Mesothelioma Treatment Options
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that develops from the protective lining that covers many of the body's internal organs.It is caused mainly because of exposure to asbestos.This disease mainly catches the internal organs like pericardium or tunica vaginalis.
Mesothelioma mainly occurs in people who worked on jobs where they inhale asbestos particles or exposed to asbestos dust particles.Unlike lung cancer smoking is not a reason for mesothelioma.But keep in mind the fact that smoking regularly greatly increase the risk of asbestos-induced cancers.Also note that washing the cloth of a family member who work with asbestos can put the person at a risk of bieng attacked by mesothelioma.
In this article i am wrting mainly about mesothelioma treatment options.Mesothelioma treatment options are explained in detail at the bottom.I have also included two videos of mesothelioma treatment options and mesothelioma lawyer
Symptoms of Mesothelioma
Not lets discuss about the main symptoms of mesothelioma
1.Shortness of breath due to pleural effusion.
pleural effusion is the fluid between lung and chest wall.
2.Chest pain.
3.Weight loss.
4.Fatigue or anemia.
5.Wheezing and Cough.
6.Blood in sputum.
These are the main symptoms os mesothelioma
Now lets find the the reason or cause for mesothelioma
Cause of Mesothelioma
1.Asbestos
As discussed earlier working on asbestos posses great risk of being attacked by mesothelioma.
2.Environmental exposures
3.Asbestos in building.
4.Occupational
Working on jobs related to asbestos or exposure to asbestos fibers has been recognized as an occupational health hazard since the early 1900s.Various studies revealed that occupational exposure to asbestos with the development of pleural plaques, diffuse pleural thickening, asbestosis, carcinoma of the lung and larynx, gastrointestinal tumors, and diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum. Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, gaskets, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation.
Mesothelioma Treatment Options
There are several types of treatment available for patients with mesothelioma.The most commonly used treatments are surgery,chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Now lets go into further details of treatment in mesothelioma.
1.Surgery
This is one of the the treatment for mesothelioma.However surgery for mesothelioma is disappointing since the chace of curing from mesothelioma is very rare by means of surgery.A pleurectomy/decortication is the most common surgery, in which the lining of the chest is removed. Less common is an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), in which the lung, lining of the inside of the chest, the hemi-diaphragm and the pericardium are removed.
Note: Surgery can only be performed during mesothelioma stages I and II.
Most recommended treatment for mesothelioma is radiation and therapy
2.Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the only treatment for mesothelioma that has been proven to improve survival in randomised and controlled trials.Most forms of chemotherapy involve the intravenous administration of drugs such as Alimta and Cisplatin. Chemotherapeutic drugs are targeted to kill cells that are rapidly dividing by interfering with processes that occur during cell division.
However, while cancer cells themselves divide rapidly, so do some types of healthy cells, causing some of the unpleasant side effects that are often associated with this form of treatment. Though older chemotherapy medications seemed to do little to fight mesothelioma, newer chemotherapy drugs are showing much promise.
A new form of chemotherapy called heated chemotherapy will be a relief for those who are suffering from peritoneal mesothelioma.So heated chemotherapy is good treatment option for mesothelioma for those who are suffering from peritoneal mesothelioma.
3.Radiation
This is also a best treatment option of mesothelioma.By radiation we mean the killing of cancer cells and to prevent the further spread of cancer.For patients with mesothelioma, radiation therapy is most often used in conjunction with surgery.So this is the main treatment option for mesothelioma.The main disadvantage of radiation is that it only provide a short-term symptomatic relief.Radiation is also a preferred mesothelioma treatment options but it provides only short term relief from mesothelioma symptoms.
Brachytherapy is a newer type of radiation treatment.In this method tiny radiactive rods are implanted within the tumour to provide concentrated dose of radiation to tumors.But some healthy cells are destroyed in this method.
Most used gene therapy for the treatment of mesothelioma is "suicide gene therapy".the name because it forces cancer cells to produce substance which will cause their death.
In this type of gene therapy, mesothelioma patient is treated with a non infectious virus with alters genetic materials which will makes them to produce proteins.
After this procedure the patient is then treated with a chemotherapeutic medication that is specially formulated to be toxic only to cancer cells.After various research it has found that this treatment for mesothelioma is promising one and reduced the cancer cells to great extent.One of the recommended mesothelioma treatment option is gene therapy.
5.Immunotherapy
As the name suggests in this method the mesothelioma patient's own immune system is tricked to kill the cancer cells.The two types of immunotherapy is active and passive.
In the case of active immunotherapy mesothelioma cancer cells are removed from a patient and then treated in a laboratory to turn them into a vaccine.after this procedure patient is give a vaccine and if the treatment is successful,patients immune system must recognize the vaccine as harmful and thus identify the cancer as bieng harmful as well.
Passive immunotherapy is not related with immune systems.Instead, it uses substances such as cytokines (molecules that direct and regulate the immune system) and other agents to help boost the patient's immune response to their cancer.
These are the commonly and effective treatment of mesothelioma.Other treatment of mesothelioma include Multimodality Therapy & Epidemiology.
My advise to all readers is that the main cause of mesothelioma is asbestos,so maximum try to avoid work with or job related with asbestos.Also if any one is affected with mesothelioma then dont get panic there are many mesothelioma treatment option available.Also dont forget the fact that prevention is better than cure.So inorder to prevent mesothelioma asbestos should not be used.
Mesothelioma treatment option are effective and i recommend the mesothelioma patients to consult mesothelioma doctor or seek any mesothelioma treatment option.
