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Mesothelioma Treatment Options
Treatment options for malignant mesothelioma are generally the same as for other types of cancer. However, due to the typical late stage of the disease, treatment rarely stops the progression of the disease and regression is also untypical.
The progression of mesothelioma, is broken into stages and treatment options are based on the stage of the disease.
Stages of Mesothelioma
- Stage 1 - occurs when the tumor lies completely within the capsule of the pleura, minus swollen lymph nodes, known as adenopathy.
- Stage 2 - Stage 1 plus the tumor has spread and there is presence of adenopathy. Also, the boundaries of the tumor allow for removal of the tumor without cutting into other organs.
- Stage 3 - consists of extension of the disease into the chest wall or into the heart through the diaphragm or peritoneum, or outside the pleura to involve the lymph nodes.
- Stage 4 - occurs when the cancer has formed in distant organs through metastases.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy consists of chemical agents that are injected into the body to treat cancers. The agents are designed to attack the cancer cells and damage or kill them. However, it is extremely difficult to develop drugs that attack only the cancer cells and leave other cells in the body alone. This is why many patients who undergo chemotherapy suffer many severe side effects. Patients become lethargic, suffer from hair loss, loss of appetite, become impotent, etc. The poor response of mesothelioma treatment to chemotherapy is not well understood, but it is thought to be related to the way mesothelioma cells develop.
Get more information on the three types of mesothelioma cancer cells: epithelioid, sarcomatoid, and biphasic - as well as pleural, pericardial and peritoneal mesothelioma.