Mesothelioma Treatments

The doctors pursue several treatment options when confronted with mesothelioma. Radiation treatments, surgery, and chemotherapy have been the traditional options for stemming the growth of cancerous cells, but doctors dealing with mesothelioma have had to develop innovative plans of attack to combat this deadly condition.

1. Surgery for Mesothelioma:

• Pleurectomy/decortication

• Pneumonectomy

• Thoracentesis

• Extrapleural pneumonectomy

For patients suffering from peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma, surgery generally involves similar procedures as pleural, such as tissue removal, but as they are much rarer conditions surgery is generally less effective.

2. Radiation Treatments for Mesothelioma:

Radiation treatments relieves a great deal of pain, and victims of pleural mesothelioma suffer reduced instances of shortness of breath. Unfortunately, radiation treatment cannot kill all of the cancerous cells without causing significant damage to the patient.

3. Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma:

Chemotherapy involves one or more anti-cancer drugs taken either in pill form, intravenously, or, in the case of pleural mesothelioma, injected directly into the lungs. These drugs disrupt the growth of cancerous cells,

New Treatments for Mesothelioma:

New treatments such as photodynamic, angiogenesis, and gene therapy provide new hope for mesothelioma sufferers everywhere. Doctors choose a course of action based on the stage and location of the cancer, and if discovered early enough they can prolong the life of the sufferer, but sadly cannot cure mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma, like all other types of cancer, is incurable. Medical science has made remarkable strides in diagnosing and treating malignancies, but there is currently no way to completely erradicate it.

Cancer is the mutation of a cell or a group of cells that grow uncontrollably and invade healthy ones, causing cell death. In areas where cells replicate rapidly, such as in the skin or breast tissue, cancer is especially dangerous because this replication causes one cancer cell to multiply exponentially over a short period of time. Most cancers are caused by external stimuli, such as exposure to carcinogens like asbestos, which in turn causes mesothelioma.

Effectiveness of conventional mesothelioma treatments:

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that attacks the lining of the internal organs of the body. Unlike most other types of cancers, Mesothelioma does not respond well to conventional treatments because of the location and prolonged malignancy of the infected cells. Because there are no outward symptoms of the disease, doctors cannot adequetely diagnose it until it is significantly advanced, which limits the effectiveness of many conventional treatments.

Source : http://www.resource4mesothelioma.com