Most Common Mesothelioma Treatment Options

Mesothelioma treatment options are improving with research & the program of treatment depends on factors such as where the cancer is situated, the stage of the cancer, how far it's spread, the patients age & needs & how the cancer cells appear under a microscope.

There are four main types of traditional treatment for people with mesothelioma lung cancer, namely, surgical procedure to remove the cancer, chemotherapy which is the use of drugs to eradicate cancer cells & radiation therapy which makes use of x-rays in high dose or other energy rays to destroy cancer cells. Usually, these therapies are combined.

In the case of surgical procedure, sometimes diagnostic surgical procedure is necessary as a very necessary step, as mesothelioma diagnosis through fluid is sometimes inconclusive. sometimes a thoracoscopy (like an open biopsy but less invasive) is done to carryover out multiple tissue biopsies & for assessment of the pleural cavity. A conclusive diagnosis is obtained in up to 98% of cases. Fluid can be drained from the intrapleural space simultaneously & the extent of the tumor assessed to select the possibilities of resection.

The mesothelioma cancer prognosis is usually only five to twelve months. However, time is of the essence when treating this sickness & the earlier it is diagnosed, the better.

A laproscopy or mediastinoscopy are also sometimes used as other ways of gaging the extent of sickness.

An alternative to thoracoscopy is video assisted thoracic surgical procedure (VATS) which is more invasive but the physician can see the pleural space using a camera while collecting tumor samples for examination by a pathologist. The physician can also select the extent of tumor invasion for example in the chest wall or pleural involvement.

Palliative procedures are used to treat signs of mesothelioma but do not treat the sickness itself. Such procedures include chest tube drainage & pleurodesis which are the most common palliative treatments. Thoracoscopy & pleurodesis are done with VATS. A pleuroperitoneal shunt is sometimes used, but in limited capacity due to tumor seeding concerns. finally a pleurectomy is sometimes carried out in cases where more extensive surgical procedure is impossible.

Along with diagnostic & palliative treatments, surgical procedure with potentially healing intent is carried out where the aim is to remove all of the sickness with the awareness that some microscopic elements will probably stay.

For malignant pleural mesothelioma five surgical treatments are accessible namely, a pleurectomy/decortication which is carried out on early stage tumors (Stage I & sometimes Stage II) & secondly, an extrapleural pneumonectomy which is only executed by surgeons with much expertise & where earlier surgical procedure has failed to cure or prolong life.

For peritoneal mesothelioma, cytoreductive surgical procedure aims at removing all of the visible or gross tumor within the peritoneal cavity. Cancer cells left are treated with chemotherapy & focused in the abdominal cavity.

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy is included in the range of mesothelioma treatment options & treats the tumor with the use of penetrative beams of high energy radiation & can be used together with surgical procedure & palliatively.

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with anticancer chemical substances to control the division of cancerous cells by destroying them. It is not thought about healing but seeks to control the spread, shrink tumors, to relieve signs like pain & to destroy microscopic cells remaining post surgical procedure (adjuvant chemotherapy).