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Mesothelioma
Treatments: What Are My Options?
Clinical
research to treat malignant
mesotheloma
is very active and
although no treatment has
proven to be entirely successful,
there does exist a range of
treatments available to
individuals who have been diagnosed with the
disease. There are three types
of standard treatments used to
treat
malignant mesothelioma
which include surgery,
radiation therapy, and
chemotherapy.
Surgery
Surgery for
malignant mesotyelioma is
divided into a number of
sub-classes, which are specially
designed to limit the disease
for individuals with particular
strains of the disease.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy
is a severe form of surgery in
which the entire lung and a
portion of the lining of the
chest, the diaphragm, and some
or the entire sac which
surrounds the heart is removed.
Wide local excision is a form of
surgery which targets and
removes the cancer and a limited
amount of the healthy tissue
surrounding the cancerous
region. Pleurectomy and
decortication removes part of
the covering of the lungs, as
well as the lining of the chest
and portions of the outside
covering of the lungs. The
surgical procedure pleurodesis
is a distinct technique insofar
as it employs a blend of
chemicals and/or drugs to create
an intentional scar between the
layers of the pleura. Post
surgery, the space created by
the scar must be drained, using
either a catheter or chest tube,
and is then filled with a
chemical which inhibits the
accumulation of fluid in the
pleura cavity.
Radiation
The second
primary medical technique used
to fight the development of
malignant mesothelioma is
radiation. Radiation therapy, as
applied to malignant
mesotheloma uses the same basic
technology as other forms of
medical radiation in that the
technique employs high energy
x-rays to kill cancer cells. The
process is divided into two
broad categories: External
radiation therapy which is a technique
in which a machine sends
radiation in a targeted stream
at a certain portion of the
body, and in so doing it kills
the cancerous cells in its
purview. Internal radiation
therapy, by contrast, does not
use
an external machine, but rather
needles, seeds and catheters to
place radioactive substance
directly on or near the cancer.
While the precise method of
implementation will of course
depend upon the type and stage
of the illness, what is constant
within this category is that the
goal is to get the radiation
placed directly onto the
cancerous area and in so doing
provide a more concentrated and
directed dosage.
Chemotherapy
The third
standard malignant mesothelioma
treatment is Chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy uses drugs which
target cancer cells and stop
them from dividing, thus
preventing their growth. In
systemic chemotherapy, the drug
can be taken by mouth or
injected, but either way the
goal is to have it reach cancer
cells by means of the body’s own
blood circulation system. In
regional chemotherapy, the drug
is placed directly onto the
target area. And finally,
combination chemotherapy
involves the use of two or more
anticancer drugs which can be
administered either orally or
through injection. Malignant mesothelioma is a difficult
disease for anyone to bear. However, educating oneself as to
the options available is an
important step for making the
process more manageable.
Treatment For
Mesothelioma
Treatments for
mesothilioma depend on the
stage of the cancer, the
specific part being affected,
the total amount of space being
affected, how long one has had the
problem, the look of the cancer
cells under microscope and the
age factor of the patient. These
are the factors that are
considered before choosing the
treatment option.
Treatments for
mesothelioma include Surgery,
Chemotherapy and Radiation
Therapy.
Surgery: There
are two types of surgeries
available one is aggressive
surgery and another one is
called palliative procedures.
Aggressive
surgery is done through a
procedure named extra pleural
pneumonectomy, by which the
pleura, the lung, the diaphragm
and the pericardium are removed.
This aggressive surgery's motive
is to remove as much mesothilioma tumor as possible.
Palliative procedures will be
done when the mesothelioma
disease is at the matured stage.
The motive of this procedure is
to give relief to the patient
from the symptoms.
Chemotherapy: In
chemotherapy drugs are being
used to treat mesotyelioma
cancer. The drugs may be in the
form of pills or injections. To
improve the results of
chemotherapy some drugs may be
used as mix in some proportion
and this has given a good
improvement in the treatment
results.
Radiation therapy:
Radiation therapy uses
radiations to kill mesotheloma
tumor. This procedure is complex
to undergo as the tumors are
surrounded by sensitive parts of
our body. There is always a
possibility that the heart and
lungs are damaged by the
radiation. Lower dose radiation
is one solution to slightly
overcome from this critical
issue. Though mesothilioma is a
permanent cancer disease and the
survival rate is very low,
timely identification and
perfect treatment at the right
time could able to aid
survival for some long time.
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