Treatments for Pleural Mesothelioma

Treatments for Pleural Mesothelioma

Pleural Mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer of the lung lining, can be treated in several ways depending on the stage and location of the disease, and the overall health of the patient. It is an aggressive disease which is usually only diagnosed in its later stages, and then patients often find that their cancer is inoperable. Still some patients want to do everything possible to fight the disease, while others prefer not to undergo the rigors of treatment and only wish to be made comfortable. Because the survival rate for this type of cancer is extremely low, doctors usually tell their patients that treatment will only extend their lives by eight to twelve months. Yet, there are cancer centers led by specialists that have achieved better survival rates for their patients.

Surgery can be performed in several different types of operations:

·         Removal of the cancer and some of the adjacent healthy tissue.

·         Removal of part of the lining surrounding the lungs and some of the outer surface of the lungs to ease symptoms of the disease.

·         Removal of one lung and part of the lining of the chest, the diaphragm, and the lining of the sac around the heart. This surgery allows the doctors to use higher doses of radiation on the remaining cancer.

·         Removal of the fluid which builds-up around the cancer-causing difficulty breathing. A chemical or drug is often inserted by a catheter into the area after it is drained; it creates scarring which stops the fluid build-up.

Chemotherapy has proven to be an effective treatment in killing mesothelioma cells and slowing the cancer’s growth. Chemotherapy can be used to treat cancer in different ways:

·         Before surgery to shrink the tumor and make the operation easier.

·         After surgery to kill remaining microscopic cancer cells and to improve survival chances.

·         Administered to the whole body to slow the growth of cancer cells and shrink the tumor in cases where surgery is ruled out.

·         Targeted to the cancerous site directly to shrink the tumor, allowing doctors to use a stronger dosage since there is less injury to healthy cells throughout the body.

·         To control the pain of the patient and make them more comfortable.

Radiation therapy targets the cancerous area with high-energy, x-ray beams to destroy cancer cells. Sometimes a patient cannot tolerate either surgery or chemotherapy, so radiation is used as an alternative. Radiation can be used to ease the symptoms of the disease such as shortness of breath, swallowing difficulties, and pain. The radiation is aimed at the whole chest, but a lower dosage of radiation is used to be more protective of the heart, lungs, esophagus, and spinal cord. Typically, radiation therapy takes five days a week for three to five weeks, and there are medications to reduce the side effects of fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. In some cases, radioactive material can be placed in the chest at the tumor site. Overall, radiation therapy is regarded only as a means to slow down and ease the symptoms of the cancer, since it rarely can eradicate all the disease.

Combination therapy, using surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, has shown the most success in dealing with pleural mesothelioma. However, this therapy is aggressive, and the patient needs to be in the earlier stages of pleural mesothelioma and healthy enough to endure it.

Clinical trials are conducted to test the results of new drugs on patients. They evaluate whether a new treatment is safe and effective or better than the standard treatment. These studies are closely watched by the Food and Drug Administration and must meet certain requirements. There are three phases that are required by the FDA which a patient can enroll in:

·         Phase 1—where a low dosage of a new drug is given to determine what should be the proper dosage and what may be the side effects. The focus of the study is to see if the drug is safe.

·         Phase 2—when the drug has been determined to be reasonably safe, this study tries to determine its effectiveness on the cancer.

·         Phase 3—further studying the safeness and effectiveness of a new drug on a larger number of patients. This research uses a control group of patients who don’t receive the new drug, and each group is unaware of whether they are receiving the new drug or not. 

Pleural mesothelioma is a difficult disease to treat, but research is always ongoing and many new drugs are being developed which show promising results. There have been cases where the disease has gone into remission, and the patients have lived and continue to live long past expectations.

Bibliography of Websites

Pleural Mesothelioma Treatments. (n.d.). Retrieved from WebMD.

Pleural Mesothelioma Treatments. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mayo Clinic.

Pleural Mesothelioma Treatments. (n.d.). Retrieved from Pleural Mesothelioma.