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.