Dr. Joseph S. Friedberg
Dr. Joseph Friedberg is a renowned thoracic surgeon and pleural mesothelioma specialist at Temple Health in Philadelphia. He is co-director of the Temple Health Mesothelioma and Pleural Disease Program.
- Thoracic Surgeon
- Pleural Specialist
- Expertise:
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Lung-Sparing Surgery
Clinical Trials
Research - Speciality:
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Thoracic Surgery
- Gender:
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Male
- Language:
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English
Primary Location
Free Mesothelioma Treatment Guide
- Expertise:
-
Lung-Sparing Surgery
Clinical Trials
Research - Speciality:
-
Thoracic Surgery
- Gender:
-
Male
- Language:
-
English
Get to Know Dr. Joseph S. Friedberg
Dr. Joseph Friedberg joined the Temple University Health System in 2022 as the thoracic surgeon-in-chief and vice chair of surgical services for the Department of Thoracic Medicine. He is co-director of the Temple Health Mesothelioma and Pleural Disease Program.
Friedberg sees patients at both the Temple Health Lung Center and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
He built his reputation as a groundbreaking world leader in the treatment of pleural mesothelioma with his earlier work at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center and the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center.
In recent years, through his surgery skills and his research, Friedberg has played a leading role in moving mesothelioma closer to becoming a potentially treatable, chronic disease instead of a rare cancer with no known cure.
As a mesothelioma specialist, his expertise was instrumental in popularizing the lung-sparing pleurectomy and decortication surgery, which in recent years has mostly replaced the more aggressive extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery for mesothelioma.
Friedberg also was part of a research team in 2019 that identified previously underutilized lymph nodes that have altered the way pleural mesothelioma is diagnosed, staged and treated today.
Specialties of Dr. Joseph S. Friedberg
- Pleural mesothelioma
- Advanced lung cancer
- Chest wall tumors
- Mediastinal tumors
- Pleura disorders
- Pleurectomy and decortication surgery
Dr. Joseph S. Friedberg’s Experience and Medical Education
- Temple University Health System
- Fox Chase Cancer Center
- University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center
- Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Fellowship)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (Residency)
- Harvard University Medical School (M.D.)
Awards and Certifications
- American Board of Surgery
- American Board of Thoracic Surgery
- Castle Connolly’s America’s Top Doctors
- Castle Connolly’s America’s Top Doctors for Cancer
- Marquis Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare
Publications of Dr. Joseph S. Friedberg
- Friedberg, J.S. (2022, February 18). Commentary: “Can We” Versus “Should We”: The Defining Dilemma of Mesothelioma Surgery. The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
- Friedberg, J.S. et al. (2019, August). A Proposed System Toward Standardizing Surgical-Based Treatments for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, From the Joint National Cancer Institute-International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer-Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation Taskforce. Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
- Friedberg, J.S. et al. (2017, March). Extended Pleurectomy-Decortication-Based Treatment for Advanced Stage Epithelial Mesothelioma Yielding a Median Survival of Nearly Three Years. Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
- Friedberg, J.S. et al. (2012, May). Radical pleurectomy and intraoperative photodynamic therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Additional Resources
Watch Our Free Mesothelioma Webinars
Find Active Mesothelioma Clinical Trials
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