Age is a Factor in Mesothelioma Survival After Surgery
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Age is a Factor in Mesothelioma Survival After Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Age appears to be one of the biggest predictors of mesothelioma survival after surgery. This holds true no matter which kind of surgery a patient has.  A new study from the University of Pennsylvania compared the outcomes of more than 2,000 mesothelioma surgery patients. They compared them by surgical type. They also compared their survival with that of people who did not have surgery. Mesothelioma survival after surgery was consistently longer for younger patients. The risk of death within a few months went up a little bit with each year of age. The news could help patients and doctors make better treatment decisions. Surgical Procedures for Mesothelioma Operating on mesothelioma patients is controversial. Mesothelioma tumors are irregularly shaped and difficult to…

Black Mesothelioma Patients Less Likely to Receive Surgery
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Black Mesothelioma Patients Less Likely to Receive Surgery

ByAlex Strauss

Black mesothelioma patients are less likely to receive potentially-life saving surgery than white patients, even though they have worse short-term mortality.   That is the finding of a new study published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.  Mount Sinai researchers used data from the National Cancer Institute to compare mesothelioma treatment trends among 2550 patients.  They concluded that both white and black mesothelioma patients live longer with surgery, but white patients tend to get the most benefit. Surgical Options for Malignant Mesothelioma Malignant mesothelioma is a membrane cancer. It can occur in different places in the body. The type of treatment varies depending on where the cancer occurs. For mesothelioma in the abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma), surgery with a rinse…

Surgery Extends Survival for Patients with Pleural Mesothelioma
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Surgery Extends Survival for Patients with Pleural Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Patients with pleural mesothelioma who choose to have surgery live longer than those who do not. This applies no matter which kind of surgery they have.  That is the conclusion of a Mexican study published in the Annals of Oncology. Doctors with the country’s National Institute for Respiratory Diseases conducted the study. It included 122 pleural mesothelioma patients.  The researchers analyzed a wide range of variables like age, sex, asbestos exposure, and overall health. They discovered that the decision to have surgery was one of the most important survival factors in patients with pleural mesothelioma. Treatment Options for Patients with Pleural Mesothelioma Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer with no known cure. It usually occurs in people who have been…

Deep Vein Thrombosis After Pleurectomy for Mesothelioma
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Deep Vein Thrombosis After Pleurectomy for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

The authors of a new study on deep vein thrombosis after pleurectomy say mesothelioma patients may be at special risk. They say routine screening after pleural mesothelioma surgery could save lives. The study comes from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a leader in cancer research. The research team followed a series of mesothelioma patients who agreed to be part of a DVT surveillance program.  Nearly 30 percent of the patients experienced deep vein thrombosis after pleurectomy. A third of those patients had no symptoms. Understanding DVT  Deep vein thrombosis or DVT is when a blood clot forms in the deep veins of the arm, leg, or groin. If the clot goes unnoticed, it can travel through the circulation and lodge in…

Conservative Surgery Leads to Better Mesothelioma Survival After Recurrence
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Conservative Surgery Leads to Better Mesothelioma Survival After Recurrence

ByAlex Strauss

Mesothelioma survival after recurrence may be better with lung-preserving P/D surgery than with more radical EPP. Japanese researchers recently analyzed the cases of 44 mesothelioma patients who underwent either EPP or P/D. It took about the same amount of time for mesothelioma tumors to start growing again, no matter what type of surgery the patient had. The difference was in survival. Both overall survival and mesothelioma survival after recurrence were longer in the P/D patients. EPP vs. P/D: The Ongoing Debate Mesothelioma surgeons around the world are still divided about which type of mesothelioma surgery is best. On one hand, extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) removes more diseased tissue, including a lung. Some say this improves the odds of long term mesothelioma…