Mesothelioma
Treatment
Mesothelioma
treatments can be quite successful if treated and diagnosed early
on. The stage of the cancer determines specific mesothelioma treatments.
Mesothelioma treatments also take into account the patient's age and
physical condition, among other things. There are several ways of
doing mesothelioma treatments and newer ones are in development.
Surgery - Mesothelioma Treatment
Surgery is one of the common types of mesothelioma
treatments.The surgeon will remove the cancerous tissue as well as
some surrounding tissue from your lungs and or abdomen. This is because
when you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, tissues develop around the
heart and abdomen. If the mesothelioma has spread far into the body,
the doctor might have to remove an entire lung.The procedure of removing
lung is called a pneumonectomy. Thoracentesis is a procedure of removing
fluid collected in the lungs and or abdomen area due to mesothelioma,.
Thoracentesis therefore, involves draining the fluid out of the body
by means of putting a needle into the chest or abdomen.
Immunotherapy - Mesothelioma Treatment
Immunotherapy comes from the word - immunity. It
simply means using the human body and its natural defenses to fight
and perform mesothelioma treatment. The above theory sounds simple
but the practical application of it when carrying out
mesothelioma
treatment, is quite difficult
Chemotherapy - Mesothelioma Treatment
Chemotherapy is a mesothelioma treatment which requires
the mesothelioma sufferer to take medicine in these 2 ways:
Chemotherapy is a systematic treatment. The drug
once injected in the body starts to kill cancer cells.Chemotherapy
is mostly used to treat mesothelioma in early stages.
Photodynamic Therapy - Mesothelioma Treatment
Intraoperative photodynamic therapy - a newer type
of mesothelioma treatment that utilizes special drugs to kill cancer
or malignant cells in the body, during surgery. A drug that makes
cancer or malignant cells more sensitive to light is injected into
the veins several days before surgery occurs. During surgery, a special
light is used to remove as much of the cancer as possible, and kill
as many cancerous cells as possible. This light is shined on the pleura.
Onconase - Mesothelioma Treatment
Onconase - a new chemotherapy drug that is being
tested for effiency and sufficiency when carrying out mesothelioma
treatment. The drug with widespread acceptance for use is known as
Doxorubicin. The benefit of Onconase over Doxorubicin is that Onconase
is free of side effects as opposed to the side effects caused by traditional
chemotherapy.
Radiation- Mesothelioma Treatment
Radiation is a mesothelioma treatment, whereby
the mesothelioma sufferer is put through high powered x-rays to kill
the cancerous (malignant) cells and tumors.Radiation comes from two
sources
Internal - materials inserted into
your body through a tube and into the area where malignant(cancer)
cells are found.
External - a machine outside your
body (external therapy using radiation)