Mesothelioma treatment
Introduction
Mesothelioma, is an aggressive form of cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, the heart of the abdomen. It is caused by breathing asbestos fibers. Mostly Mesothelioma has been diagnosed in old people who have come into contact with asbestos. In early stages mesothelioma is manageable. Cancer develops from a layer of tissues that normally covers the lungs, the heart, and the abdomen.
The common symptoms of the diseases are shortness of breath. A good number of patients also complain of chest pains. Loss of weight is also very common to patients with mesothelioma. In the advanced stages of cancer, one develops serious breathing complications and chest swellings. There are various ways of treating mesothelioma.
The treatment method will be dictated by the stage of the disease. Treatment of the disease will aim at either of the following three things: treatment for removing the cancerous cells, treatment aimed at destroying the cancer cell, or treatment for alleviating symptoms. The common treatment of mesothelioma are:
Surgery for mesothelioma
Surgery for Mesothelioma can take three forms:
- Surgery for palliative purposes
- Curative purposes
- For diagnostic process
Surgery is not done as a sole process. First, chemotherapy treatment is subjected to the patient. Radiation then follows the chemotherapy. After that, surgery is done to the patient. The common type of surgery is the pleurectomy. In this type of surgery, only the tumor or the abnormal growing cells are removed from the lungs leaving lungs untouched. It is important to note that surgery does not guarantee an extended life of the patient. However, surgery is a great reliever of pain and also improves the life condition.
Radiation treatment for mesothelioma
In this kind of treatment, the patient is subjected to a dose of radiation. The aim is to kill the cancerous cells in the body. Normally radiation is incorporated with chemotherapy to complement surgery operations. Radiation has been criticized by many people. It is believed that apart from killing cancerous cells, radiation also kills another healthy cell around the cells.
However with the advanced technology radiation is getting a big boost. There is a new form of radiation called the intensity-modulated radiotherapy. This type of radiation has the ability to ill only the cancerous cells leaving other healthy cells untouched. When the intensity-modulated radiotherapy is used along with chemotherapy and surgery, it has proven a great success regarding symptoms and pain reduction as well as extended life.
Chemotherapy for mesothelioma
This is the use of drugs to kill and suppress cancerous cells or cell undergoing abnormal division. Mesothelioma involves a rapid division of cells. This makes chemotherapy a perfect cure for mesothelioma. On the critic side, scientist argues that there are a lot of many other cells that rapidly divide themselves. An example is the bone marrow and the gastric cells. Thus chemotherapy can interfere with the normal growth and development of a human being. The ideal way to use chemotherapy is before a surgical operation to reduce the number of cancerous cells before the operation. It can also be used together with radiation for the same purpose.…
