The methods used to treat mesothelioma
are the same ones used to treat any
cancer.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that is caused by the inhalation
of asbestos dust. It tends to manifest itself several years
(read: more than 30 years) after the affected person
has inhaled these deadly minute particles.
This deadly cancer attacks the
lining that covers most of our organs. This lining is known as
the mesothelium, hence the name
mesothelioma. Mesothelioma cancer has also been associated with
irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide, and inhalation of
other fibrous silicates.
The treatment you can expect for mesothelioma
could be one, or a combination of the following:
radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery. However,
due to the intricacies of mesothelioma the treatment
tends not to be very effective, and the prognosis is
usually a few years at the most.
In order to effectively attempt to treat
mesothelioma doctors tend to use all three methods. This
form of treatment for mesothelioma is
known as trimodality
therapy. More and more doctors are
choosing to employ this method of treatment as it has
proven to greatly increase one's survival time by up to 5
years. Usually it is only a year or so.
Currently, mesothelioma treatment options are
being researched in hopes of obtaining better results. Some
of these new treatments include:
Gene therapy, immunotherapy, photodynamic
therapy (PDT), and intensity-modulated radiation therapy
(IMRT).
|