Mesothelioma Treatment Options
Patients suffering from mesothelioma must consult a specialist to determine the best treatment plan. Many specialists provide innovative and new therapies that improve prognoses and symptomatic.
Mesothelioma can be treated by doctors through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Some types of mesothelioma may also respond to immunotherapy medications. Mesothelioma may recur following treatment. Doctors can prevent it from coming back by making the pleura stick to one another (pleurodesis) or drain fluid through a tube within the chest (peritoneal mesothelioma). The best treatment plans incorporate these strategies.
Surgery
The mesothelioma's type, stage, and other factors like age will affect the treatment options. At the time of your initial assessment the doctor will decide which mesothelioma treatments are best for you.
The surgeon will carry out surgery to remove the largest mesothelioma that is possible. The surgeon can also perform other treatments during or following the surgery. Mesothelioma treatments may include radiation and chemotherapy. Targeted therapy, immunotherapy and palliative procedures can manage symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy can be described as a radical procedure that patients suffering from cancer of the pleural region undergo to remove the tumor, the lung (pleura) is a component of the diaphragm and the heart's pericardial sac (pericardium). Another surgery that can be performed is pleurectomy/decortication (P/D). This surgery removes the pleura however, it does not affect the lung. P/D is less invasive than EPP and has had some success in extending survival times. Some cancer centers offer heated intraoperative chemotherapy to kill cancer cells after surgery.
During surgery the patient is placed under anesthesia. They are also given medications to help them sleep and feel no pain. During this time, the medical team will collect important health data, such as your heart rate and blood pressure.
After surgery the patient will be treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Chemotherapy is used to stop mesothelioma cell growth and to kill any that are left after surgery. Several types of chemotherapy are used to treat mesothelioma. These include doxorubicin (Adriamycin) as well as cyclophosphamide, pemetrexed. Typically, these medications are administered via IV.
Radiation therapy is a highly effective mesothelioma treatment as it uses high-energy beams to destroy cancerous cells. Radiation can be used as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with other treatments. It can be used for all types of mesothelioma, but it is most likely to be beneficial in cases of mesothelioma that is pericardial or peritoneal.
Recurrent tumors may occur in people who have mesothelioma even after treatment. This is called recurrent mesothelioma and can be located in the same location as before or be spread to other organs like the brain or liver. People with mesothelioma recurrently present may require other treatment options, such as targeted therapy or immunotherapy which can increase the chances of the chances of survival and decrease the likelihood of the tumor recurring.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is among the most powerful treatments for mesothelioma. Injecting drugs into patients to kill cancer cells and stop them from growing or spreading is what chemotherapy entails. The doctors treating mesothelioma can use chemotherapy alone or in conjunction with other treatments such as radiation therapy or immunotherapy.
The type of mesothelioma a patient is diagnosed with and the stage it is in will help determine which chemotherapy regimen is the best for the patient. Doctors can prescribe a variety of chemotherapy drugs, however pemetrexed and cisplatin are most common. Pemetrexed works to kill mesothelioma cancers by targeting cells that make proteins that cancer cells require to grow. Cisplatin is an anticancer drug that binds itself to the DNA of mesothelioma cancer cells and causes them to die. The drugs can be administered by intravenously or orally.
During a mesothelioma procedure, doctors can also administer chemotherapy intraoperatively. The chemotherapy drugs are heated and released into the chest or abdominal cavity while the surgeon is still operating. The goal of this procedure is to eliminate any microscopic cancer that the surgeon cannot see after surgery.
Mesothelioma patients can also receive adjuvant chemotherapy after their surgeries. A majority of doctors wait until mesothelioma has returned before recommending this option. The reason is because surgery procedures used to treat mesothelioma are so invasive that a patient might not be healthy enough to undergo chemotherapy right away following the surgery.
