What determines which surgical procedure I will have?

Many different factors are involved in the decision as to which surgical procedure you will have.

Your health may determine what you can and cannot have. Since there is such a long time between exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma development, most patients are older, and have other medical problems. If you are a smoker or have any other disease affecting your lungs, an EPP may be out of the question. You might be able to have a pleurectomy/decortication, which will probably be done along with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. If your health is not good, or your tumor has spread, surgery may be done in order to relieve symptoms of pain or shortness of breath.

The concerns with abdominal surgery are similar, although there is nothing analogous to removing a lung. Surgery again will most likely be done along with chemotherapy.

Where you are receiving treatment can affect the choice of surgical procedure – depending on the experience of the surgeon and what he or she believes is the best choice.

If you decide to enroll in a clinical trial (more about that later), that may dictate the surgical procedure.

You yourself may make all or part of the decision. You may want everything possible done. However, depending on how you feel, you may not want to undergo an aggressive and dangerous surgery with a long recovery period.