Mesothelioma Treatment

The use of conventional therapies for treating mesothelioma has unfortunately failed to be anything more than a temporary respite at best.

Patients who are diagnosed with the disease and receive no treatment typically live for just six to twelve months.

The disease is difficult to treat because of the time it takes for development and the way it spreads to other organs of the body. Despite this, there are a number of methods used for treating the condition, and some are more effective than others.

Surgery is a common method which has been used for treating this disease, but the results have been poor in most cases. Less than 10% of patients who undergo surgery live longer than 5 years.

Radiation is also used for attacking the tumor, and has been known to calm some symptoms. Large blood vessels which are blocked can generally be treated well with this method.

Chemotherapy is also used, but tumors seem to be highly resistant to it. A new drug called Alimta has been approved by the FDA, and it is used to treat mesothelioma.

Another method for treating this condition is called immunotherapy. Because the immune system is weakened when a patient suffers from mesothelioma, attempts have been made to strengthen the immune system. The results have varied in most cases.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin is a vaccine commonly used with tuberculosis which has been directed at boosting the immune system of the patient. Even though it was beneficial to patients who suffered from bladder cancer, it did little to help patients who suffered from mesothelioma.

Interferon alpha has brought about better results, and over 15% of patients using this had a large percentage of their tumors reduced. The good news about interferon alpha is that there are not a large number of side effects.

Another method which is used for treating this disease is heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This method was invented at the Washington Cancer Institute, and involves removing a portion of a tumor. Once this portion is removed, chemotherapy is directly applied, and is heated to a maximum of 48°C. This is done in the abdomen, and is applied for about an hour. After this the liquids are drained. This method requires that a large amount of drugs are added to the abdominal region of the body.

Using chemotherapy which is warm will allow the drugs to enter the tissues. The heat will also cause more damage to cancer cells than cells which are normal. Of all the treatment methods which are available for mesothelioma, this one sounds the most promising.

However, it should also be noted that these treatment methods can be very expensive.

A large number of people who have mesothelioma were unknowingly exposed to asbestos. Because of this, there are a large number of legal ramifications which have resulted from the use of asbestos products. As the cost of healthcare continues to increase, this has raised a number of concerns.

Mesothelioma is much like other cancers in the sense that the exact cause for it is unknown. Though asbestos has been linked to its development, research is still being conducted to determine the molecular processes which lead to this condition.