Mesothelioma Treatment Options
The available treatment options for cancer depend on factors such as the location of the infection, the stage of the cancer, spread of the disease, and also the age, physical fitness and mindset of the patient.
Just like with other types of cancers, treatment is very dependent on the time of diagnosis.If detected early, surgery may be the primary step toward treating the disease and attempt to prevent metastasis throughout the body. Sadly in mesothelioma cases, early detection is rare. Most asbestos related cancer patients are going to be diagnosed in the advance stage of the disease. Typically, to these patients are assigned radiation and chemotherapy therapy. At the last stage of mesothelioma the treatment focuses on keeping the patient comfortable, free of pain, and addressing the symptoms.
Image via WikipediaUsual mesothelioma cancer cases are treated with a combination of three types of treatment: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy therapy .
Surgery
If the case details recommend surgery, it will be aggressively advocated and followed. Surgery is mainly done to remove the tumor mass as well as the build up of fluid either in the pleural cavity or the abdominal cavity of the patient. Mesothelioma surgery is usually followed by other treatments like chemotherapy or radiation in an attempt to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy directly applies radiation to the cancerous locations and try to destroy the cancer cells with the use of X-rays. Patients of all cancer stages are eligible to receive radiation therapy, as it may be used in conjunction with other treatments to reduce tumor growth and some ease symptoms. Targeted radiation can be provided through Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) which steers clear of surrounding healthy tissue.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is actually the medication that destroy the cancer cells. Chemotherapy has shown to be the most effective and least invasive type of treatment to extend life expectancy.
Some of new therapies are currently in development. Immunotherapy try to manipulate the patient’s immune system into attacking the tumor cells, while photodynamic therapy exposes cancer cells to specific lights and photosensitizing medication. Another experimental treatmentis gene therapy that tries to correct defective genes that may lead to changes that provoke cancers.
For advanced stages, treatments like as thoracentesis and paracentesis can be done to minimize discomfort.
Many patients will choose to be a part of clinical trials that are testing new medications and new treatments such as gene therapy. While several of those clinical trials show some promise, currently there is no cure for mesothelioma cancer. The clinical trials give the chance to gather additional researches. Anyway, it does not extend the life expectancy of mesothelioma patients at this point.
When selecting a therapy plan, some patients consider alternative and complementary mesothelioma cancer treatments. Most of alternative treatments refer to any unconventional treatment ways, and complementary treatments refer to an alternate therapy used to supplement one or more standard treatments. Some of a mesothelioma survivors credit their remission to.
Currently, additional approaches to treating this disease are being evaluated mainly as a result of many patients fail to responds to the currently available treatments as well because the undesirable side effects they have.
Certain cases are recorded where recurrence of the disease has been kept at bay for a long time. One such case is of Paul Kraus (age 67) who was told he had only months to live once being diagnosed with mesothelioma in 1997. Paul continues to live a full of life today and devotes a large part of his time to spreading awareness of the disease and helping develop better treatment programs.
