy. The goal of induction chemotherapy is to kill most of the cancer cells up front, reducing or even eliminating the need for further rounds of chemotherapy or other types of treatment. Because mesothelioma is such a virulent cancer, even induction chemotherapy is not usually enough to kill all of the cancer. But the Japanese researchers believe it may be enough to dramatically improve surgical outcomes. When the 2-year trial, which began in September 2012,…

Studies Confirm Success Factors for Mesothelioma Surgery
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Studies Confirm Success Factors for Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Completeness of surgery, tumor grade, and the use of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin all have an impact on survival after peritoneal mesothelioma surgery and heated intraoperative chemotherapy, according to recent studies. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a cancer of the abdominal wall. This type of mesothelioma is often treated by surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible (Cytoreductive surgery or CRS) followed by a wash of heated chemotherapy drugs through the open body cavity (HIPEC). Two recent studies – one conducted in the U.S. and one in Singapore – have independently confirmed a list of factors that contribute to survival after CRS and HIPEC for peritoneal mesothelioma. The first study included 211 peritoneal mesothelioma patients treated with CRS and HIPEC at…

EPP No, Chemotherapy Yes, Suggests New Mesothelioma Study
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EPP No, Chemotherapy Yes, Suggests New Mesothelioma Study

ByAlex Strauss

A pair of thoracic oncologists from Belgium say it’s time to go a step further in the wake of a controversial study on mesothelioma surgery and examine the impact of perioperative chemotherapy. Based on mesothelioma research from around the world, the 2011 Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) randomized feasibility study concluded that extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) was too risky and should be abandoned as a surgical approach for mesothelioma. EPP involves removing not only the diseased pleura containing the mesothelioma tumor, but also the nearest lung, the diaphragm, and other internal membranes.  The MARS study recommended, instead, that operable mesothelioma be treated with lung-sparing pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) or extended pleurectomy/decortication. But surgery alone, regardless of which method is used, has been shown to produce…

Heated Chemo in Mesothelioma Challenged by New Study
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Heated Chemo in Mesothelioma Challenged by New Study

ByAlex Strauss

A procedure that involves washing heated chemotherapy drugs through the open body cavity after mesothelioma surgery may not be as helpful as some mesothelioma experts had hoped. A study on hyperthermic chemotherapy perfusion conducted by researchers in the thoracic surgery department at the David Geffen School of Medicine suggests that most mesothelioma cells lines are relatively unaffected by heat. The laboratory study included three kinds of mesothelioma cell lines, along with lung cancer cells, hamster-derived ovarian cells, and normal lung fibroblasts. First, the growth rate of each type of cell was measured in the lab. Next, to test the impact of heat alone and different types of cells, the cells were exposed to 37, 42 and 45 degrees centigrade for 20, 40 or…

Mesothelioma Study: QOL Impact Not Enough to Deny Surgery
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Mesothelioma Study: QOL Impact Not Enough to Deny Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

The risk of reduced quality of life should not be used as an argument against a new surgical technique for peritoneal mesothelioma. That is the conclusion of a team of German doctors studying the combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for a variety of abdominal cancers. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of a rare disease. Arising in the peritoneum, the membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity, it tends to spread quickly. The proximity of the peritoneum to other internal organs increases the chance that mesothelioma will spread. During cytoreductive mesothelioma surgery, surgeons remove as much of the diseased tissue as possible. In a growing number of centers, the procedure is followed by…

Implants May Help Mesothelioma Surgery Patients
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Implants May Help Mesothelioma Surgery Patients

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients who undergo surgery for their cancer may benefit from new biological implants to reconstruct their chest wall. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining that surrounds the lungs and lines the thoracic (chest) cavity. Pleurectomy and decortication is a surgical procedure designed to improve mesothelioma symptoms like shortness of breath by removing cancerous tissues surrounding the lungs, freeing the lungs up to expand more normally. During Pleurectomy and decortication, portions of the chest wall are removed and usually must be rebuilt. Often, this rebuilding is performed using synthetic materials. But a team of thoracic surgeons in the UK has just published a report on their success in using biological implants to rebuild the chest wall in patients…

Mesothelioma Study: Quality of Life “Acceptable” with Pneumonectomy
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Mesothelioma Study: Quality of Life “Acceptable” with Pneumonectomy

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma patients who undergo lung removal surgery (pneumonectomy) can still enjoy an acceptable quality of life, in spite of the risks associated with the surgery. That is the conclusion of a seven-year Italian study on patients who had pneumonectomy for either lung cancer or mesothelioma between January 2003 and March 2010.  A Total of 71 patients were enrolled in the study. Twenty-six of them had their right lung removed while 31 had left-sided pneumonectomy. Eleven patients had more extensive pneumonectomies that also involved removal of structures other than the lung, such as parts of the trachea, diaphragm or lung lining. At one-year, 93% of the mesothelioma and lung cancer patients who had undergone pneumonectomies were still alive, although all had begun…

Mesothelioma Surgery Under Fire Again
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Mesothelioma Surgery Under Fire Again

ByAlex Strauss

The group that stirred worldwide debate among medical specialists last year with their stance against a radical mesothelioma surgery is taking up the controversial topic once again. Led by prominent Los Angeles-based mesothelioma doctor Robert Cameron, MD, Director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Comprehensive Research Program, the group includes experts from San Francisco, New York and as far away as South Africa. In addition to an interest in the rare asbestos-linked cancer mesothelioma, these experts share a common dislike for extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), a major surgical procedure that is still considered by some to be the ‘gold standard’ surgical treatment for this disease. Introduced in the 1940’s and modified over the years, EPP is a mesothelioma surgery that involves removal of…

New Studies Question Radical Mesothelioma Surgery
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New Studies Question Radical Mesothelioma Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Calling it “a harmful procedure” a team of Italian surgeons is recommending against a controversial and radical type of surgery for early-stage mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare but virulent cancer that starts in the membrane that encases the lungs or other organs. As mesothelioma spreads, it can metastasize into the lungs and other parts of the chest cavity. Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) is an extensive surgery that involves not only removal of the cancerous pleural lining, but also the lung closest to it, the membranes around other organs, and all or part of the diaphragm. It carries a high risk of complication and death, prompting many of the world’s top mesothelioma experts to reject it completely. In the latest study of…