Public awareness of mesothelioma, a deadly disease caused by exposure to asbestos, appears to be rising throughout the developed world. Outcry and public protest in response to the proposed expansion of the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine in Quebec, the potential establishment of a National Mesothelioma Awareness Day in the United States, and even media recognition in popular television evidence the rise in public sympathy with the cause.
The disease made its way into popular media when an ABC show, BostonMed, centered an episode in July around a mesothelioma patient’s battle with the cancer. The episode featured Charles Chew and Dr. David Sugarbaker, a real-life mesothelioma patient and a cutting edge mesothelioma surgeon.
Mesothelioma is a terminal cancer of the soft tissue lining which protects many of the body’s vital organs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers, a phenomena which often occurs in industrial settings such as manufacturing plants for sealants, brake pads, asbestos boards and insulation. The disease can take as long as several decades to develop from the initial time of exposure, making it exceedingly difficult to diagnose and virtually impossible to detect early.
Dr. Sugarbaker, a thoracic surgery specialist who is well known for his radical mesothelioma treatment approach, has had much success mitigating the effects of the disease and drastically reducing the rate of the cancer’s recurrence. Historically, patients have faced a grim prognosis which predicts just six to eighteen months of survival. Dr. Sugarbaker’s radical treatments implement tumor removal surgery, intra-pleural chemotherapy and regular chemotherapy efforts to destroy cancerous tumors and slow or eliminate the regrowth of malignant tissues. His patients, amazingly, have survived mesothelioma for as much as five years.
Dr. Sugarbaker is the the founder of the International Mesothelioma Program (IMP) at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and is well known for his efforts to combat the cancer. While many doctors recommend only palliative treatments to mesothelioma patients, Sugarbaker adopts a far more positive outlook.
With increasing understanding of mesothelioma in both the public and medical sectors, patients may be able to look forward to a somewhat less fatalistic approach to treating the disease in the near future.
“When hope is in the equation,” says Sugarbaker, “anything is possible.”
