Education and Expertise
Dr. Nathan Pennell earned his medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. He completed his internal medicine residency at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his oncology fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He is board-certified in oncology and specialized in the treatment of thoracic malignancies.
Dr. Nathan Pennell advocates for aggressive treatment of asbestos-related disease in select cases where such treatment would be more likely to significantly extend a patient’s life.
Careful Study
During Dr. Pennell’s studies, he has learned how the trimodal approach of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation does not always guarantee a patient a better outcome than a less-taxing regimen would. Consequently, he advocates for aggressive treatment of asbestos-related disease in select cases where such treatment would be more likely to significantly extend a patient’s life.
The Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge in treating malignant pleural mesothelioma is that most patients will already have advanced disease by the time the disease is diagnosed. This delay in diagnosis and treatment gives the disease a chance to spread throughout the lining of the chest and the rest of the body. At that point, surgery is much less effective, and often will only be used as a palliative treatment.
Rae Steinbach
Lauren Weinand