UCLA Health Releases New Video Chronicling Treatment of Six-Year Meso Survivor Martha Munoz

Martha and Arturo Munoz

On March 23, 2015, UCLA Health released a new video which chronicles the medical treatment of Worthington & Caron, PC client Martha Munoz. Martha was 68 years old when she was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma in March 2009. Her husband Arturo states in the video that Martha’s doctors were giving her only 9 to 10 months to live.

In April 2009, Martha consulted with Dr. Robert Cameron, thoracic surgeon and director of the Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program at UCLA Medical Center. The video chronicles Martha’s treatment at UCLA, beginning with a lung-sparing pleurectomy/decortication surgery performed by Dr. Cameron in May 2009.

“Surgery is actually the most reliable treatment,” Dr. Cameron states in the video, “The goal is to remove all tumor we can see and take it off the lung and leave the lung in place." 

The video shows a striking comparison of radiology films of Martha’s right lung before and after the surgery. The “before” films show tumor encasing and compressing the lung, making it extremely difficult to breathe. The “after” films show all visible tumor gone and the lung expanding fully to the rib cage.

Following the surgery, Martha’s treatment included chemotherapy, state-of-the-art tomotherapy and novel cryoablation therapy which freezes and destroys new small tumors.

As Dr. Cameron explains, “Our idea is to treat this as a chronic disease, so what we do is use surgery to get rid of all the tumor we can see and use the other things like radiation, immunotherapy and cryoablation to keep it that way, just like we do with other chronic diseases that people can live a long time with.”

The video reports that six years after her diagnosis, Martha is now cancer free. “This is what you call a miracle,” says Arturo. While Martha states, “We are a very close family, and with God’s help and Dr. Cameron’s help, I can have a healthy longer life.”

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Cameron:

Contact his office at (310) 470-8980.

Dr. Cameron sees patients in consultation at his Los Angeles, California clinic located at:

Thoracic Surgery Associates

10780 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 100

Los Angeles, CA 90025-7613