Thoracic Diseases  Mesothelioma
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia has been designated a center of excellence in the management of mesothelioma by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
Mesothelioma occurs mainly in men over the age of 50 and is frequently associated with prior environmental or occupational exposure to asbestos.
It can be diagnosed only by biopsy.
Treatment often requires major surgery on the pleura (the lining membrane of the lung) and the lung and may involve post-surgical chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
We are currently studying several new treatments, including a novel multimodality, or combination approach, which includes vaccine therapy, in vitro chemosensitivity testing, and drug analysis, followed by surgical removal and radiotherapy.
A multimodality approach to this disease offers patients the best chance to be cured.
The multidisciplinary, interdepartmental Center for Lung Failure and the Columbia University Mesothelioma Center are seeking patients for a new institutionally approved clinical protocol to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare tumor that attacks the pleura, the lining membrane of the lung.
The Principal Investigators of this study, to be conducted at both the Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell campuses of NewYork-Presbyterian, are:
Mark E. Ginsburg, MD, Surgical Director, Center for Lung Failure;
Robert N. Taub, MD, PhD, medical oncologist and Director, Mesothelioma Center;
Mary Louise Keohan, MD, medical oncologist; and their surgical, medical, and radiation oncology colleagues.
Mesothelioma patients enrolled in this Phase II protocol (CUMC IRB #14385) will receive a regimen of pre-operative chemotherapy in addition to post-operative chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
To be considered for this study, patients must have histologically confirmed malignant mesothelioma, surgically accessible disease, no prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and no other serous medical or psychiatric illness.
For more information about this protocol, or to refer a patient, please call Mary Hesdorffer, RN, Clinical Study Coordinator, Mesothelioma Center, 212.305.4076; email mesothelioma@earthlink.net.
Myasthenia Gravis
For well over 50 years, NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia has been internationally recognized as a leader in the diagnosis and treatment of myasthenia gravis.
Our current research efforts are directed towards the development of a more standardized staging system to allow comparison of different medical and surgical therapies, including robotically assisted minimally invasive thymectomy (removal of the thymus gland).
Our multidisciplinary team approach—including experts from neurology, pain management, pulmonology, and critical care—has dramatically improved the effectiveness and safety of thymectomy, which can now be recommended even for patients with advanced muscle weakness.
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