Dr. David Sugarbaker: Remembering a Mesothelioma Treatment Pioneer
Dr. David Sugarbaker was one of the most influential mesothelioma doctors in the world. Many knew him as “Mr. Mesothelioma” for his in-depth knowledge of this rare and deadly cancer. He leaves an enduring legacy of medical innovations that are still used to treat mesothelioma and extend life expectancies.
“As I say to patients, ‘When hope is part of the equation, anything is possible.’ I remain optimistic that we can, in the next decade, put together the right combination of patients and treatments to effect a cure, which is our holy grail.”
– Dr. David Sugarbaker
Although Dr. Sugarbaker is no longer with us, we can help you find other top mesothelioma specialists to treat your cancer, many of whom were trained by Dr. Sugarbaker. Try our Free Doctor Match today.
Dr. Sugarbaker’s Background
Along with his brother, Dr. Paul Sugarbaker, Dr. David Sugarbaker was one of five siblings to pursue a medical career. All were drawn to surgery at a young age, following in the footsteps of their surgeon father.
Upon graduating from Cornell University Medical School, Dr. Sugarbaker completed his residency at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where his 25 years of service immensely impacted the medical community. He also went on to complete a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Toronto General Hospital and a pediatric cardiac surgery residency at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
During his time at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Sugarbaker was recruited as chief of thoracic surgery — a brand new division at the time — which he successfully developed into one of the top cancer programs in the world.
In 1992, Dr. Sugarbaker established the country’s first general thoracic surgical residency track. He mentored close to 100 surgical residents who are now top doctors and have made their own notable contributions toward mesothelioma treatment research.
Dr. Sugarbaker helped train and mentor mesothelioma specialists such as:
- Dr. Marcelo DaSilva
- Dr. David Harpole Jr.
- Dr. David Jablons
- Dr. Abraham “Avi” Lebenthal
- Dr. Taylor Ripley
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Dr. Sugarbaker’s Professional Experience
Dr. Sugarbaker founded the International Mesothelioma Program (IMP) in 2002, a world-class mesothelioma treatment and research program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The IMP was formed in response to increasing global rates of mesothelioma and is dedicated to developing new treatment options.
Dr. David Sugarbaker eventually stepped down from his role at Brigham and Women’s in 2014. He then served as the head of thoracic surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine Lung Institute in Houston, where he performed life-saving surgical procedures on mesothelioma patients and spearheaded the mesothelioma clinical research program.
Over his more than 35 years of professional experience, Dr. Sugarbaker successfully treated thousands of patients with this rare form of cancer.
Dr. Sugarbaker’s Specialized Knowledge Treating Mesothelioma
Dr. Sugarbaker dedicated his professional career to studying and treating mesothelioma.
The specialized knowledge he gained helped him understand this complex disease better than anyone else in the field. With this expertise, Dr. Sugarbaker developed and provided the best treatment plans to his patients, particularly stage 1 and 2 pleural mesothelioma patients.
One of his major accomplishments was developing the extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), a life-saving surgical procedure for pleural mesothelioma patients. Dr. Sugarbaker developed this procedure to increase patient survival rates and extend individual life expectancies drastically.
As a staple treatment plan provided to pleural mesothelioma patients, EPP has proven to be especially successful when performed in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Dr. Sugarbaker was also well known for developing a method to combine cytoreductive surgery with heated chemotherapy administered directly into the chest cavity of pleural mesothelioma patients.
As a professor of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and professor of surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Sugarbaker dedicated his life to sharing his years of expertise with the next generation of thoracic surgeons.
Dr. David Sugarbaker’s Legacy
Dr. David Sugarbaker continually worked to develop better treatment procedures for future patients and spent his later years researching new drugs for malignant pleural mesothelioma.
“No one else in our lifetime had more impact on the field of thoracic surgery.”
–Joseph S. Coselli, M.D., FACS, on the late Dr. Sugarbaker
Through ongoing medical research, the team at the Mesothelioma Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas honors Dr. Sugarbaker’s legacy by working to improve curative surgical procedures and reduce mesothelioma recurrence.
Contact our Patient Advocates 24/7 to get help connecting with the team at Baylor College of Medicine and other leading mesothelioma specialists nationwide.
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