June 3, 2011 - Fiona Jameson
Its technical name is extrapleural pneumonectomy (or EEP), and it is essentially the removal of a diseased lung completely. This radical procedure is advocated in the US as a viable treatment option for malignant mesothelioma, although, perhaps not for long. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs known as the mesothelium. The cancer spreads quickly, and creates liters of fluid in an area of the lungs only meant to hold a few drops. Mesothelioma is associated with intense pain, and a quick fatality rate. With a cancer this severe, for a while, EEP seemed like a perfectly reasonable solution. Recently, a couple of English physicians presented information that proved otherwise.
It was a Saturday, May 21, 2011 at the 1st International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Santa Monica, California, when surgeons Tom Treasurer and David Waller presented their findings on the true benefits of EEP.
"The information presented at this Symposium makes an incredibly strong statement that surgical removal of the lung for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma should no longer be performed anywhere in the world, just like it has been abandoned already in the U.K," said the Director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Research Program, Dr. Robert B. Cameron.
This is important news for US citizens being treated for mesothelioma, and hopefully, a step in the right direction of finding effective treatment.
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