When I was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the initial surgical options were to have a pleurectomy/decoritication (P/D) in which the lining of the lung and the chest cavity and any observable tumor tissue are removed or an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) in which the lung is removed as well. I was scheduled to receive the EPP, but when mesothelioma was found in the sack around the heart (the pericardium) the procedure was changed to the P/D.
I receive email postings from a site called OncologySTAT, and today I read the abstract of a study that found that the E/D was superior to the EPP. For example, the two-year survival rate for the P/D was 49% versus 18.2% for the EPP. The respective five-year survival rates were 30.1% and 9.1%. My conclusion is that the extra risk associated with the lung removal outweighed the more complete removal of the tumor tissue. When I last saw my surgeon, just before moving to Denver, he seemed surprised at how well I looked and noted that perhaps it was best that he could not do the EPP. Now it looks like he was right.
I am encouraged to see the survival rates because they are greater than I expected from what I had seen previously. The results give me hope that I will live long enough to have real conversations with my grandchildren and to do things with them that they will carry in their memory into adulthood.
On another topic, no significant news from my appointment with my oncologist yesterday. It will be a week or so before the pathology report on the fluid removed from my lung will be ready. It will tell us how many cancer cells were present in the specimen and perhaps provide a better understanding of the cause of the fluid collection. I had an uneventful infusion following the doctor’s appointment and will have one more round in three weeks before my next CT.
Here’s the link to the abstract: http://www.oncologystat.com/journals/journal_scans/PleurectomyDecortication_is_Superior_to_Extrapleural_Pneumonectomy_in_the_Multimodality_Management_of_Patients_with_Malignant_Pleural_Mesothelioma.html
David
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