Dr. Schiffman received his B.S. degree with High Honors in biology from Hobart College in 1976. He then moved to Chicago where he studied biochemistry at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. He attended Rush Medical College where he received his M.D. degree in 1982 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of California, Irvine.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
There are
three traditional kinds of treatment
for patients with malignant mesothelioma. Often two or more of these are
combined in the course of treatment:
surgery (taking out the cancer),
radiation therapy (using high-dose X-rays or other high-energy rays to
kill cancer cells), and
Surgery: There are several types of surgery
used in treating mesothelioma.
A pleurectomy is the removal of part of the chest or
abdomen lining and some of the tissue around it.
Depending on how far the cancer has spread, a lung
also may be removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy.
In an extrapleural pneumonectomy, the lung is removed
along with the lining and diaphragm (the muscle that helps you breathe) on the
affected side. In this surgery, the lining around the heart is also removed.
Sometimes a pleurectomy/decortication is
performed. In this surgery, the lining of the lung is
removed along with as much of the tumor as possible.
Radiation therapy
uses high-energy X-rays to kill
cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from
a machine outside the body
(external radiation therapy) or from putting materials
that produce radiation
(radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area
where the cancer cells are found
(internal radiation therapy).
If fluid has collected
in the chest or abdomen, your doctor
may drain the fluid out of your body by putting in a
needle into the chest or abdomen and
using gentle suction to remove the fluid. If fluid is
removed from the chest, this is called
thoracentesis. If fluid is removed from the
abdomen, this is called paracentesis.
Your doctor may also put drugs through a tube into the
chest to prevent more fluid from
accumulating.
Chemotherapy is
the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy may be administered by pill, or it may be
put into the body by a needle in the vein
or muscle.
Chemotherapeutic agents can be administered either
systemically (through the bloodstream) or intrapleurally
(in the pleural cavity). When it is administered
intrapleurally, the treatment is localized at the site of
the tumor. These drugs are generally very toxic and you
should discuss their use very carefully with your
physician.
Lung cancer kills more men and women than any other form of cancer. Eight out of 10 lung cancers are due
to tobacco smoke. Lung cancers are classified as either small cell or non-small
cell cancers.
Chest pain is a common complaint by a patient in the ER. Causes of chest pain include broken or bruised ribs, pleurisy, pneumothorax, shingles, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, angina, heart attack, costochondritis, pericarditis, aorta or aortic dissection, and reflux esophagitis. Diagnosis and treatment of chest pain depends upon the cause and clinical presentation of the patient's chest pain.
Pleurisy, an inflammation of the lining around the lungs, is associated with sharp chest pain upon breathing in. Cough, chest tenderness, and shortness of breath are other symptoms associated with pleurisy. Pleurisy pain can be managed with pain medication and by external splinting of the chest wall.
Cancer is a disease caused by an abnormal growth of cells, also called malignancy. It is a group of 100 different diseases, and is not contagious. Cancer can be treated through chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs that destroy cancer cells.
Pleural effusion is an excess fluid between the two membranes that envelop the lungs. There are two classifications of causes of pleural effusion; transudate and exudate. The treatment of pleural effusion depends on the cause.
Though it's difficult to say why some people develop cancer while others don't, research shows that certain risk factors increase a person's odds of developing cancer. These risk factors include growing older, family history of cancer, diet, alcohol and tobacco use, and exposure to sunlight, ionizing radiation, certain chemicals, and some viruses and bacteria.
Asbestos exposure lung disease is divided into three main types, asbestosis (lung scarring caused by asbestos fibers), disease of the lining of the lung (pleural plaques, scarring, or fluid accumulation), and lung cancer. Mesothelioma is cancer of the lining of the lung caused by asbestos exposure. Cancers of the larynx, throat, kidney, esophagus, and gallbladder have been linked to asbestos exposure. Treatment is dependant upon the type of condition related to asbestos exposure.
The lungs are primarily responsible for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air we breathe and the blood. Eliminating carbon dioxide from the blood is important, because as it builds up in the blood, headaches, drowsiness, coma, and eventually death may occur. The air we breathe in (inhalation) is warmed, humidified, and cleaned by the nose and the lungs.
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