Treatment Options for Mesothelioma:
Radiation, Surgery, Trimodal Therapy
Continued from: Mesothelioma Treatment
On this page:
» Surgical Treatment
» Trimodality Therapy
Radiation therapy uses radiation energy to kill the mesothelioma cancer cells. But, similar to chemotherapy, the radiation not only attacks the cancer cells, but damages the other cells in the body as well. Radiation therapy has not been effective in enhancing the survivability of the disease, but it has caused the disease to palliate (lessen).
Surgical Treatment
Surgical treatments for mesothelioma are relied upon because the disease is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy alone. Surgical treatment requires removal of part of the lungs or other cancerous organs where the tumors are located.
There are two types of surgical procedures, one that requires the removal of pleura tissue and then reconstruction of the lungs. This procedure provides limited control of the tumor because much of the pleura tissue is left. The tumor is free to start growing in the pleura again immediately after surgery. For patients who have lost much of their breathing capability, called pulmonary reserve, this procedure is preferred because less of the lung tissue is removed.
The more extensive procedure removes almost all of the pleura tissue and tissue from surrounding organs and membranes. This procedure typically stops the local growth of the tumors, but requires the removal of large areas of lung and other tissue.
Overall, surgical treatment has met with limited success. With surgery alone, the recurrence rate is high and most patients die within a few months after surgery. A relatively new type of surgical procedure developed specifically for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma is extrapleural pneumonectomy. This procedure is highly invasive and is only recommended for patients who have early-stage pleural mesothelioma.
Trimodality Therapy
Trimodality therapy involves a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgical treatment for mesothelioma. For the trimodality therapy, results showed that for the Brigham Staging system, the longevity of survival after initiation of therapy is 22 months for Stage 1, 17 months for Stage 2 and 11 months for Stage 3. In some cases of trimodality therapy, different chemotherapy agents were found to be more useful.
For all treatment types, it is important that the patient begin physical activity as soon as possible after treatment. Also, due to loss of appetite, patients should be referred to a nutritionist.
See Also:
» Chemotherapy
» Thoracentesis
» Extrapleural Pneumonectomy
» Diet and Nutrition
[Page updated January 2006]
