Allegheny Health Network
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Allegheny Health Network offers care in every medical specialty and is home to the renowned AHN Cancer Institute. It offers the latest innovations and effective treatments designed to fight the most aggressive cancers, including mesothelioma and lung cancer.[2]
Pleural Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer Care at Allegheny Health Network
Allegheny Health Network diagnoses and treats lung cancer, pleural mesothelioma, and peritoneal mesothelioma using breakthrough therapies and treatment protocols administered by highly respected cancer specialists. For patients diagnosed with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, the cancer center offers hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC), an innovative treatment that follows cytoreductive surgery with highly concentrated, heated chemotherapy drugs that are poured into the open surgical site and allowed to remain there for approximately 90 minutes. The direct contact of the medication kills any microscopic cancer cells left behind during the surgery and avoids the adverse side effects that accompany systemic chemotherapy.[1]
Patients with thoracic cancers who are determined to be eligible for surgery may be offered pneumonectomy to remove all organs to which mesothelioma has spread, lung-sparing pleurectomy surgery, pleurodesis to drain fluid that has accumulated in the chest cavity and to prevent it from returning, and radiation therapy, among other treatments. Allegheny Health Network is a leader in the use of both immunotherapy and targeted therapies that stimulate the patient’s immune system and block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules involved in tumor growth.[1]
Notable Staff and Mesothelioma Specialists
Allegheny Health Network’s highly respected thoracic and peritoneal malignancy programs have attracted top medical talent eager to use advanced technologies to treat patients with malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other challenging malignancies. Included on the staff are surgical oncologists Dr. Sricharan Chalikonda, Dr. Suzanne C. Schiffman, and Dr. David L. Bartlett, all of whom have significant expertise and knowledge in performing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma.
The thoracic malignancy team is equally well-staffed with experts in conditions including lung cancer, disorders of the esophagus, and malignant pleural mesothelioma. Surgeons including Dr. Benny Weksler and Dr. Blair Jobe work with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and other cancer specialists to provide state-of-the-art care.
