An Overview of Mesothelioma Treatment

After diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer the traditional treatment is
often a combination of surgical removal of the malignant cells,
radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Rarely is only one method used,
as their combined use is usually seems more effective. Radiation
and/or chemotherapy following surgery have proven to be the most
successful mesothelioma treatment methodology to date.

Surgery as part of a mesothelioma treatment strategy involves removing
the cancerous tumors as well as any compromised mesothelium tissue
(organ lining tissue) of the lungs (pleurae), abdominal cavity,
diaphragm, liver, or spleen. Surgeons have been known to come to the
decision of removing an entire lung (pneumonectomy) or other
compromised organs depending upon the stage and extent of the disease.
While always a radical procedure, this form of surgery as part of a
mesothelioma treatment approach is regarded as one of the most
consistent methods to get most, if not all, malignancy out of the
body.

A less invasive surgical mesothelioma treatment, necessary at times
when fluid buildup occurs in the chest or abdominal cavities is
fine-needle aspiration. This procedure involved inserting an extremely
thin needle into the chest or parts of the abdomen and carefully
drawing out excess fluid. On the chest it is called "throcentesis" and
in the abdomen region it is called "paracentesis."

Radiation therapy is an often used approach to cancer-related
therapeutic procedures. Its can be employed internally as well as
externally. A special machine is used to bombard the tumor with
high-energy x-rays or gamma rays. This is done to shrink and destroy
cancer cells. Internally, it involves administering radioisotopes
through small plastic tubing in the area where malignant cells are
found. These procedures are often used in treating mesothelioma
cancer.

Another systematic method of mesothelioma treatment is chemotherapy.
It fights cancer cells thru drugs given orally or intravenously and
are dispensed throughout the body's system via the bloodstream to kill
cancerous cells. Sometimes chemotherapeutic drugs are injected right
into the chest as a mesothelioma treatment termed "intrapleural
chemotherapy."

Using special drugs and light to destroy malignant cells during
surgical procedures is how an innovative tactic for fighting
mesothelioma called intra-operative photodynamic therapy. The drug
increases cancer cells' light sensitivity and is administered
intravenously several days before surgery. While surgically removing
of the tumor, light-pulse radiation is done, destroying the
now-vulnerable cancer cells. This mesothelioma treatment is being
researched extensively for further improvement.

Gene therapy as a mesothelioma treatment is another exciting course of
action still in clinical trials. Considered a innovative course of
treatment, gene therapy involves changing the genetic material of
living cells to fight disease. Within the environment of mesothelioma
treatment, genes permitting malignancies to grow (metastasize) would
be adjusted.

All mesothelioma treatment plans indicate there is great hope in
curing this fatal disease. Oncologists and other medical professionals
all over the world are pooling their time, vigor, data, and efforts
into finding a cure for mesothelioma instead of just employing
painkilling mesothelioma treatment measures. This brings a brighter
outlook in the future to this deadly disease. It also brings more
ongoing hope to do yet more study on this fatal disease and will
inevitably bring even more effective treatment in the future.