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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