Pleurectomy/decortication for malignant pleural mesothelioma

In 2016, the Annals of Thoracic Surgery published a retrospective analysis of a single institutional experience of pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) plus intraoperative photodynamic therapy (PDT) in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) (1). Out of a total of 90 patients who underwent P/D, 73 patients with pure epithelioid subtype were analyzed. Although most of the patients had advanced MPM, macroscopic complete resection was achieved in all patients, and the overall median survival time was almost 3 years.