Mesothelioma Treatment

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Mesothelioma Treatment

Any treatment for mesothelioma will depend on several factors; where the cancer is located, the stage of the disease and the patient's age and general health. Normal treatment options for mesothelioma include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. A combination of the three treatments may also be used.

Surgery is considered a common treatment for mesothelioma. The surgeon may remove part of the chest or abdominal lining and parts of the tissue around it. For cancer of the pleura, or pleural mesothelioma, treatment may include removal of a lung in an operation called a pneumonectomy.

Radiation therapy, another of the mesothelioma treatments, involves the use of concentrated radiation to kill mesothelioma cells and shrink tumors. This therapy will affect cancer cells only in the area of treatment. The radiation may be external or from the placement of materials producing radiation into the area where the cancer cells are found, called internal radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy is one of the mesothelioma treatments most people have heard about. It is the use of drugs that kill cancer cells throughout the body. Most of the drugs used in the treatment of cancer are injected into a vein. This method is called intravenous, or IV. Some doctors treating mesothelioma are looking into the effectiveness of putting chemotherapy directly into the chest or abdomen in a procedure called intracavitary chemotherapy.

Doctors may also drain the fluid from the lining in the chest or abdomen in an effort to relieve symptoms and control pain from mesothelioma. A needle or a thin tube is used to drain the buildup The treatment procedure for removing fluid from the chest is called thoracentesis. Removing fluid from the abdomen is called paracentesis. Medications may be given through a tube in the chest as a treatment for mesothelioma to prevent more fluid from accumulating.

Questions to Ask your Doctor

As you deal with your cancer and the process of treatment, you need to have honest, open discussions with your cancer care team. You should feel free to ask any question that's on your mind, no matter how trivial it might seem. Among the questions you might want to ask are:

What kind of mesothelioma do I have?

Has my cancer spread beyond the primary site?

What is the stage of my cancer and what does that mean to me?

What treatment options do I have?

What do you recommend and why?

Based on what you've learned about my cancer, what is my prognosis?

What risks or side effects are there to the treatments you suggest?

What are the chances my cancer will recur (come back) with these treatment plans?

What should I do to be ready for treatment?
In addition to these sample questions, be sure to write down some of your own. For instance, you might want more information about recovery times. Or, you may want to ask about second opinions or about clinical trials for which you may qualify.