Due to the intricacies of
mesothelioma, doctors tend to employ a procedure known as
trimodality therapy.
Mesothelioma is a very tricky cancer to
treat and that is why doctors have chosen to use all three
known methods of treating cancer; chemotherapy, radiation, and
surgery. The combination of these methods for the treatment
of mesothelioma is what's known as trimodality
therapy.
The treatment for mesothelioma will
generally tend to be the same as traditional cancer treatments
but with mesothelioma it depends on the location of the cancer
cells, the stage of the cancer, and also the patient's personal
choices.
The first treatment administered is
chemotherapy. Certain drugs are used to halt the cancer growth,
and these can either be administered orally or intravenously.
The aim of this is to mainly slow the growth of malignant
mesothelioma. Following this comes surgery.
Surgery aims to remove any tumor mass that
will have most likely accumulated. The surgery part can be
broken into four smaller sections:
Wide local excision -
removal of the cancer together with some of the healthy tissue
around it.
Pleurectomy &
decortication - removal of part of the lining of
the lungs and chest.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy
- one whole lung is removed, and part of the lining of the
chest, the diaphragm, and the pericardium.
Pleurodesis - chemicals and
drugs are used to make a scar in the space between the layers
of the pleura to stop the build-up of fluid (in the pleura)
Postoperative radiation
therapy - this removes any mesothelioma cells that may
have remained behind after all of the above.
When using radiation for the treatment of
mesothelioma high-energy x-rays are used to kill
off the cancer cells. Two types of radiation are used to treat
mesothelioma cancer. The amount that ones receives depends on
the stage of the cancer itself.
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