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In any kind of delicate situation, such as dealing with mesothelioma, receiving valuable information is very important. All the information you need is available on our website. Find a list of doctors and treatment centers that can offer the necessary mesothelioma treatment methods in order to treat your health. All the support you need and even legal help for asbestos victims is one click away.
In cases of mesothelioma, time is of an essence. It is generally detected in the late stages of the disease due to the long gestation period. With each passing day, however, treatment options for mesothelioma patients are steadily increasing, and a discussion with the doctor is very relevant.
The available treatment options depend on factors such as the location of the infection, the stage of the cancer, spread of the disease, and the age, physical fitness and mindset of the patient.
Traditionally, three kinds of treatment are generally provided:
Surgery: this suggests cutting out the cancer but surgery may also be performed with the intention of diagnosis for confirming and staging mesothelioma. Further, palliative surgery, without aggressively treating the disease itself, may also be done.
Chemotherapy: or fighting the cancer with drugs, especially in cases not fit for surgery. While cure is not achievable, chemical substances may be used to control the spread or multiplication of the cancerous cells, shrink the tumor, destroy cells remaining after surgery, or relieve pain.
Radiation Therapy: aims at killing cancer cells with high-dose, penetrating beams of high-energy rays or streams of particles. The intent is to remove residual cells post-surgery, to contain metastases or spread or as a palliative to control symptoms. Targeted radiation may be provided through Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) which steers clear of surrounding healthy tissue. A recent development is the use of tomotherapy.
Two or more of the above procedures may be offered as a combination in the course of treatment.
The first line of treatment after mesothelioma diagnosis involves assessment of the symptoms of the patient
to determine potential for surgery. If the case details suggest surgery, it will be aggressively advocated and followed. The aim is to remove as much of the area infected by the disease as is safely possible. It is a given that after surgery, microscopic cells of the disease will remain; these will be handled by adjuvant therapy which follows the first line of treatment and takes care of the residual disease. In most cases, radiation and chemotherapy take care of the secondary or remaining disease.
While a hundred percent cure for mesothelioma is not yet in hand, several successful mesothelioma treatment programs do exist. Malignant mesothelioma is generally treated on the lines of other lung and lung-related cancers with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. However, treatment does not preclude recurrence of the disease.
Certain cases have been recorded where recurrence of the disease has been kept at bay for a number of years. One such case is of Paul Krauss who was told he had only months to live after being diagnosed with mesothelioma in 1997. Paul continues to live an active life today and devotes a large part of his time to spreading awareness of the disease and helping develop better treatment programs.
The treatment for pleural mesothelioma is ascertained after staging; that is after confirming location and spread of the disease. If the patient’s physical condition allows it, curative measures such as surgery to remove portions of the lung may be advocated. Pleurectomy or Decortication and pneumonectomy are taken into consideration by the surgeon.
Surgery may also be used in combination with radiation and chemotherapy to complete the ridding of cancerous cells. The chemotherapy drug, ALIMTA®, reportedly decreases pain and promotes a better quality of life. Photodynamic therapy and immunotherapy are other treatments but these are still in the nascent stages of development.
Mesothelioma attacking the lining of the heart is called pericardial mesothelioma. Surgery is rarely an option due to the proximity to the heart. As a result, doctors adopt a palliative route to address management of symptoms. The aim of treatment for pericardial mesothelioma is to improve the quality of life of the patient. Symptoms caused by the build-up of fluid in the pericardium are taken care of by fine needle aspiration.
The prognosis for pericardial mesothelioma is grim and most patients do not survive beyond a few months. However, it is known that one patient survived five years after being treated by partial surgical resection and radiation; another survived one year after a similar treatment.
Presence of cancer cells in the lining of the abdominal cavity is termed as peritoneal mesothelioma. This is a rare form of malignancy and treatment generally includes a multimodal approach since surgery or chemotherapy alone does not prove very effective. The physician may also prefer to perform Cytoreductive (debulking) surgery to remove the visible tumor; Intra-Peritoneal Hyperthermic Chemotherapy (IPHC), intraperitoneal chemotherapy and/or radiation may also be followed after surgery to remove remaining traces. Post operative longevity may depend on the comprehensiveness of the cytoreduction surgery performed. In cases where the disease has spread beyond the scope of surgical intervention, palliative measures remain the only option.
Malignant mesothelioma is the term used for a disease in which cancer cells attack the lining that encases the vital organs of the chest or abdomen. The thin layer surrounding the chest cavity that seats the lungs is called the pleura and the lining that covers the abdomen and related organs is called the peritoneum. Mesothelioma therefore may be pleural mesothelioma or peritoneal mesothelioma depending on the area that it covers.
Treatment of malignancy related to any mesothelioma follows the line of treatment of cancer generally. This is to say surgery, chemotherapy and radiation may be used alone or in combination by the treating physician.
