Physicians Attending International Symposium Unanimously Conclude That Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma No Longer Should Be Subjected to Radical Lung-Removing Surgery (EPP)

LOS ANGELES, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- International mesothelioma experts gathered at the 1st International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) on Saturday, May 21, 2011 in Santa Monica, CA. A wide range of medical specialists reviewed information from a variety of U.S. centers as well as from the recently concluded Mesothelioma And Radical Surgery (MARS) trial from the U.K. The results of this randomized clinical trial were presented by English surgeons, Tom Treasure and David Waller, and clearly demonstrated that radical removal of the lung (extrapleural pneumonectomy or EPP) as advocated in Boston, New York, and other selected centers in the U.S. holds no advantage over alternative, less radical, lung-sparing therapies currently offered at other centers.  

Following completion of the day-long session, Dr. Robert B. Cameron, the Director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Research Program and the Symposium's chairman, commented that, "The information presented at this Symposium makes an incredibly strong statement that surgical removal of the lung for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma should no longer be performed anywhere in the world, just like it has been abandoned already in the U.K." Dr. Cameron went on to say that, "Although it's usually hard to get physicians to agree on anything, there was unanimous agreement by the end of the conference that lung-sparing pleurectomy was the preferred surgical procedure if surgery was to be used at all."  

The distinguished faculty at this landmark meeting also addressed the role of cryo- and radio-frequency ablation, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and promising future therapies.  

Photos:

Dr. Robert Cameron, MD: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/2011-Pacific-Meso.jpg

(left - right) Mr. David Waller, MD; Mr. Tom Treasure, MD; and Dr. Robert Cameron, MD: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/2011-Pacific-Meso-2.jpg    

For further information call Clare Cameron at the Pacific Meso Center at 310-478-4678.

http://www.pacificmesocenter.org/

http://www.phlbi.org/

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SOURCE Pacific Meso Center at PHLBI