Common Treatments For Mesothelioma

Understanding Mesothelioma Treatments

Mesothelioma is always considered a fatal disease, but innovations and improvements in treatments have made it possible for many victims to live in greater comfort and to enjoy longer survival times than had previously been realized. Every mesothelioma patient’s condition is different and decisions about treatment should be made in keeping with your own values and goals and in consultation with your medical specialist, your family and friends, and others who are important to you.


Among the factors to be considered when making your decision are:

1. The type of mesothelioma you have 

2. The stage of your cancer

3. Your age and overall health

4. Whether your goal is to extend your life as long as possible or focus on quality of life

In almost all cases, patients will receive a combination of surgery with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or both. Some patients will be treated using newer technologies such as immunotherapy, and some will choose complementary treatments to help alleviate discomfort and stress. In all cases, treatment decisions begin with a clear understanding of the individual’s condition.

Before Treatment: Staging

Decisions about treatment of mesothelioma always begin with staging the disease. Staging determines where the cancer’s tumors are and tracks their progression. It relies on imaging tests including CT scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to measure the size and distribution of the disease and to determine whether the lymph nodes and various organs are involved.
Though individual specialists may use different staging methodologies, the most frequently used is the TNM (Tumor Node Metastasis) system, which assesses the size and location of tumor tissue (T); the presence of cancer in lymph nodes (N); and whether the cancer’s tumors have metastasized (M). A number is assigned to indicate whether the cancer is in stage 1, 2, 3, or 4, with stages 1 and 2 indicating that the disease is localized and stages 3 and 4 indicating widespread involvement and multiple tumors.

Treatment Options For Mesothelioma Patients

Surgery

Most patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma will undergo some type of surgery. Some procedures are minimally invasive and others are highly aggressive. Surgical procedures performed early in the process are usually performed to help diagnose the patient's condition, while later surgeries are performed to removed as much cancerous tissue as possible to provide relief form discomfort or to extend life as long as possible. These surgeries are often combined with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to improve outcomes.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a new protocol that is being explored for use in the treatment of many types of cancer, including malignant mesothelioma. It teaches the body’s immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells in the same way that it attacks other illnesses, and strengthens that response to overcome the cancer’s defenses. Though much more needs to be learned about immunotherapy, an immunotherapy drug combination was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration specifically for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy administers anti-cancer drugs into the body so that it can kill malignant cells. There are a variety of chemotherapy drugs available for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma and they are delivered in a variety of ways, though the most common method is intravenously. Though chemotherapy can be effective, it also carries well known adverse effects. The drugs target fast-growing cells but are unable to distinguish between healthy cells such as hair or skin and unhealthy cancer cells. Hair loss, nausea and vomiting are common, though there have been significant improvements in how these drugs are managed. Using chemotherapy in combination with surgery generally delivers better results than without, and is more successful in stopping the spread of cancer.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. It is often delivered in combination with surgery, either beforehand to help shrink the size of the tumor to be removed or afterwards to stop the cancer from growing again. Innovations in the use of radiation have allowed more targeted delivery of these rays and have significantly improved the effectiveness of this protocol.

Complimentary Treatments

Many patients being treated for malignant mesothelioma seek complementary treatments that can ease their discomfort, stress, and adverse side effects. While studies have shown that relying exclusively on alternative treatments leads to significantly shorter survival times for cancer patients, the practice of supplementing chemotherapy, surgery and other conventional treatments with acupuncture, yoga, meditation and hypnosis have been proven to improve patients’ quality of life. Complementary treatments like these have been incorporated into many cancer treatment protocols. Often referred to as integrative or holistic oncology, the approach combines conventional medicine with an added emphasis on diet and exercise, the use of acupuncture and mind-body techniques such as meditation and yoga, and the use of medical marijuana to reduce pain, improve mood, and relieve stress.

Some of the most common surgical procedures for malignant mesothelioma:

Biopsies For Diagnosis

These may include fine needle aspiration; core needle biopsy; incisional biopsy; thoracoscopy to allow surgeons to look inside the chest cavity and take a biopsy of the lung; mediastinoscopy to allow sampling of the lymph nodes; and laparoscopy to perform biopsies of the abdominal cavity.

Palliative Procedures

These improve patients’ comfort level and can include thoracentesis to remove fluid from the lung cavity; pericardiocentesis to remove fluid from around the heart; paracentesis to remove fluid from the abdominal cavity; and pleurodesis to prevent fluid from accumulating in the space between the layers of the lungs.

Curative Surgeries

These procedures remove as much cancer tissue as possible both to improve quality of life and extend survival, and include extrapleural pneumonectomy, a highly aggressive procedure that removes the involved lung and much of the adjoining tissue; pleurectomy with decortication, a less aggressive procedure that removes the involved pleura and as much cancerous tissue as possible; HIPEC, a surgery for peritoneal mesothelioma that removes as much cancerous tissue as possible and follows with administration of a heated chemotherapy solution directly into the abdominal cavity.

Asbestos-Related Lung Cancer, Asbestosis, and Other Diseases Related to Asbestos

Though malignant mesothelioma is the deadliest illness associated with exposure to asbestos, the mineral has been linked to several other serious illnesses and malignancies. In fact, there are records of asbestos-related illnesses dating back to Ancient Rome, when slave owners were advised never to purchase asbestos quarry slaves because they so frequently died young of a variety of lung ailments. 

Today we know that exposure to asbestos is linked to:

Lung Cancer

Pleural Plaques

Pleural Effusions

Asbestosis

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Attorney, David Halpern, Pennsylvania

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