Mesothelioma that comprises cells that are not malignant are said to be benign. Tumors with benign cells do not proliferate and usually grow in the submesothelium; that is the tissues under the mesothelium lining. Benign mesothelioma occurs in one out of ten cases of mesothelioma globally. The symptoms are very similar and include pain in the chest, cough and labored breathing in the pleural form which may be due to the tumor taking up lung space in the chest. The difference is gauged by extensive testing or surgical procedures like a biopsy and the prognosis is hopeful. Doctors also look out for indications of low oxygen level in the blood.
As the tumor is not cancerous and it did not spread, the only form of treatment necessary is surgery and there is no need for chemotherapy or radiation-therapy.
Cancer in the lining that surrounds the stomach is called abdominal mesothelioma cancer or more commonly, peritoneal mesothelioma. 
Most patients afflicted with cancer of this type suffer from ascites which refers to fluid accumulation in the space that surrounds the organs. Other significant symptoms include pain in the abdomen and noticeable increase in abdominal girth. Although not as common as pleural mesothelioma, 100 to 500 cases of abdominal mesothelioma are reported in the US alone each year. Surgery is a curative option if the disease has not metastasized to other organs such as the liver, lungs, heart, esophagus, and intestines; chemotherapy and radiation to impede the spread may be used.
Exposure to asbestos causes a type of cancer called mesothelioma. Types of mesothelioma may be defined by location as in pleural mesothelioma in the lungs, pericardial mesothelioma in the heart, and peritoneal mesothelioma in the stomach. Classification by the cell type involves names such as epithelial mesothelioma that infects the cells lining the body's internal and external surfaces; sarcomatoid mesothelioma that includes infection in the connective tissues; and a mix of the two. Epithelial mesothelioma may be pleural, peritoneal or pericardial. The common symptoms are pain in the infected body part and shortness of breath. While there is no certain cure, surgery may help in early detection; otherwise the treatment is palliative and aimed at restricting the spread of the disease.
Biphasic mesothelioma contains a mix of epithelial and sarcomatoid cells. These two types may appear in different parts of the tumor; as a result, it is necessary to perform biopsy from different areas of the same tumor before classifying it. Since the post-diagnostic survival time of biphasic mesothelioma cancer patients is very short, a more aggressive form of treatment is generally adopted.
Most common in young females, cystic mesothelioma, as the name indicates, is the presence of mesothelial cells in the lining of a cyst. It is a rare and difficult to diagnose disease but not life threatening as most are benign forms of mesothelioma. Symptomatic treatment is followed and this may include limited surgery or decompression.
Treatment of multiple cysts infected with mesothelial cells in the lining of the organ runs along the same lines as all other types of mesothelioma. Surgery may be performed depending on spread of disease and acuteness of symptoms. Chemotherapy and radiation may also be used to contain spread and where surgery is ruled out.
Mesothelioma spreads to the liver as a metastasis effect from the primary organ affected by exposure to asbestos. Less than 15% such cases have been reported. Malignancy is a given in such cases and as the damage to the liver progresses, symptoms such as acute pain, weight loss and ascites manifest.
In malignant mesothelioma, cancer cells have the ability to spread to other organs of the body. In cases where the metastasis reaches the brain, the condition is known as brain mesothelioma. Since the only way to reach the brain is through the blood stream, brain mesothelioma is understood to be the final stage of the deadly disease.
Papillary mesothelioma is a type of epithelial mesothelioma. Most often papillary mesothelioma is found to be benign and will not spread to other organs. As a result, the prognosis for the disease is positive; the treatment is simpler and less expensive with a better life expectancy than other types of mesothelioma.
This is a very rare type of mesothelioma cancer characterized by proliferation of cancerous cells around the chest and abdominal regions. Sarcomatoid mesothelioma is on the whole difficult to pinpoint and generally surgical intervention like biopsy is required to confirm the type. Treatment as always depends on malignancy, spread, and staging.
Cancer infection in the glandular tissue is called Adenocarcinoma mesothelioma. This is a part of the epithelial group of mesothelioma. Since it is easy to confuse this with other types of epithelial cancer, a biopsy is required for accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Adenocarcinoma mesothelioma is a metastatic type of mesothelioma and may spread.
A type of sarcomatoid mesothelioma, Desmoplastic Mesothelioma occurs very rarely but is known to have the worst survival rates. It is characterized by malignant tumors that metastasize and ascites. Surgery is performed to contain the spread and the other treatment options are the same as in other forms of mesothelioma.
Fewer than a hundred cases of testicular mesothelioma have been reported. The disease derives its name from malignant mesothelioma cells found in the lining of the testicles from where it spreads to other organs. Surgical removal of the testicles is advised in later stages; otherwise, treatment options remain the same: chemotherapy and radiation.
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