Some Mesothelioma Patients May Benefit from Second Radical Surgery

This study should elicit a call of hands for centers to share their experiences, to say either do it, or not do it,” Elsayed said. “Right now, you just don’t find a good number of centers doing that second operation.” Earlier Mesothelioma Surgery Studies  This most recent report focused on three smaller studies totaling 40 patients involved in a second major surgery with a curative intent for mesothelioma. In the first group of 16 patients, there was a median survival of 20.4 months after the second surgery for those with epithelial cell type, but only 7.4 months survival for those with biphasic subtype. For the epithelial group whose recurrence didn’t occur until 24 months or longer, the median survival was 35.8 months, compared to those with a recurrence within 12 months whose median survival was only 8.9 months. In the second group of 16 undergoing a second surgery, two patients died before leaving the hospital. The other 14 had a median survival of 16 months. This was compared to a nine-month survival for patients receiving only follow-up chemotherapy without a second surgery, and only two months for those receiving no therapy after recurrence. The third group of only eight patients had a median survival of 14.5 months after the second major surgery. “There is no real solid evidence regarding a second surgery, but I think you could say it’s not out of the question for mesothelioma,” Elsayed said. “I think for patients, if your d...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news