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Return to work after surgical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma: report of a case

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Abstract

We report the case of a 56-year-old woman who underwent pleural biopsy to identify the cause of the right pleural effusion. The pathological diagnosis was epithelial malignant pleural mesothelioma. The patient worked as a junior high school teacher and strongly hoped for continuing work. Thus, we performed pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) as a curative surgery. The operative findings showed pleural thickening that in the lower lobe of the lung. Thus, peeling of the lower lobe was performed. Pleural biopsy was only performed on the upper and middle lobes. As a result, the operation was limited P/D. The pathological findings showed a small number of mesothelioma cells in the upper and middle lobes. The patient received four courses of cisplatin plus pemetrexed systemic chemotherapy after surgery. Continuous maintenance chemotherapy using pemetrexed has been performed until the time of writing. At present, she has continued her work for 6 years after the operation and has extended her retirement age without recurrence.

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Abbreviations

MPM:

Malignant pleural mesothelioma

EPP:

Extrapleural pneumonectomy

P/D:

Pleurectomy/decortication

CT:

Computed tomography

IASLC:

International association for the study of lung cancer

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Atsuji Matsuyama for helpful assistance in pathological diagnosis.

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Correspondence to Masaru Takenaka.

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Takenaka, M., Ichiki, Y., Taira, A. et al. Return to work after surgical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma: report of a case. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 67, 897–900 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-019-01064-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-019-01064-z

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