Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center
Philadelphia is home to one of the world’s most sought after cancer treatment centers: the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. This world famous cancer center handles more than seventy-thousand outpatient visits, as well as nine-thousand inpatient discharges.
Although all varieties of cancer and related ailments are treated in the Abramson Cancer Center, there is an immense amount of stress placed upon the specific treatment of mesothelioma and related chest ailments, specifically pleural ailments, at Penn Medicine’s Mesothelioma and Pleural Program. This integrative intersection of surgical as well as medical experts collaborates to help diagnose, inform, and treat patients as they adjust to the physical and emotional effects of the disease.
Their team of specialists includes many noted physicians, such as Corey J. Langer, M.D., head of the Thoracic Oncology department, who deals specifically with mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other thoracic malignancies. Another notable doctor is Joseph Friedberg, M.D. chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
Treatment
In regard to mesothelioma diagnosis and treatment, Penn’s Pleural and Mesothelioma Program has direct access to the latest, most cutting-edge medical and surgical treatment formats, assuring directly-tailored patient outcomes along with a stress on minimally invasive procedures. Among these options are:
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Surgeries such as extrapleural pneumonectomy, thoracotomies, as well as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)
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Radiation therapies such as photodynamic therapy (PDT, brachytherapy, and proton tharapies (which are an advanced form of radiation therapies, administered at the Penn Medicine Roberts Proton Therapy Center, the largest on Earth)
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Biologic therapies as well as Chemotherapy, including combination immunotherapy and chemotherapy
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Area-targeting therapies, including adjuvant and gene therapies
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Interventional pulmonology treatments such as mediastinal staging pleuroscopy and endobronchial ultrasound-guided biopsy
Clinical Trials & Research
Research is essential to the treatment and diagnosis of thoracic conditions as well as lung cancer, and Abramson’s program is considered one of the best in the entire world; it is extremely highly regarded by the medical community. The hallmark of the approach is the high-degree of communication between physicians of different disciplines. The Abramson Cancer Center relies heavily upon collaboration between all sorts of professionals representing different fields of knowledge, representing different modalities, and disciplines, along with four-hundred basic, translational, and clinical scientists.
The Penn University System’s involvement provides doctors as well as patients with an immense database of educational medical resources. In specific regard to mesothelioma and its related diseases, this relationship allows for a much clearer understanding of the diseases’ genetic links. All mesothelioma patients are provided the benefit of having the option to participate in cutting-edge clinical studies and trials.
Additional Information
The Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is the housing complex of the Abramson Cancer Center. The Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is a world-famous, state-of-the-art outpatient facility which houses fantastic pulmonology, oncology, surgery, and radiation services.