June 6, 2011 - Jason Wentworth
The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia reports that overall survival rates for mesothelioma patients improve drastically when treated with a combination of lung sparing surgery and a specific type of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Joseph Friedberg, MD, co-director of the University of Pennsylvania Mesothelioma and Pleural Program reported that the findings came almost through happenstance.
"Our primary motivation in attempting the lung sparing surgery was preservation of quality of life, and we were hoping the survival results would at least be similar to the more traditional pneumonectomy approach…Although our pneumonectomy results were in line with what is often reported for similar patients having surgery-based treatments, we were completely caught off guard when the analysis revealed a significantly longer survival for the patients who retained both lungs," Friedberg stated.
All of the patients who showed improved survival rates were treated with intraoperative photodynamic therapy in conjunction with the aforementioned lung sparing surgery. This specific type of PDT and lung sparing surgery treatment has an inconclusive survival rate because the patients treated are still surviving. The last follow-up was 2.1 years after the treatment. The average life expectancy of someone with mesothelioma is often barely one year.
"Why this is happening is unclear and has emerged as the focus of our continuing research," said Joseph Friedberg, MD.
Despite the good news, PDT has its limitations. One major one being that it is difficult to affect tissue deeper than 1 centimeter using photodynamic therapy. Still, Dr. Friedberg goes on to explain that this new technique “has become the backbone of our surgery-based treatment protocols." Further research may prove this to be the “miracle” treatment for which so many people have been waiting.
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