Treatment of Pleural Mesothelioma

After a patient is diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, this must make an immediate decision regarding treatment. Because the cancer spreads in a very fast manner, it is recommended that patients make an appointment with an expert in your area as quickly as possible.

Primary treatments include surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, these may be curative or palliative.

If the cancer has not yet been spread throughout the body, there are aggressive treatments that can help extend the life of the patient. These options include:

Extra pleural pneumonectomy or pleurectomy to remove visible tumors in the body.
Chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, doxorubicin and gemcitabine to remove all cells remaining after surgery.
Radiation therapy to ensure that all cells have been treated properly.

Patients usually always report better results when the three treatments are used together, this approach is known as multimodal therapy. However, this method greatly affects the body and oncologists recommend only when the cancer is in its early stages and the patient is quite healthy.

If the patient needs a more gentle option for the body, it is recommended that this be put to palliative treatments. While these treatments can only reach slightly reduce the tumor, in order to apply these treatments it is to relieve symptoms. Palliative treatment for patients with pleural mesothelioma include:

Pleurodesis to drain fluid from the pleural cavity
Palliative chemotherapy to reduce the size of tumors and consequently the pressure on the affected organs.
Oxygenation therapy to ease breathing. Respiratory therapy to the lungs regain their strength.

Alternate therapies for pleural mesothelioma cancer can also relieve symptoms. Acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga and aromatherapy are the most popular methods to reduce pain, stimulate digestion, reduce nausea and improve overall health.

Alternative therapies such as nutrition programs and supplements can help the body and skills and self-help fight the disease.

With a little more modern therapies, patients affected with pleural mesothelioma are able to live up to one year after initial diagnosis. Approximately four out of ten patients come to achieve this goal while one out of five survivors are still alive two years or more.

Only a very small percentage of patients fail to surprise the doctors and live more than two years. There is always clinical trials that have the ability to extend the life of patients more.

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