Mesothelioma Treatment Options - Surgery

There are two main types of surgical treatment for pleural mesothelioma: extra-pleural pneumonectomy (EPP) and pleurectomy/decortication.

EPP involves the removal of the pleura, diaphragm, pericardium, and the whole lung involved with the tumor. Pleurectomy/decortication involves the removal of the pleura without removing the entire lung.

Asbestos and The Lungs - What Happens When We Breathe?

When we take a deep breath, the air goes down the wind-pipe (or trachea) into the middle of the chest. There the trachea divides into two, then four, then eight - and finally, hundreds of thousands of little airways (or bronchi and bronchioles) in each lung. At the end of each airway is a tiny sac (or alveolus.) Healthy lungs have hundreds of millions of these sacs (or alveoli.)

An upside-down oak tree provides a good example: The wind-pipe is like the large trunk which divides countless times into branches (airways) and twigs (small airways), until at the end of every twig there is a leaf (alveolus). As the wind blows, the leaves move.