Mesothelioma Doctors

Anyone who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or is suspected of having asbestos cancer should seek treatment from a mesothelioma specialist. Because the disease is so rare, there are only limited mesothelioma specialists nationwide who understand the complexities of the disease and have the skill to effectively treat it.

Choosing the right mesothelioma doctor can be challenging, particularly at a time when stress levels are already high. But finding the right specialist can expedite successful treatment.

Best Mesothelioma Doctors

There are a limited number of medical professionals who are known worldwide as experts in mesothelioma treatment. They include the following:

Dr. Abraham Lebenthal

Thoracic Surgeon

• Thoracic surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
• Director of minimally invasive thoracic surgery at VA Boston Healthcare System and instructor in surgery at Harvard Medical School.
• Lebenthal specializes in gastro-esophageal cancers, lung cancer and mesothelioma. He worked alongside Sugarbaker for years.

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Dr. Robert Cameron

Thoracic Surgeon

• Director of thoracic surgery at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and medical adviser for the Pacific Meso Center in California.
• Cameron developed the lung-sparing pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) surgery that has been successfully used as a curative procedure in scores of mesothelioma cases.

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Dr. Raja Flores

Thoracic Surgeon

• Chairman for the department of thoracic surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
• As a specialist in mesothelioma surgery, Flores established video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy as the gold standard in lung cancer treatment. The minimally invasive surgery uses three small incisions to remove diseased sections of lungs.

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Dr. Paul Sugarbaker

Surgical Oncologist

• Director of the Center for Surgical Oncology at the Washington Cancer Institute in Washington, D.C.
• As the leading expert in peritoneal mesothelioma treatment, Sugarbaker pioneered a treatment procedure that utilizes cytoreductive surgery and heated chemotherapy to remove cancerous tissue. He is Dr. David Sugarbaker’s older brother.

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Dr. Anne Tsao

Medical Oncologist

• Director of the mesothelioma and thoracic programs at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
• Tsao spearheads pleural mesothelioma treatment at MD Anderson and continues groundbreaking research in disease treatment.

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Dr. Sophie Dessureault

Surgical Oncologist

• Dr. Dessureault is a surgical oncologist in the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. 
• She has received numerous scholarships and awards, including the Society of Surgical Oncology Young Investigator Award and the American Society of Clinical Oncology Development Award.

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​​Dr. Marcelo DaSilva

Thoracic Surgeon

• Dr. DaSilva is the medical Director of Thoracic Surgery for AdventHealth Orlando. 
• DaSilva has received the Bristol-Myers Squibb Scholars of Surgery award for outstanding achievements as well as The Mark Young International Medical Studies Scholarship, where he participated in the ​​Third Annual World Health Care Congress with Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Bernard Kouchner.

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Dr. Raphael Bueno

Thoracic Surgeon

• Dr. Bueno is the chief, Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery and co-director at Brigham and Women’s Lung Center.
• Bueno is a National Cancer Institute-funded investigator who combines translational research with a general thoracic surgery practice. He has developed tools in genomics that help identify candidate predictive and diagnostic markers for cancer. This focus specifically includes mesothelioma and lung cancer.

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Dr. ​​Hedy Lee Kindler

Oncologist

• Dr. Kindler is an internationally recognized cancer expert specializing in pancreatic cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumors and malignant mesothelioma. 
• Kindler was the president of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group and was recently awarded the Selikoff Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

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Dr. Jacques Fontaine

Thoracic Surgeon

• Dr. Fontaine is a thoracic surgeon at Moffitt Cancer Center, which is the 3rd largest cancer center in the United States. He is a Senior Member of the Departments of Thoracic and GI Oncology.
• He has been recognized for developing an expertise in robotic surgery and is the Program Director for Moffitt’s Robotic Thoracic Fellowship Program.

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What is a Mesothelioma Specialist

A mesothelioma specialist or doctor is a physician specifically trained to diagnose and treat mesothelioma. Mesothelioma doctors actively stay up to date on the latest research and gather the best treatments to handle asbestos-related diseases. Each form of mesothelioma requires different treatment methods, and general physicians and cancer centers may not provide these services. Finding a mesothelioma specialist to handle your specific diagnosis can greatly improve prognosis and survival rates.

Importance of Mesothelioma Specialists

Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma Doctors

The most common subtypes of mesothelioma are pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lungs. Peritoneal mesothelioma develops in the abdominal lining. 

Mesothelioma doctors who specialize in pleural mesothelioma are able to diagnose the disease and treat it with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, experimental drugs and Tumor Treating Fields Therapy. These procedures typically involve removal of pleural tumors and symptom-relieving surgeries such as pleurocentesis or talc pleurodesis. 

Mesothelioma doctors who specialize in peritoneal mesothelioma treat the disease with a mixture of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and experimental drugs. These procedures include abdominal surgeries that aim at removing peritoneal tumors and also include symptom-relieving surgeries such as paracentesis.

Choosing a Mesothelioma Specialist

Mesothelioma specialists have become experts in the field because they spent years focusing on the disease process and cures. When determining the best specialist, patients need to ask questions about the doctor’s background, area of expertise, experience and skill level.

The following are some questions that should be asked before choosing a mesothelioma specialist:

• How many years have you been practicing?
• What is your experience with mesothelioma? (How many mesothelioma patients have you treated?)
• Where do you have admitting and surgical privileges?
• Do you participate in mesothelioma research and clinical trials?
• How often do you adjust treatment options to meet changes in the disease progression?
• How will I communicate directly with you? Who is your liaison?

In interviewing specialists, patients need to be acutely alert to their feelings when meeting the doctor for the first time. Patients who feel at-ease with their doctors and trust their judgment are more likely to have confidence in the process. Patients should ask themselves the following questions during and after an initial interview with the specialist:

• Is the doctor respectful to his patients and staff?
• Does the doctor speak and communicate clearly? Do I understand the information the doctor is telling me?
• Does the doctor take time to answer my questions to my satisfaction?
• Is the doctor willing to consider my treatment preferences?

In addition, patients should also dig into their potential doctor’s background to ensure there have been no past problems that may indicate future troubles. The following tips are also a good way to find the best mesothelioma doctor:

• Check medical credentials – Various organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Medical Association, provide venues for patients to delve into physician backgrounds, including training, specialties and certificates.
• Research hospital affiliations – All of the leading mesothelioma specialists are affiliated with hospitals so they can provide superior treatment services. The National Cancer Institute and the American College of Surgeons index information about the annual caseloads for the hospitals and cancer centers in the United States and the overall involvement in research and clinical trials.
• Read reviews – Numerous websites offer unsolicited patient reviews of experiences with physicians. It is important to remember that the reviews are opinions about personal experiences and do not reflect actual data.

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How We Help

The average mesothelioma patient is unfamiliar with the process of choosing a mesothelioma specialist. That’s where we come in.

Our Patient Advocates help mesothelioma patients contact physicians who specialize in pleural, pericardial or peritoneal mesothelioma.

Call our team now for a fast appointment with the nation’s leading mesothelioma specialists.