Dr. Marcelo DaSilva is the first mesothelioma surgeon to specialize in treating both pleural and peritoneal patients with surgery and heated chemotherapy.

About Dr. DaSilva

Dr. DaSilva has been practicing medicine for 25 years. He is known for his vast experience with mesothelioma and his optimistic outlook for treating patients. He is board certified in general surgery, trauma and surgical critical care, and cardiothoracic surgery.

He currently travels between two states to treat patients. He is a surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts and played a pivotal role in bringing peritoneal treatment to their mesothelioma program. Dr. DaSilva is also the chief of thoracic surgery at Care New England in Rhode Island.

  • Medical Degree and Residencies

    Universidade Gama Filho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1990
    Sound Shore Medical Center, formerly New Rochelle Medical Center, Surgery, 1996
    Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, General Surgery, 1999

  • Professional Titles

    Associate Surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
    Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Care New England
    Lecturer in Surgery at Harvard Medical School

He believes in an individualized approach to creating treatment plans. Although he will occasionally review a patient’s files without seeing them first, he says that seeing a patient in person is an important step to figuring out if they should undergo surgery.

“Unless there’s really an economic restriction for the patient to fly out and stay here or see us I would rather see them.” Dr. DaSilva told Mesothelioma Guide in an interview.

“There’s what we call the eyeball test,” Dr. DaSilva said, meaning that interacting with the patient helps surgeons decide if the patient is healthy and resilient enough for major surgery. He doesn’t have a specific age limit for his patients either but takes many aspects of their health into account.

Treatments Dr. DaSilva Performs

  • Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP)
  • Pleurectomy with decortication (P/D)
  • Cytoreduction
  • Heated chemotherapy (HIPEC/HIOC)

Get Connected to Dr. Marcelo DaSilva

Photograph of Dr DaSilva
Although Dr. DaSilva has been known for his work with pleural mesothelioma patients, he is also dedicated to bringing exceptional treatment to peritoneal patients and patients who may have both types of mesothelioma. He is a caring, optimistic, and experienced surgeon.

Why Choose Dr. DaSilva?
  • Personal and individualized care
  • Pleural and peritoneal surgeon
  • Access to the International Mesothelioma Program




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Brigham & Women's Hospital

75 Francis Street Boston, MA

Doctors: Dr. Marcelo DaSilva

Focus: Pleural & Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Brigham and Women's Hospital is considered by many to be the top mesothelioma treatment center in the country. Dr. DaSilva played a big role in expanding and improving their program.

  • BWH is home to the first program that treats pleural and peritoneal patients.
  • BWH is part of the International Mesothelioma Program.

Creating a Comprehensive Program

For years, Dr. DaSilva dreamed about creating a truly comprehensive mesothelioma program that could treat patients with both pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. According to Dr. DaSilva, about 30 percent of his pleural mesothelioma patients eventually return with peritoneal mesothelioma.

“What we noticed in the past was, they come, they have the surgery in the chest, then two or three years later they have abdominal,” Dr. DaSilva said. For a long time he had to refer these patients to other hospitals for their peritoneal treatment.

“We have to say, ‘we don’t do this over here, you have to go someplace else.’ They kind of feel like we’re cutting and running…and that didn’t sit well with our group and so that’s when we decided: hey let’s just do it ourselves.”

Dr. DaSilva believes this new peritoneal program is complementary to what they have already been doing for pleural patients.

One of the greatest parts about the program is that Brigham and Women’s hospital offers many other treatments for patients who may not be eligible for surgery. Dr. DaSilva hates turning away patients, that’s why he created the peritoneal program and why he will refer patients straight away to other treatments available in the hospital if he doesn’t think he can perform surgery on them.

“I’ve been blamed for many things: one of them being optimistic.”

All under one umbrella at the hospital, patients have access to surgeries, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapies, clinical trials, and more. They also have a very active laboratory that is always researching new ways to diagnose and treat mesothelioma.

If you think Dr. DaSilva and Brigham and Women’s Hospital are a good fit for your treatment, please contact our patient advocates. They are dedicated to connecting patients to the best doctors in the country through our free doctor match program.

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