Treatment Options for Mesothelioma Patients

A well-established thoracic surgeon, Jonathan Daniel, MD, serves the needs of Portland, Oregon, patients at the Rose City Vein Center. With experience treating a wide range of venous diseases, he provides thoracic surgical care. One of the conditions that Jonathan Daniel, MD, treats is mesothelioma, an uncommon tumor that necessitates a particular surgical approach. 

With approximately 3,000 cases diagnosed yearly, mesothelioma arises gradually from prolonged asbestos exposure. Symptoms of the lung disease typically appear within 15 to 50 years of exposure, and conventional treatments include chemotherapy and radiation therapy as well as surgery. Emerging areas of focus are in cryotherapy, immunotherapy, and gene therapy. 

The most common surgical approaches to mesothelioma include pleurectomy, which involves removing the lining of the lungs and sometimes the underlying lung tissue. If the disease only affects one lung, a pneumonectomy, or complete removal of the affected lung, may be in order. Another treatment, called pleurocentesis, can be used to remove fluid surrounding the lungs that makes breathing difficult for patients.