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Mesothelioma Treatment

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What treatment you undergo for mesothelioma depends on your health and certain aspects of your cancer, such as its stage and location. Unfortunately, mesothelioma often is an aggressive disease and for many people a cure won’t be possible. Mesothelioma is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage — when it isn’t possible to remove the cancer through surgery. Instead, your doctor may work to control your cancer and its signs and symptoms to make you more comfortable. 31

Mesothelioma treatments are rarely used in isolation—a given patient does not usually receive only surgery, or only chemotherapy. Instead, treatment programs usually involve a combination of at least two different types of treatment. For example, a patient may undergo surgery to remove the bulk of a tumor, followed by either radiation therapy or chemotherapy to remove any remaining cancer cells. A treatment program of this type is a common option for mesothelioma patients who are strong enough to undergo surgery. 17

Surgical treatments for mesothelioma are of three main types - diagnostic surgery, curative surgery, and palliative surgery. Some types of surgery fall into more than one category. For example, thoracentesis may be used as a diagnostic procedure, and as a palliative treatment to provide symptomatic relief. 9

Cancer treatment usually focuses upon destroying malignant cells and preserving healthy ones. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. At present, mesothelioma patients are faced with three major options for treatment of their disease - surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. 7

In the later stages of mesothelioma disease, when the cancer has spread from the point of origin to other regions of the body, doctors may utilize a number of time-tested treatment methods. The aforementioned methods�reductive surgery, radiation therapy, anticancer drugs, and chemotherapy�may be used to rid the body of mesothelioma cancer, and other methods may be used to reduce pain, such as surgery to drain fluids from the lungs. In the case of recurring mesothelioma disease, doctors may conduct trial procedures� such as the use of trial biologic therapy, trial chemotherapy, and trial surgery�as a last ditch effort to rid the body of the malignant mesothelioma tumors. Clinical trials can help current patients and provide invaluable information about treatment that can benefit future generations of cancer sufferers. 48

MesoLink.org is a site created to provide you with up to date information on the deadly disease Mesothelioma. This includes general information on the disease, breaking news on the search for a cure and perspective legislation designed to limit you as well as all other news on the subject, links to other sites and online resources that can provide important and in-depth Mesothelioma and cancer related information, and a legal guide to help you with the complex legal issues involved with Mesothelioma. 11

Surgery can be performed on mesothelioma patients for one of two reasons: in an attempt to cure the disease or for palliative reasons in order to keep the patient more comfortable and improve the quality of life. Unfortunately, because mesothelioma is almost always diagnosed in its late stages, curative surgery is not usually an option. 7

Because mesothelioma is very hard to control, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is sponsoring clinical trials (research studies with people) that are designed to find new treatments and better ways to use current treatments. Before any new treatment can be recommended for general use, doctors conduct clinical trials to find out whether the treatment is safe for patients and effective against the disease. Participation in clinical trials is an important treatment option for many patients with mesothelioma. 37

In recent years trade unions have taken an increasingly active role in rallying for the rights of workers who were unknowingly exposed to asbestos on-the-job. They have been instrumental in exposing big industry asbestos cover-ups, participated in shaping asbestos legislation and created an information resource for mesothelioma treatment options. 19

Asbestos cancer, also known as mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure, typically found in particular asbestos jobsites. Mesothelioma found in those working at particular jobsites such as shipyards can quite often be easily traced to the asbestos products that were present in these locations. For instance, a navy veteran diagnosed with mesothelioma could have worked at Brooklyn Navy Yard outside New York or Todd Shipyards in New York City or California where they came into contact with various products containing asbestos materials. 8

Photodynamic Therapy: Photodynamic therapy is most often used to treat skin cancers, as well as pleural mesothelioma and other types of lung cancer. This treatment is most effective in patients who have localized a condition (meaning it is not suitable for people with cancer that has metastasized). 17

Despite the risks, treatments available today have made significant progress against the disease and with skillful intervention by experienced mesothelioma specialists the benefits of treatment far outweigh the alternatives. This is true, both in terms of improved quality of life, and in median survival times, which keep growing in leaps and bounds. 13

Radiation may be used before surgery to shrink the tumor, after surgery to prevent the cancer from coming back, to prevent the growth of cancer, to treat symptoms, and also in combination with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is sometimes used as the main treatment of Mesothelioma, especially patients whose general health is too poor to undergo surgery. 32

It should be noted that recent studies indicate using a single one of the above listed treatments for malignant mesothelioma has failed to improve patient survival rates; instead, patient survival is being increased when treatment includes a combination of approaches —for instance surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This is called the “multimodality approach,” meaning an approach using many modes of treatment. 44

Laproscopy is used in mesothelioma patients in cases where imaging techniques suggest possible invasion of the tumor through the diaphragm. This information can be important in evaluating a patient for potential pleurectomy or extrapleural pneumonectomy. 3

The Panacea offers these health-extracts to help people investigate health-related subjects in greater depth using the references given in each paragraph. Kindly note that these are current extracts from the web, meant for research, and that these are not meant to be medical advise. For all your health-related needs you must consult trained and licensed personnel.

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