• Pericardial Mesothelioma
• Mesothelioma Life Expectancy
• Mesothelioma Prognosis
• Mesothelioma Treatment
• Mesothelioma Survivors

Mesothelioma Treatment

The prognosis of a patient suffering from malignant mesothelioma is usually very poor. This disease, being a late-latency period cancer, is generally discovered only in the advanced-stages by when it is difficult to administer appropriate treatment for attacking mesothelioma with a curative intent. The average life expectancy of an individual affected by mesothelioma does not exceed 18 months and the diagnosis itself takes about two to six months to produce accurate results.

The treatment plan devised by an oncologist will vary from case to case depending on various factors. Once a precise diagnosis has been obtained with the help of a physical examination, sophisticated imaging techniques, exploratory surgery and other methods; the doctor can determine the nature of the cancerous tissue and apply the best treatment strategy to increase the patient's survival rate. Depending on several factors, doctors can either use techniques like surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy or choose to go with a combination of these methods to destroy the disease from all angles.

Surgery

Surgery is a common mesothelioma treatment method that is generally curatively implemented in the earlier stages of the illness to surgically remove the tumor and prevent the cancerous cells from diffusing. It can also be administered as a palliative treatment technique to stabilize the patient's condition and improve the quality of his/her life. Surgery is an aggressive treatment method that can in some cases also comprise removal of the entire affected organ.

Curative surgeries include pleurectomy, extrapleural pnemonectomy and cytoreductive surgery. Pleurectomy is mostly administered during stage 1 and 2 of the mesothelioma development with the aim of removing the entire tumor, without removing the affected organ. Extrapleural pnemonectomy is a more drastic process that intends to remove the whole organ (to prevent the cancer from spreading) when the cancerous tumor cannot be removed. Cytoreductive surgery aims at taking off the tumor from the peritoneal cavity.

Palliative treatment methods do not actually remove the cancer from the body. They are more intended to ease the patient's discomfort. The pleurodesis method is administered to pull out excessive fluid built up inside the lungs and the pleural space. It seals the pleural space with talc slurry to prevent the fluid from building up in future. Pleuroperitoneal shunt connects a catheter to the peritoneal and pleural cavity. Pleurectomy deals with the prevention of pleural-effusion and is generally used when regular expansion of lungs is subdued by the tumor.

Radiation

Radiation treatment utilizes large doses of radiations to attack the cancerous tumor at a molecular level and stops them from growing. The radiations are either administered externally by targeting the affected area with a machine located outside the body or internally by releasing wires, capsules or tubes into the infected mass.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy comprises administering anti-cancer drugs to destroy the malignant cells and disrupt their growth. These drugs can either be used by themselves or in combination with other treatments to effectively treat the mesothelioma.

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