Dr. Marcelo DaSilvaFocus: Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma
AdventHealth
2415 N. Orange Ave. Suite 700
Orlando, FL
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 from AdventHealth in Central Florida has been practicing medicine for 25 years. He started at AdventHealth in November 2019 and is the the hospital system’s chief of thoracic surgery services.
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.
Dr. DaSilva was a surgeon at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Massachusetts and played a pivotal role in bringing peritoneal treatment to their mesothelioma program.
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
Chief of Thoracic Surgery Services at AdventHealth
He believes in a holistic, 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.
“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.
Dr. DaSilva also noted that he doesn’t give his patients a “death certificate.” He has watched many people with mesothelioma live for numerous years after their diagnosis.
Treatments Dr. DaSilva Performs
- Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP)
- Pleurectomy with decortication (P/D)
- Cytoreduction with HIPEC
- Heated intraoperative chemotherapy (HIOC)
Get Connected to Dr. Marcelo DaSilva
Why Choose Dr. DaSilva?
- Personal and individualized care
- Pleural and peritoneal surgeon
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Advent Health
2415 N. Orange Ave. Suite 700 Orlando, Florida
Focus: Pleural and peritoneal Mesothelioma
Dr. Marcelo DaSilva transitioned from Brigham and Women's Health in Boston to AdventHealth in Central Florida. He's the chief of thoracic surgery at the health center.
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 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital eventually returned 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 (at Brigham & Women’s Health) and so that’s when we decided: hey let’s just do it ourselves.”
Dr. DaSilva helped create a new peritoneal mesothelioma program to what they were already been doing for pleural patients. He also is creating a peritoneal mesothelioma program at Advent Health
“I’ve talked to one of the surgeons here (at Advent Health), and he is willing to be my partner in peritoneal mesothelioma. So my program will tackle both: abdominal peritoneal mesothelioma and thoracic pleural mesothelioma.”
If you think Dr. DaSilva and AdventHealth 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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