Treatment Options

Even though mesothelioma is incurable, treatment is available.   Treatment can prolong your life and make you more comfortable.  The traditional therapies used in cancer treatment are the mainstay of mesothelioma treatment.  These treatments are used alone and in combination to reduce the damage mesothelioma causes to your body.

• Chemotherapy
• Radiation treatment
• Surgery

The type of treatment that is right for you depends on several factors.   The best options for treatment can only be determined after a thorough evaluation by your medical team.   An oncologist is a cancer specialist and will most likely lead the process. You may also see a radiologist, pulmonary therapists and an oncology-nursing specialist.  To help you cope with discomfort and the emotions stirred up by a serious illness, a social worker can also be a part of your care team.   Learn more about the finding a medical team that is experienced in caring for people with mesothelioma.

The size and location of your tumor and the stage of your cancer must first be determined.   To determine the stage of your cancer, MRI and CT scans are used. These tests are excellent at helping your doctor visualize the size, location and extend of any lung tumors.  Other specialized testing using radionuclides can help tell if the disease has spread, or metastasized outside of the chest and abdominal cavities.   

Mesothelioma therapy is very individualized.    They type of therapy that is best for you depends on:

• Location of the cancer
• Size of the cancer
• Degree of invasion into nearby structures
• Cancer staging
• How widespread the cancer is
• Patient’s age 
• Other medical conditions

Your health status and age will also play a big part in figuring out the very best way to treat your cancer.  People with other health problems may not be candidates for very strong forms of treatment. 

Treatment Includes
Cancer treatment focuses on destroying the malignant cells while preserving the healthy ones.  This can be achieved by chemical or physical means that wipe out the tumor cells.   These treatment modalities can be used alone, or in combination to have the strongest effect on the disease.   When an additional therapy is added to the main treatment for cancer it is called adjuvant therapy. 

Chemotherapy uses very toxic drugs to kill the tumor cells, but healthy cells can be affected too.  Newer chemotherapy drugs have fewer side effects, and combinations of powerful drugs can also help reduce toxic effects.  Response to some of the most effective chemotherapy regimens has been less than hoped for.   The FDA recently approved a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed for patients with mesothelioma because it showed a significantly stronger effect on the disease than a single drug.  

Radiation therapy employs strong doses of radiation to destroy the cancer cells. Radiation therapy is frequently used to shrink tumors before surgery, or to help patients feel less discomfort.  While advances in technology allow the radiation to be very tightly focused, cells surrounding the treatment area do suffer significant damage. 

Tumors can also be removed surgically.  In early stage disease, surgery can provide significant improvement and slow the progression of the disease.  If the cancer has spread beyond the chest cavity, surgery is much less effective in slowing down the disease, although it can be used in advanced cases to help patients breathe more easily and feel more comfortable. 

During treatment, the progress of the disease will be monitored periodically.  Using blood tests, x-rays and in some cases, MRI or CT scans, the size and extent of tumor can be followed.   Depending on the response to treatment, the regimen can be stopped or adjusted.   Side effects can also have an impact on the treatment regimen.  Fortunately there are many medications that can help patients withstand the toxic effects of these treatments.

Because mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer that is difficult to detect and tends to spread, traditional treatments are less effective than they are in other forms of cancer.  Some patients are not candidates for surgery or radiotherapy, especially in widespread or advanced disease.   For these patients, chemotherapy may be the only treatment option.

Investigational treatments

Newer treatments are being researched which provide a great deal of hope for patients who do not respond to some of the established therapies in use today. Clinical trials provide information about improved treatments and give hope for better outcomes.  Clinical trials are currently going on across the United States and worldwide.

Photodynamic therapy employs a light sensitive drug that is administered into your pleural fluid.  Exposure to a specific type of light activates the drug and causes a chemical reaction, which produces oxygen free radicals.   The free radicals are very toxic to the tumor cells and cause necrosis, or tumor cell death. 

Another promising treatment is immunotherapy.  Preliminary studies in early stage mesothelioma have shown encouraging results. Patients administered a form of interferon experienced complete response to therapy.

Complementary and Alternative Therapies can help patients feel better and participate in their treatment longer.                                                   

Your medical team

It’s important to have supportive medical team as well an experienced one.  One resource for finding an expert in mesothelioma is your primary care doctor, who may be able to recommend.  For more information about mesothelioma, including cancer centers that specialize in mesothelioma, complete the contact information.