What are Some Common Treatments for Mesothelioma?

Treatments for mesothelioma vary and there is far more information available than can be covered thoroughly, here. So, you are encouraged to read up on as much information as you can find as well as ask your doctor for recommendations specific to your needs, and why he recommends the treatments he does. With that in mind, let this article direct you to some reliable sources of information to help you fully understand your medical team’s recommendations and all of your options before you choose a course of treatment.

There is a very nice and thorough Guide for Malignant Mesothelioma available from the American Cancer Society that you can read online or download as a PDF file. This guide, along with several other sources gives good explanations of this disease, treatment options, and much more information. The treatment options available to you may differ significantly from other people’s, based upon a number of factors. These include:

• What part of your body is involved.
• The stage of the mesothelioma.
• The degree of metastasis–how far it has spread.
• The type of cells, as identified with a microscope.
• Your age.
• Your preferences.

You may hear some discouraging information about treatment or survival statistics, but don’t give up hope. Many of these statistics include survival rates based on early treatment outcomes, which can skew the current rates. Specialists and researchers are having more and more success with newer methods of treatment, and those in leading cancer centers are making notable progress.

The most common treatments for mesothelioma include:

• Surgical removal of the cancerous cells. This is the most common treatment. Surgery might be done to remove cancerous portions of the mesothelial lining, some of the adjacent tissue, possibly an entire lung (pneumonectomy), part of the diaphragm, or the affected portions of the peritoneal lining and adjacent tissue.
• Chemotherapy, drugs to destroy the cancer cells. Most chemotherapy drugs are administered by intravenous injection (IV) over several treatments scheduled several weeks apart. In peritoneal mesothelioma, heated chemotherapy may be administered after surgery.
• Radiation therapy to destroy the cancer cells. X-rays can kill cancer cells and shrink tumors, which improves the success of surgery.
• A combination of two or three of the above treatments

Palliative treatments of mesothelioma intended to relieve symptoms and control pain may include surgery or radiation therapy along with procedures such as paracentesis or thoracentesis (depending upon the location of the cancer), and pleurectomy to remove part of the tumor, but not all of it. These latter treatments involve draining fluid from the affected areas and then injecting drugs to prevent accumulation of more fluid in those spaces.

Other treatments come in the form of clinical trials. These are treatments that are being studied by researchers to see if they are effective and if so, how effective under varying conditions. If you are interested in taking part in a clinical trial you can learn more from the Cancer Information Service (CIS) at 1–800–4–CANCER. You will need to talk to your doctor about current trials and your eligibility for these. You can also download the National Cancer Institute’s booklet “Taking Part in Cancer Treatment Research Studies.”