How Do You Treat Mesothelioma ?

Mesothelioma is a terrible sickness which affects the lining that covers the majority of our organs, the mesothelium. It is caused by the inhalation of asbestos dust, a compound that was used in the construction industry several years ago. Mesothelioma tends to manifest itself more than 30 years after an individual has been exposed to asbestos. This is the reason as to why we tend to see a lot of people getting diagnosed with this terrible disease now, in the 21st century. Several more will find themselves with this disease . The use of asbestos continued up until the 1970's. Mesothelioma has also been associated with the inhalation of fibrous silicates, intrapleural thorium dioxide, and irradiation.

Being that mesothelioma is technically a cancer, the exact methods used in the treatment of any other cancer are also used in the treatment of mesothelioma. Depending on the stage of the cancer itself, as well as the medical history of the patient, doctors can decide on which treatment would be best for the patient. One can expect either one, or a combination of the following; chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery . However, since mesothelioma is a complicated cancer to treat , the prognosis after treatment isn't very good. The prognosis for mesothelioma tends to be a few years in the majority of cases .

In order to attempt to increase one's chances of survival doctors these days tend to use all three known treatment methods. The term for this is trimodality therapy. This has proven to increase one's survival time by up to 5 years. Without this a mesothelioma patient can expect to live up to a year at most.

With trimodality therapy chemotherapy is the first treatment a patient will receive. The drugs used in chemotherapy are given either orally or intravenously. The aim of this is to halt the growth of malignant mesothelioma. The second phase of trimodality therapy is surgery , where any tumor mass is removed. Surgery is performed in four stages ;

wide local excision
pleurectomy and decortication
extrapleural pneumonectomy
pleurodesis
postoperative radiation therapy

The last method is radiation whereby high-energy x-rays are used to kill off any remaining cancer cells.

Scientists are currently researching new treatment methods in hopes of obtaining better results . These include intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), immunotherapy, gene therapy, and (PDT) photo-dynamic therapy.

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