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Mesothelioma surgery
By Eden Ali | June 15, 2007
Mesothelioma surgery for may be carried out for two reasons: for palliation (that is to aleviate pain and discomfort brought about by the tumor), or to cure.
Palliative surgery is typically performed in conditions where the tumor has already spread beyond the mesothelium and is nearly impossible to completely remove, or in the condition where the mesothelioma patient is too weak to tolerate a greater extensive surgery. Curative surgery is presented when the mesothelioma patient is said to be in a fair health condition and the tumor is localized and can be totally removed. Unfortunately, very minute spread of cancerous cells into the wall of the chest and diaphragm are not uncommon, even when such spread cannot be identified by routine tests.
There are two types of mesothelioma surgery that may be offered to a pleural mesothelioma patient: pleurectomy / decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy.
Pleurectomy / decortication is a palliative operation in a condition where the whole tumor cannot be cleared or removed. It has to do with the removal of the pleura, where most of the tumor is sited. It is also efficient in controlling effusions and reducing the pain brought about by the cancer.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy is a more extensive operation and usually used in conditions of localized mesothelioma. Mesothelioma surgery is technically difficult and carried out only by surgeons in specialized medical centers. It involves removing the pleura, diaphragm, pericardium, and the whole lung on the side of the tumor, in order to remove all or most of the cancerous cells. The patient must be healthy enough in order to be able to tolerate the pleural mesothelioma surgery.
Surgical treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma is usually carried out either to help ease symptoms or to try to remove the cancer from the abdominal wall and other digestive organs. But as with pleural mesothelioma, these cancers are not easy to remove totally.
Topics: Mesothelioma treatment ways |