First in South India: Doctors at Continental Hospital performs surgical procedure to treat rare cancer mesothelioma

Hyderabad: Doctors at the Continental Hospitals here on Friday claimed that they have performed South India's first-ever surgical procedure to treat 'Mesothelioma,' a rare cancer, which affects the lining of the chest and lungs.

Impacting the surface of lungs, this form of cancer which incapacitates the patient gradually, is usually caused due to prolonged exposure to asbestos and smoking, the hospital said in a release here.

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Mesothelioma is cancer that starts in cells in the linings of certain parts of the body, most commonly the linings of the chest or abdomen (belly).

In the case, the 40-year-old Anil (Name Changed) reported constant breathlessness, which on diagnosing was found to be this rare form of cancer.

Commenting on the treatment, Surgical Consultant (Oncologist) Dr Ravi Chander Veligeti, said, earlier, such patients of such cancers were deemed incurable and put through chemotherapy, which is considered an expensive treatment.

Considering the patient's background, we decided to go in for a complex surgical procedure to remove the cancerous lining from the lung along with a novel procedure called Hyper thermic Intrathoracic Chemotherapy (HITHOC). The surgery lasted for 10 hours, and the patient recovered from it fully in 2weeks, the Surgeon said.

Often by the time, mesothelioma is diagnosed, the disease is advanced, he said that most patients with mesothelioma of the lung die because of respiratory failure or pneumonia. A smaller number of people die of complications of the heart when the tumor invades the pericardium, a thin sac that surrounds the heart.

Common perception is that nothing can be done if one is diagnosed with mesothelioma and putting the patient on chemotherapy is the lone possible solution. This is because of the complexity of the surgery to treat such a cancer, he added.

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