Chemotherapy and Other Mesothelioma Treatments

As with any type of cancer, immediate treatment is a vital part of ensuring that mesothelioma patients have the best possible outcomes. Although there are new experimental treatments, the most conventional forms of treatment are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

  • Chemotherapy – a combination of chemicals in either pill or injection form that limit or stop cancerous growths.
  • Radiation – the use of x-rays to destroy cancerous cells. In addition to reducing the size of
    mesothelioma tumors, radiation – like chemotherapy – can also prevent the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body. Depending on an individual’s condition, radiation can be used to shrink tumors before surgery and/or to eliminate malignancies surgery missed.
  • Surgery – the invasive process of cutting malignancies out of the body. Surgery is only an option if the mesothelioma has not metastasized and if no vital organs will be damaged. However, in some cases, surgery may be needed to treat one of the main symptoms of mesothelioma, ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity), rather than the cancer itself.

In addition palliative treatments are often offered in order to provide more comfort for the patient. Palliative treatments are defined as any treatment aimed at making life more comfortable for the patient. Palliative care can include breathing apparatuses, pain medication, acupuncture, or massage therapy. Palliate care is essential to improving the quality of life for patients suffering from painful conditions.

There are also new and experimental treatments being using to combat the effects of mesothelmia. Some experimental treatments include:

  • Photodynamic Therapy – used to treat skin cancers, as well as pleural mesothelioma and other types of lung cancer. This treatment is most effective in patients who have localized a condition (meaning it is not suitable for people with cancer that has metastasized). This type of therapy uses light energy to kill cancer cells.
  • Gene Therapy – this uses genetic material to target cancer cells and make them more susceptible to chemotherapeutic drugs. In one type of therapy, called suicide gene therapy, a non-infection virus is genetically modified to produce a special protein. During treatment, a patient is treated with the virus, which enters cancer cells and makes them produce the protein. The patient is then treated with a chemotherapy drug that reacts with the protein to kill the cancer cell. This type of therapy has produced promising results for mesothelioma patients, but is only available through clinical trials.
  • Immunotherapy – uses the patient’s own immune system to kill cancer cells. Normally the immune system is not able to kill cancer cells because they are modified versions of the body’s own normal cells. Immunotherapy treatments “trick” the immune system into recognizing the cancer cells as harmful, so the immune system can then attack the cancer. Immunotherapy strategies involve creating specialized vaccines made in the laboratory using a patient’s tumor cells. The vaccine is then given to the patient. If the treatment is successful, the patient’s immune system reacts to and destroys cancer cells. As with gene therapy, most immunotherapy treatments are considered experimental and are only available in clinical trials.

Treatment programs usually involve a combination of the above treatments. For example, a patient may undergo surgery to remove the majority of a tumor followed by either radiation or chemotherapy. These treatments are only performed on patients who are physically strong enough to undergo the surgery. When a patient is not strong enough the physicians and patient may choose to employ palliative treatments in order to improve the quality of life for the patient. This article is for informational purposes only, remember it is important to consult your physician in order to obtain the best treatment plan for your condition.