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Treatment Options
Even though Mesothelioma is incurable, treatment is available. Treatment can prolong your life and make you more comfortable. The traditional therapies used in cancer treatment are the mainstay of Mesothelioma treatment. These treatments are used alone and in combination to reduce the damage Mesothelioma causes to your body.
Chemotherapy
Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Drugs
Radiation treatment
Radiation therapy is one of the oldest forms of treatment for cancer. Each year, millions of cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy, a treatment that carries few side effects and allows patients to maintain a fairly normal lifestyle. As a matter of fact, statistics from the American Cancer Society note that some 50% - 60% of all cancer patients – including Mesothelioma sufferers - are prescribed radiation therapy for the treatment of their disease or its symptoms.
Understanding Radiation Therapy
Quite simply, radiation therapy is exactly what the name implies. It employs the use of high-energy rays to damage cancer cells, stopping them from growing and dividing. Unlike chemotherapy, it’s a localized therapy that affects only the cells in the area to which the rays are applied.
Radiation therapy can be utilized in two ways. The rays may originate from a machine, known as external radiation, or radio-active material may be implanted inside the body at the site of the tumor, which is referred to as internal radiation. The type of radiation prescribed will largely depend on the type of cancer from which someone is suffering. Some patients may receive both forms of treatment.
External radiation is administered on an outpatient basis, usually 5 days per week for several weeks. Internal radiation will require a hospital stay and because the level of radiation may be high for the first few days after the material is implanted, the patient may not be able to have visitors. Implants can be temporary or permanent.
Side Effects of Radiation Therapy
The side effects of this kind of cancer treatment are much milder than those connected with other treatments prescribed for Mesothelioma. The most common complaint is extreme fatigue. Skin reactions in the treated area may also occur, including inflammation.
Some patients also complain about loss of appetite during radiation therapy treatment. Others will experience a decrease in white blood cells and may be more prone to infection. Most side effects are controllable.
Radiation and Mesothelioma
For Mesothelioma patients, radiation therapy is often indicated for those for whom surgery is not an option, due to overall poor health or some other reason. Radiation is also used as a palliative measure for meso patients, relieving symptoms such as shortness of breath, bleeding, pain, or difficulty swallowing.
Surgery
Biopsy
Procedures used to diagnose cancer can often be frightening, especially when you just don’t know what to expect. A little knowledge and information about what’s employed in the diagnosis of Mesothelioma can go a long way in comforting the nervous patient about normal procedures such as biopsies, often necessary to accurately diagnose your disease.
What’s a Biopsy?
Literally, the word biopsy comes from the Greek for “view of the living.” A biopsy involves removing a sample of tissue from the patient and sending it to a pathologist for examination. Nearly all cancers involve a biopsy for diagnosis.
Some biopsies require no anesthesia at all, while others involve a local anesthetic and others require surgery. Once the biopsy is complete, the pathologist, who specializes in rendering medical diagnoses by examination of tissues and fluids removed from the body, will examine it and prepare a report as to his findings, which will be sent to your primary doctor or oncologist. Patients usually have no contact with the pathologist and some reports take days or even a few weeks.
Types of Biopsies
If your doctor is leaning towards a diagnosis of Mesothelioma, he will probably first order a CT Scan or MRI. Following one of those procedures, the first biopsy performed may be the removal and examination of fluid around the lung. However, most healthcare professionals believe this procedure is inconclusive in accurately diagnosing Mesothelioma.
Instead, the doctor may prefer a tissue biopsy. This can be achieved in several different ways. Some will opt for a laparoscopy or thoracoscopy, which involves making a small incision and using a tiny camera to look at the affected area. A tissue sample can be taken during this procedure.
Others will choose to do a needle biopsy to obtain tissue samples. This is accomplished by inserting a thin, hollow needle through the skin and into the chest cavity.
Most doctors, however, prefer an open lung biopsy, which involves surgery under general anesthesia. During this procedure, an incision is made and a small piece of lung tissue is removed and then examined by a pathologist. A chest tube may be left in place for a few days to prevent the lung from collapsing. The patient may feel some lingering pain after the surgery but will feel nothing during the procedure.
The type of treatment that is right for you depends on several factors. The best options for treatment can only be determined after a thorough evaluation by your medical team. An oncologist is a cancer specialist and will most likely lead the process. You may also see a radiologist, pulmonary therapists and an oncology-nursing specialist. To help you cope with discomfort and the emotions stirred up by a serious illness, a social worker can also be a part of your care team. Learn more about the finding a medical team that is experienced in caring for people with Mesothelioma.
The size and location of your tumor and the stage of your cancer must first be determined. To determine the stage of your cancer, MRI and CT scans are used. These tests are excellent at helping your doctor visualize the size, location and extend of any lung tumors. Other specialized testing using radionuclides can help tell if the disease has spread, or metastasized outside of the chest and abdominal cavities.
Mesothelioma therapy is very individualized. They type of therapy that is best for you depends on:
Your health status and age will also play a big part in figuring out the very best way to treat your cancer. People with other health problems may not be candidates for very strong forms of treatment.
Treatment Includes
Cancer treatment focuses on destroying the malignant cells while preserving the healthy ones. This can be achieved by chemical or physical means that wipe out the tumor cells. These treatment modalities can be used alone, or in combination to have the strongest effect on the disease. When an additional therapy is added to the main treatment for cancer it is called adjuvant therapy.
Chemotherapy uses very toxic drugs to kill the tumor cells, but healthy cells can be affected too. Newer chemotherapy drugs have fewer side effects, and combinations of powerful drugs can also help reduce toxic effects. Response to some of the most effective chemotherapy regimens has been less than hoped for. The FDA recently approved a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed for patients with Mesothelioma because it showed a significantly stronger effect on the disease than a single drug.
Radiation therapy employs strong doses of radiation to destroy the cancer cells. Radiation therapy is frequently used to shrink tumors before surgery, or to help patients feel less discomfort. While advances in technology allow the radiation to be very tightly focused, cells surrounding the treatment area do suffer significant damage.
Tumors can also be removed surgically. In early stage disease, surgery can provide significant improvement and slow the progression of the disease. If the cancer has spread beyond the chest cavity, surgery is much less effective in slowing down the disease, although it can be used in advanced cases to help patients breathe more easily and feel more comfortable.
During treatment, the progress of the disease will be monitored periodically. Using blood tests, x-rays and in some cases, MRI or CT scans, the size and extent of tumor can be followed. Depending on the response to treatment, the regimen can be stopped or adjusted. Side effects can also have an impact on the treatment regimen. Fortunately there are many medications that can help patients withstand the toxic effects of these treatments.
Because Mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer that is difficult to detect and tends to spread, traditional treatments are less effective than they are in other forms of cancer. Some patients are not candidates for surgery or radiotherapy, especially in widespread or advanced disease. For these patients, chemotherapy may be the only treatment option.
Investigational treatments
Newer treatments are being researched which provide a great deal of hope for patients who do not respond to some of the established therapies in use today. Clinical trials provide information about improved treatments and give hope for better outcomes. Clinical trials are currently going on across the United States and worldwide.
Photodynamic therapy employs a light sensitive drug that is administered into your pleural fluid. Exposure to a specific type of light activates the drug and causes a chemical reaction, which produces oxygen free radicals. The free radicals are very toxic to the tumor cells and cause necrosis, or tumor cell death.
Another promising treatment is immunotherapy. Preliminary studies in early stage Mesothelioma have shown encouraging results. Patients administered a form of interferon experienced complete response to therapy.
Complementary and Alternative Therapies can help patients feel better and participate in their treatment longer.
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