Is It Possible To Treat Mesothelioma ?

Mesothelioma is a terrible disease which attacks the lining that covers most of our organs, the mesothelium. Mesothelioma 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. That is why we tend to see a large number of people getting diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer now, in the 21st century. Several more will continue to be diagnosed . Asbestos was used up until the 1970's. Mesothelioma has also been associated with intrapleural thorium dioxide, irradiation, as well as the inhalation of other fibrous silicates .

Being that mesothelioma is technically a cancer, the same methods used in the treatment of any other cancer are also used to treat 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; radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. Due to the intricacies of mesothelioma , the prognosis after treatment isn't very good. Most mesothelioma patients have a prognosis of 1-2 years at most.

In an attempt to extend one's survival rate doctors these days tend to use all three treatment methods . This is commonly known as 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.

During trimodality therapy chemotherapy is the first treatment to be administered . The drugs used in chemotherapy are either given orally or intravenously. The aim of this is to stop the growth of malignant mesothelioma. Following chemotherapy comes 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 where high-energy x-rays are used to kill off the cancer cells .

New methods of treating mesothelioma are currently being researched in hopes of obtaining better results . These include intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), immunotherapy, gene therapy, and (PDT) photo-dynamic therapy.