Last time we showed you how to diagnose Mesothelioma, this time around we will cover how to treat Mesothelioma. The Mesothelioma treatment isn’t jumped into like other diseases, it depends on your health and stage of your cancer. There’s something you need to know, this disease is an aggressive one, it spreads and moves to the advanced stage in a short time. This is the time it’s usually diagnosed and at this stage, it is no longer possible to remove.
Mesothelioma Treatment Methods
- Surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
Surgery
Removal of Mesothelioma by surgery is effective only if it’s diagnosed at an early stage. Sometime this might cure the cancer but most of the time it doesn’t because it isn’t all that possible to remove entire cancer. The options under this method include;
a. Removal of the tissue around the lungs by surgery: this system is used to remove the tissue lining the ribs and the lungs. Have it in mind that it won’t cure mesothelioma but will relieve the patient of the symptoms.
b. Reduction of fluid buildup by surgery: A type of this cancer known as pleural mesothelioma can result in fluid buildup in the chest and this might cause difficulty in breathing. The surgeons will have to insert a tube or catheter into your chest to drain the fluid.
c. Treatment of Peritoneal mesothelioma by surgery: This is seldom treated by surgery in order to remove much of the cancer from the body.
d. Removal of a lung and the tissue around it by surgery: When the lung and the tissue around it is removed it relieve signs and symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.
Chemotherapy
This involves the use of chemicals to kill cancer cells. The chemotherapy method is used to remove the cancers that can’t be removed by surgery. The systemic chemotherapy travels throughout the body and may shrink or slow the growth of mesothelioma. This can be used after surgery to bring down the chance of return of cancer or before surgery to make the operation simple.
Radiation therapy
This method involves directing high-energy beams from sources such as X-rays and protons to a particular part of your body. It is usually used after surgery to kill off cancer cells that are still remaining.
Other Trials
Mesothelioma treatment can also be done through this other ways;
Targeted therapy: In this method, drugs used are for attacking specific vulnerabilities in cancer cells. Have it in mind that this is not commonly used in Mesothelioma treatment.
Immunotherapy: Our bodies possess an immune system that fights diseases. As the name goes, this method makes use of your immune system to fight cancer. Ordinarily, your body immune system might not attack your cancer because the cancer cells produce proteins that blind the immune system cells. This system then allows the immune system to see cancer in your body.
