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Diagnosis, Staging, and Surgical Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

  • Malignant Mesothelioma
  • Published:
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Opinion statement

The clinical presentation of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is nonspecific. The process to obtain the correct diagnosis can be challenging and requires a high index of suspicion. Once the diagnosis is made, there is no universally accepted standard of care and treatment decisions are strongly influenced by physician bias. Physicians who see few numbers of patients tend to treat based on symptoms alone by drainage of the pleural effusion and talc pleurodesis, while physicians at several tertiary referral centers tend to take an aggressive multimodality approach incorporating surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation. The primary goal of surgery in this setting is the resection of all gross disease. The choice of operation, extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) or pleurectomy/decortication (P/D), depends on disease stage, pulmonary function, philosophy of the treating physician, and type of planned adjuvant therapy.

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References and Recommended Reading

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •Of importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thoracic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Michael Kent MD

  2. Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    David Rice MD

  3. Thoracic Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, Room C-879, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Raja Flores MD

Authors
  1. Michael Kent MD
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  2. David Rice MD
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  3. Raja Flores MD
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Correspondence to Raja Flores MD.

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Kent, M., Rice, D. & Flores, R. Diagnosis, Staging, and Surgical Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 9, 158–170 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-008-0070-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-008-0070-4

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