What Types of Surgeries Are Available for Mesothelioma Treatment?

Surgery types available for mesothelioma include two main types. So the first that originally originated with Dr. Sugarbaker at the Brigham and Women's Hospital was the extrapleural pneumonectomy, otherwise known as EPP. And the idea behind that surgery was that you remove the entire lung and all the pleural surface, the parietal and visceral layer, as well as the diaphragm and the pericardial lining. So that was the kind of first nuanced approach where that was all done. And then the second, more newer approach, slightly less invasive, and with slightly better results now is called the pleurectomy and decortication. And that's a lung sparing operation where you take all that pleural lining, the mesothelium lining, but save the lung. You still take the heart lining, as well as the diaphragm and the diaphragm lining, but you save the lung. And I think that's-- based on clinical trials and multiple studies now, it would be now-- for surgery, the more gold standard would be pleurectomy and decortication. Since the [INAUDIBLE] trial in 2011, we're really seeing the majority of people now doing pleurectomies and decortication versus extrapleural pneumonectomy are kind of in the more rare instances. So pleurectomy and decortication is what I feel is the standard treatment now for surgical management of mesothelioma.