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Trimodailty Therapy: Mesothelioma Treatment Method

Mesothelioma is a terrible cancer which attacks the lining that covers the vast majority of our organs, the mesothelium. It is brought about 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 large number of people getting diagnosed with mesothelioma now, in the 21st century. Many more will continue to be diagnosed . Asbestos was used up until the 1970's. Mesothelioma has also been associated with irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide, and the inhalation of other fibrous silicates .

Being that mesothelioma is technically a cancer, the exact methods used in the treatment of any other cancer are also used to treat mesothelioma. Depending on the stage of the cancer itself, as well as the medical history of the patient, doctors can decide on the appropriate treatment for the patient. One can expect either one, or a combination of the following; chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery . Due to the intricacies of mesothelioma , the prognosis after treatment tends not to be very good. Most mesothelioma patients have a prognosis of 1-2 years at most.

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

During trimodality therapy chemotherapy is the first treatment administered . 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. Surgery is performed in four stages ;

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

The last method is radiation where high-energy x-rays are used to kill off any remaining cancer cells.

New methods of treating mesothelioma are currently being researched in hopes of obtaining better results . These include gene therapy, IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation therapy), photodynamic therapy (PDT), and immunotherapy .

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Nkeno Kapya's Mesothelioma Treatment website can provide you with more information on this disease

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