Mesothelioma (cont.)
What is the treatment for mesothelioma?
There are
three traditional kinds of treatment
for patients with malignant mesothelioma. Often two or more of these are
combined in the course of treatment:
- surgery (taking out the cancer),
- radiation therapy (using high-dose X-rays or other high-energy rays to
kill cancer cells), and
- chemotherapy (using drugs to fight the cancer).
Additional information
Surgery: There are several types of surgery
used in treating mesothelioma.
- A pleurectomy is the removal of part of the chest or
abdomen lining and some of the tissue around it.
- Depending on how far the cancer has spread, a lung
also may be removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy.
- In an extrapleural pneumonectomy, the lung is removed
along with the lining and diaphragm (the muscle that helps you breathe) on the
affected side. In this surgery, the lining around the heart is also removed.
- Sometimes a pleurectomy/decortication is
performed. In this surgery, the lining of the lung is
removed along with as much of the tumor as possible.
Radiation therapy
uses high-energy X-rays to kill
cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from
a machine outside the body
(external radiation therapy) or from putting materials
that produce radiation
(radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area
where the cancer cells are found
(internal radiation therapy).
If fluid has collected
in the chest or abdomen, your doctor
may drain the fluid out of your body by putting in a
needle into the chest or abdomen and
using gentle suction to remove the fluid. If fluid is
removed from the chest, this is called
thoracentesis. If fluid is removed from the
abdomen, this is called paracentesis.
Your doctor may also put drugs through a tube into the
chest to prevent more fluid from
accumulating.
Chemotherapy is
the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy may be administered by pill, or it may be
put into the body by a needle in the vein
or muscle.
Chemotherapeutic agents can be administered either
systemically (through the bloodstream) or intrapleurally
(in the pleural cavity). When it is administered
intrapleurally, the treatment is localized at the site of
the tumor. These drugs are generally very toxic and you
should discuss their use very carefully with your
physician.
Next: Is there any promising research or are there promising drugs for mesothelioma? »
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