Editing Brigham and Women's Hospital (section)

== What Is the History of Mesothelioma Treatment at Brigham? ==

The International Mesothelioma Program's history is inseparable from the institutional history of Brigham and Women's Hospital and the pioneering career of Dr. David Sugarbaker.

'''Hospital Foundation and Merger'''

Today's Brigham and Women's Hospital resulted from a 1980 merger of three prestigious Harvard teaching hospitals: Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (founded 1913), Robert Breck Brigham Hospital (founded 1914), and Boston Hospital for Women (created 1966 from earlier institutions dating to 1832).<ref>[https://dandell.com/mesothelioma-veterans/ Veterans & Mesothelioma Claims], Danziger & De Llano</ref> The hospital has a distinguished history of medical firsts, including the first successful kidney transplant (1954) and first heart transplant in New England (1984).

'''The David Sugarbaker Era (1989-2014)'''

Dr. David Sugarbaker joined Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1989 as Chief of Thoracic Surgery and would spend 25 years building the institution's mesothelioma expertise.<ref>[https://mesothelioma.net/david-sugarbaker-m-d/ David Sugarbaker, MD], Mesothelioma.net</ref> At a time when most surgeons had abandoned aggressive surgical treatment for mesothelioma due to poor results, Dr. Sugarbaker took a different approach.

'''1992: The EPP Revolution'''

In 1992, Dr. Sugarbaker published his redesigned extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) technique in the ''Annals of Thoracic Surgery''. While EPP—removing the entire affected lung along with the pleura, diaphragm, and pericardium—was not a new procedure, most centers had stopped performing it due to high mortality rates and poor outcomes. Dr. Sugarbaker's refinements dramatically improved safety and established EPP as a viable option for selected patients.<ref>[https://mesothelioma.net/mesothelioma-surgery/ Mesothelioma Surgery], Mesothelioma.net</ref>

'''1996: Multimodal Therapy Landmark'''

Dr. Sugarbaker's landmark 1996 article in the ''Annals of Surgery'' reported results in 120 consecutive patients receiving multimodal therapy—the combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation that would become the standard approach at specialized centers worldwide. This work demonstrated that aggressive, coordinated treatment could extend life for mesothelioma patients in ways that single-modality approaches could not.<ref>[https://mesothelioma.net/multimodal-therapy/ Multimodal Therapy for Mesothelioma], Mesothelioma.net</ref>

{| style="width:95%; margin:1em auto; background:#f8f9fa; border-left:4px solid #1a5276; border-radius:4px;"
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| style="padding:15px 20px 10px; font-style:italic; font-size:1.05em; line-height:1.5; color:#333333;" | "Dr. Sugarbaker's work transformed how the medical community approached mesothelioma. Before his innovations, patients had virtually no options. He showed that with the right expertise and coordinated care, meaningful treatment was possible."
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| style="padding:5px 25px 20px; text-align:right; color:#333333;" | '''— Paul Danziger,''' Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano
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'''2002: The International Mesothelioma Program'''

Building on over a decade of experience, Dr. Sugarbaker formally established the International Mesothelioma Program in 2002.<ref>[https://mesothelioma.net/brigham-womens-hospital/ Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston], Mesothelioma.net</ref> This was the first dedicated mesothelioma program in the world (UCLA had founded their program in 1997, but Brigham's IMP was the first to be formally designated as such with dedicated infrastructure and multidisciplinary team).

The IMP quickly became the largest program of its kind globally, bringing together specialists from multiple disciplines under one organizational umbrella focused exclusively on mesothelioma research and treatment.

'''2014-Present: The Raphael Bueno Era'''

When Dr. Sugarbaker departed for Baylor College of Medicine in 2014, Dr. Raphael Bueno—who had worked alongside Sugarbaker for over a decade—assumed leadership of the IMP. Under Dr. Bueno's direction, the program has expanded its genomic research initiatives and adapted its surgical approach to favor lung-sparing procedures in many cases.<ref>[https://mesothelioma.net/raphael-bueno-m-d/ Raphael Bueno, M.D.], Mesothelioma.net</ref>

Dr. Sugarbaker passed away on August 29, 2018, leaving behind a legacy that transformed mesothelioma treatment worldwide.