If mesothelioma recurs, treatment will focus on removing the cancer and reducing symptoms. Some patients might opt to do everything to cure their cancer, while others would rather manage the disease and live symptom-free as long as possible. It is essential that patients suffering from recurrent mesothelioma discuss the situation with their doctor and weigh the pros and cons. A patient might be interested in taking part in a clinical trial of a new mesothelioma treatment . These trials may test new combinations of conventional treatments or a different type of mesothelioma therapy. For example certain studies have proven that immunotherapy could be an effective treatment for recurrent mesothelioma.
Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy utilizes high-energy rays or particles to kill cancer cells. Doctors treating mesothelioma often recommend radiation therapy following surgery or in conjunction with other treatments. It can also be used as a palliative for symptoms like pain or breathlessness. The most recent types of radiation are more controlled and allow them to target tumors and stay clear of the healthy tissue that is nearby.
Treatment options will depend on the type of mesothelioma that you have and where it is located. You can also speak with your doctor about treatments that are experimental, such as immunotherapy. Clinical trials are research studies that examine the efficacy and safety of new procedures or medications. These trials are conducted with patients who volunteer.
A mesothelioma specialist can help you locate the right clinical trial for you.
Surgery can shrink the size of tumors and ease symptoms. However, it's not a cure for mesothelioma. It's possible that the cancer will recur or spread to other parts of the body. The majority of patients with mesothelioma are treated using various therapies.
For pleural mesothelioma, surgical options include pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) and extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP). The pleura is removed during P/D. The thin membrane is a part of the chest wall, lungs and the lining of the pleura. It also removes any visible tumors that are present on the lung or chest wall. EPP is more extensive and is typically used for later-stage mesothelioma. The procedure involves removing the entire lung, and also the diaphragm, pleura and any visible tumors on the chest wall.
The use of radiation can be a part of a pleural mesothelioma operation to eliminate any cancerous microscopic areas that weren't removed during the surgery. Adjuvant mesothelioma radiotherapy is known as. It is also utilized to alleviate symptoms such as chest discomfort, breathing difficulties, or swallowing issues in patients with peritoneal cancer prior to a procedure referred to as cytoreduction with heated chemotherapy (HIPEC).
Radiation can cause long-term effects. The most common side effects are the skin's changes and fatigue. In rare instances it may cause lung damage over time that could lead to chronic breathing problems or a narrowing of the esophagus. Before deciding to undergo radiation, you should discuss the risks with your physician.
Immunotherapy
Cancer is caused by genetic mutations that cause abnormal cells to expand out of control. As the cells multiply, they form tumors that destroy healthy tissue. Over time, the tumors spread throughout the body, causing symptoms such fatigue, pain and breathing difficulties. The mesothelium is a covering around the organs that shields them from asbestos-related lung tumors.
Doctors diagnose mesothelioma using an examination of the body and taking a detailed history about your exposure to asbestos. They will also perform medical tests like blood work and various kinds of scans. These scans provide a high-resolution image of your body and can reveal the signs of mesothelioma such as lung fluid, or cancerous tumors. X-rays are a common imaging test to detect mesothelioma, but doctors often request more advanced scans, such as CT, PET and MRI. Doctors can also perform an examination to confirm a mesothelioma diagnose and ensure that the cancer has not spread.
Doctors are unable to cure mesothelioma patients in the majority of cases, but they can manage the condition by limiting it with chemotherapy and other treatments. The goal is removing mesothelioma as much as possible and reducing the likelihood that the cancer will return.
In patients with advanced mesothelioma doctors can perform a pleurodesis in order to stop fluid buildup in the lungs or place an incision in the chest for regular drainage of liquids that are not needed. They might also try to stop the growth of the tumors by making the outside layer of the lungs adhere to the inside layer of the lung (extrapleural pneumonectomy) or shrink them with radiation therapy (extrapleural and pleurectomy).
Immunotherapy is a novel treatment that makes use of medications to stimulate your immune system to fight cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved these medicines, including Keytruda and Opdivo to be used in clinical trials of mesothelioma. This treatment is promising and could result in better outcomes in certain patients. The treatment can trigger side effects, such as fatigue, chills, fevers however they tend to be less severe than more aggressive treatments for mesothelioma.