Treatment Options for Pleural Mesothelioma Conventional pleural mesothelioma treatment can involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or a combination of two or more of these, which is known as multimodal therapy. These treatment methods can be curative, reducing the cancer and extending life expectancy, or they can be palliative, which means they are performed to alleviate cancer-related pain. In addition to these traditional methods of cancer treatment, researchers are developing emerging techniques to fight the cancer. Cancer centers specializing in PM host clinical trials to test new drugs, treatment methods and other medical advancements. Surgery Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) and pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) are two surgeries that can potentially eliminate the cancer. The EPP removes the affected lung, parts of the chest lining, heart lining, nearby lymph nodes and part of the diaphragm. The P/D spares the affected lung but takes out the lining around it and tumors inside the chest cavity. Younger, healthier patients fare best with surgery, but it's not effective for people with late-stage cancer or multiple tumors.