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Educate Yourself Regarding The Intricacies Involved In The Treatment Of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a terrible sickness that affects the lining that covers the vast majority of our organs, the mesothelium. Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation of asbestos dust, a compound that was used in the construction industry several years ago. Mesothelioma tends to manifest itself more than 30 years after an individual has been exposed to asbestos. That is why we tend to see a lot of people getting diagnosed with mesothelioma now, in the 21st century. Many more will discover they have mesothelioma in the years to come. The use of asbestos continued up until the 1970's. Mesothelioma cancer has also been associated with intrapleural thorium dioxide, irradiation, as well as the inhalation of other fibrous silicates .

Since mesothelioma is technically a cancer, the same methods used to treat any other cancer are also used in the treatment of mesothelioma. Depending on the stage of the cancer itself, as well as the medical history of the patient, doctors can decide on which treatment would be best for the patient. One can expect either one, or a combination of the following; chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery . However, since mesothelioma is a complicated cancer to treat , the prognosis after treatment isn't very good. The prognosis for mesothelioma tends to be a few years in the majority of cases .

In order to attempt to increase one's chances of survival doctors these days tend to employ all three treatment methods . This is known as trimodality therapy. This has proven to increase one's survival time by up to 5 years. Without this it is a year at most.

During trimodality therapy chemotherapy is the first treatment a patient will receive. The drugs used in chemotherapy are given either orally or intravenously. The aim of this is to halt the growth of malignant mesothelioma. The second phase of trimodality therapy is surgery , where any tumor mass is removed. We can break down the surgery into four distinct parts;

wide local excision
pleurectomy and decortication
extrapleural pneumonectomy
pleurodesis
postoperative radiation therapy

Last but not least is radiation where high-energy x-rays are used to kill off the cancer cells .

New methods of treating mesothelioma are currently being researched in hopes of obtaining better results . Included amongst the new methods are intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), immunotherapy, gene therapy, and (PDT) photo-dynamic therapy.

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