What is a Pleurectomy?
A pleurectomy is the surgery most often used to manage pleural mesothelioma. During this procedure, the surgeon removes the pleura, which is where most of the malignant tumor is generally located. In some cases, namely when the cancer is in a very early stage, doctors view a pleurectomy as a potential curative treatment. However, most patients receive a pleurectomy as a palliative form of treatment in order to reduce symptoms. There is a fairly low mortality rate associated with a pleurectomy so if it is deemed helpful, doctors will indeed suggest that the surgery be performed. Again, whether or not a pleural mesothelioma patient is a candidate for this surgery will depend on several factors that will be discussed by the oncologist, surgeon and other members of the patient’s medical team.
