Mesothelmeoma Treatment Options – Chemotherapy and Surgery
Mesothelmeoma is caused by the exposure to asbestos. It can sometimes be difficult to diagnose accurately as symptoms aren’t immediately apparent – often appearing up to 50 years after exposure. However, if you are diagnosed with this fairly rare - but devastating - disease, you do have several treatment options. Nothing can actually stop mesothelmeoma completely, but surgery or chemotherapy can help.
Surgery for mesothelmeoma isn’t cheap – and many insurance companies won’t cover the entire cost of the treatment. Many people are faced with making the difficult decision whether to proceed with surgery or forego it and lose a chance of fighting the disease. If you are in this situation, consider your options with care – an experienced attorney can also help you make the best decision and advise whether or not you are able to pursue a mesothelmeoma lawsuit.
Your doctor will be able to determine which treatment is best for you, depending on not only the size and location of any tumor, but your age and overall health as well. The two most common treatments for mesothelmeoma are chemotherapy, which is defined as the treatment of cancer with chemical substances; and surgery. Simply put, surgery is defined as taking out the cancerous cells; while chemotherapy uses drugs to fight the cancer.
Chemotherapy doesn’t really provide a cure for mesothelmeoma, although it does help significantly to alleviate the symptoms. Many people are reluctant to undergo this type of treatment as the side effects are often severe; however it is seen as a realistic alternative to surgery and as advances are made in medical knowledge, more chemotherapy options will be available to more people.
If a mesothelmeoma patient undergoes chemotherapy, the treatment is administered in the form of drugs, or injections into the abdominal cavity or chest cavity; a procedure that isn’t particularly pleasant. Depending on the extent of the disease, and the tolerance level of the particular patient, a doctor may decide to administer two different drugs to achieve the best results.
Because chemotherapy often has severe side effects, a patient may also be prescribed other drugs to help to relieve some of these. Side effects commonly include vomiting and nausea, constipation or diarrhea, and a general feeling of fatigue or lethargy. And some patients undergoing chemotherapy may experience ringing in the ears, tingling in the toes or fingers; and even rashes or bruises on their body.
If chemotherapy is deemed to be your best option for treating your mesothelmeoma, it is generally administered in cycles – periods of treatment followed by periods of rest. In general, several cycles are required before any significant results can be seen; after this process a decision will be made as to whether to continue the chemotherapy based on the amount that the tumor has been reduced. Cycles and dosages may vary, depending on the needs of a particular patient and the scope of the cancer.
Mesothelmeoma is nearly always diagnosed while in its later stages; because of this, most surgery is performed to help alleviate some of the pain, rather than to remove the tumor from the body completely. Again, as advances are made in medical techniques and more surgery options become available, it may be possible to perform more surgery while mesothelmeoma is in its early stages of development.
In some extreme cases, a person may undergo a procedure known as an extrapleural pneumonectomy, which requires a patient to be in fairly good health otherwise; and must be performed during the early stages of the mesothelmeoma. This procedure involves totally removing the lining that surrounds the heart, lung and diaphragm, therefore preventing any further infection. It is often combined with other supportive therapy such as radiation and chemotherapy treatment.
Options for mesothelmeoma treatment are slowly increasing as more is learnt about the disease and how best to treat it. You also have other options such as radiation treatment and various so-called alternative treatments. Whatever you decide, it’s important to remain positive during this difficult time. However, it is also important to act as soon as possible – the sooner mesothelmeoma is treated, the better your chances of successfully dealing with it.
