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01. Doctor Overview

Doctor Overview

Dr. Joseph S. Friedberg currently serves as the Co-Director of the Temple Health Mesothelioma and Pleural Disease Program and Thoracic Surgeon-in-Chief of Temple University Health System. He is also the Vice Chair of Surgical Services in the Department of Thoracic Medicine and a professor of thoracic medicine and surgery at Temple University.

Dr. Friedberg was previously the head of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at University of Maryland School of Medicine. He also served on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine as the Charles Reid Edwards Professor of Surgery.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Friedberg also served as chief of Thoracic Surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System), was co-director of the Penn Mesothelioma and Pleural Disease Program, and was an associate professor of thoracic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Friedberg was recognized by Best Doctors in America for 2009 – 2010 and 2011 – 2012.

Dr. Friedberg is known to perform video thoracoscopic procedures for the treatment of chest diseases such as mesothelioma and is skilled in both open and minimally invasive approaches to cancer surgery. He is a member of numerous medical societies, including the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Friedberg’s clinical research is focused on making today’s mesothelioma treatments more effective. His work focused on the development new treatments that will be applied to patient care immediately or will be applicable within five years. His recent trials include the use of lasers and photodynamic therapy, investigating the combination of surgery and intraoperative PDT on various types of lung cancer, including mesothelioma. Other subjects of Dr. Friedberg’s research include the use of “rare earth nanophosphors” for use in diagnostic and therapeutic cancer applications, exploring a new treatment combination for mesothelioma that would combine PDT and novel chemotherapeutic agents, the development of an “artificial lung” for reversible lung failure and the development of a system that would identify areas of the lungs that leak air at the time of surgery.

02. Fast Facts

Doctor Fast Facts

Main Specialty: Thoracic Surgery

Other Interests & Specialties: General cardiac/thoracic Surgery, mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma, pleural malignancies and disorders, complex lung cancer, chest wall tumors, pulmonary metastasis, malignant pleural effusions, Diaphragm Disorders, pneumothorax, effective treatments for lung cancer and photodynamic therapy.

Certifications, Awards & Accolades: American Board of Surgery Certification in Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery Certification in Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, head of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Maryland School

Education & Experience:

03. Publications

Publications

National Cancer Database Report on Pneumonectomy Versus Lung-Sparing Surgery for Malignant Pleural MesotheliomaJournal of Thoracic Oncology. November 2017;12(11):1704-1714. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2017.08.012

Extended Pleurectomy-Decortication-Based Treatment for Advanced Stage Epithelial Mesothelioma Yielding a Median Survival of Nearly Three YearsThe Annals of Thoracic Surgery. March 2017;103(3):912-919. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2016.08.071

Pilot and Feasibility Trial Evaluating Immuno-Gene Therapy of Malignant Mesothelioma Using Intrapleural Delivery of Adenovirus-IFNα Combined with ChemotherapyClinical Cancer Research. August 2016;22(15):3791-800. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-15-2133

Changing clinical course of patients with malignant mesothelioma: Implications for FNA cytology and utility of immunocytochemical stainingDiagnostic Cytopathology. May 2001;24(5):322-327.

A phase I study of Foscan-mediated photodynamic therapy and surgery in patients with mesotheliomaAnnals of Thoracic Surgery. March 2003; 75(3):952-959.

Elevated serum cytokine levels in mesothelioma patients who have undergone pleurectomy or extrapleural pneumonectomy and adjuvant intraoperative photodynamic therapyPhotochemistry and Photobiology. July 2003;78(1):75-81.

Gene expression profiling of malignant mesotheliomaClinical Cancer Research. August 2003;9(8):3080-3097.

Multicenter phase II trial of neoadjuvant pemetrexed plus cisplatin followed by extrapleural pneumonectomy and radiation for malignant pleural mesotheliomaJournal of Clinical Oncology. June 2009;27(18):3007-3013. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2008.20.3943