002. Surgical approach to pleural mesothelioma: is pleurectomy the best choice?

Objective: There is an opinion that extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) is the radical treatment option for locally advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). In this report we evaluated the hypothesis that lung-sparing pleurectomy-decortication (LSPD) can be the procedure of choice in locally advanced MPM as it offers at least as good oncological results as EPP with reduced early postoperative complications and risk.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of accumulated experience at our center.

Results: Alive and disease free 9.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the technique of LSPD preserving the lung but achieving macroscopic complete tumor clearance does not significantly increase the risk of relapse. LSPD appears to reduce morbidity and increase the patient pool suitable for radical surgery. Therefore, LSPD can be proposed as the surgical approach of choice for mesothelioma.

Keywords: Mesothelioma; medical thoracoscopy; pleural fluid