Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer. Because of the fast-growing nature of the disease treatment options for malignant mesothelioma can often be limited by the stage of the mesothelioma and other factors. However, in nearly all cases, treatment is available. While there is no cure for malignant mesothelioma, there are several ways in which physicians and cancer specialists can assist a patient in feeling more comfortable. Typically, mesotheliom atreatment is through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. These treatments may be used as a unilateral therapy or can be combined with one another to expand treatment possibilities.
Surgery is viewed as a preferred treatment for mesothelioma in many medical circles. Unfortunately, surgery is often no longer a viable option after a mesothelioma diagnosis. Because of a lack of symptoms, often patients will delay being diagnosed until mesothelioma symptoms arise in their bodies, often at a time when the cancer is no longer operable. However, in cases of mesothelioma where the cancer is confined to a singular region, resection has been successful in the past. In cases of pleural mesothelioma, this will usually mean the removal of a small section of the lung or the entire lung, depending on the extent of the cancer’s spread. It should be clarified however, that successfully curative resections of mesothelioma are rare, and are all but out of the question in cases of malignant pericardial mesothelioma.
Chemotherapy is an important treatment because it is usually the most accessible for patients in any stage. Drugs such as Alimta and Cisplatin will be administered through the bloodstream and kill cancer cells. However, because chemotherapy drugs are cytotoxins (cell killers) they will often act upon healthy cells, causing uncomfortable side effects. Physicians and patients will know beforehand what side effects are likely to arise and will typically be able to alleviate them through other medications and therapies.
Radiation therapy is a novel way to treat mesothelioma and it is usually considered the treatment program with the least side effects. Radiation beams are focused around the tumor, changing the cancer cells internal mechanisms and inhibiting further cell division. This is also the treatment most likely to be combined with other treatments. For instance, a tumor may be shrunk or slowed with radiation treatment before or after surgery to increase the efficacy of the resection. It is also helpful in shrinking tumors that are in an advanced stage and creating harmful side effects in the body’s internal structures.