Mesothelioma Treatment

What Kinds of Treatment are Available for Mesothelioma Patients?

While mesothelioma is an aggresive cancer that typically spreads quickly, new treatments have shown some success.  If you have mesothelioma you should:

• Seek the best and most up-to-date information on the disease.
  
• Seek the best medical care.  See our list of doctors specializing in mesothelioma.
  
• Consider legal action because of this asbestos-related injury.
  
• Use national organizations, community resources and medical support groups, asbestos victims' organizations, religious organizations, and family and friends.

Mesothelioma Treatment Options

The treatment options for mesothelioma depend on many factors, including:  where the cancer is, the stage of the cancer, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope, and the patient's age and desires.  Mesothelioma is more treatable when diagnosed early.  Treatment options include tri-modality therapy, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, clinical trials, gene therapy, pain control and management, and miscellaneous treatments.

Tri-modality Therapy

Tri-modality therapy combines surgery with radiation and chemotherapy.  It is being performed at major medical centers including:

• Brigham and Women's in Boston, MA
  
• Mount Sinai in New York, NY
  
• M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX
  
• UCLA in Los Angeles, CA
  
• UCSF in San Francisco, CA

Surgery

In the past decade, surgery has become an important tool for treating mesothelioma.  Some surgical procedures doctors use to treat mesothelioma are:

• Pneumonectomy is the surgical removal of a lung.  It can be performed in one of two ways:
  
• Traditional pneumonectomy - only the diseased lung is removed.
  
• Extrapleural pneumonectomy - the diseased lung is removed, together with the pleura, the diaphragm, and the pericardium, to remove as much of the tumor as possible.
  
• Pleurectomy is the surgical removal of the pleura.  This is a palliative procedure, which means it is done to make the patient feel better more than to cure the disease.

These surgeries are accompanied by intraoperative radiation and multicycle postoperative chemotherapy (drugs that kill cancer cells).  These are typically not considered experimental procedures and should be covered by insurance and Medicaid.  The law firm of Paul & Hanley, LLP will be happy to work with you and your primary care physician, should you need more detailed information, and to refer you to one of the surgeons performing these procedures.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-dose radiation (X-rays) to shrink the tumor by destroying cells at the tumor site.  Once the size of tumor is reduced, the patient may feel better and be able to breathe more deeply.  Radiation may also keep the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.  Side effects of radiation can include tiredness, skin rashes, and internal mucosa (throat) irritation or hoarseness.  For more information on radiation therapy visit:

Radiation Therapy for Cancer by the National Cancer Institute (NCI)

      Radiation Therapy and You also by the NCI

      www.oncolink.org

      Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy agents are medicines that kill cancer cells or stop them from reprocing by interupting their cell cycle.  They may be used on their own, before or after surgery, or along with radiation.  Chemotherapy is often used instead of surgery when a tumor is inoperable. To get chemotherapy, the patient usually goes to the doctor's office or the hospital, where s/he is either given medicine to take orally, or, more typically, the medicine is administered through an IV tube.  Side effects of chemotherapy are common, and they include nausea, vomiting, weakness, and fatigue.  The efficacy of chemotherapy as a single agent in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma has been limited.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials (also called medical research) are research studies used to determine whether new drugs or treatments such as surgery are safe and effective.  If you take part in a clinical trial, you might be given new medicines or other experimental treatments before they are widely available.  There are many clinical trials of new and combination chemotherapy agents in process around the country.  For more information about clinical trials, please contact us today at 800 933-2244, or see the NCI's information on clinical trials where currently (May 2008) there are 37 different active trials listed.  Twenty-two of the trials are in the United States.  Drugs being used include Bevacizumab, Pemetrexed, AZD2171, Bortezomib, Pazopanib, IPHC, NGR-hTNF, Dasatinib, Glivec, Gemzar, Vandetanib, Valproate, Gene Induction, FR901228, BS-690514, Sunitinib, SU011248, Oral LBH589, SS1(dsFv)-PE38 Immunotoxin, CRS-207, and Azacitidine.  Many of these are being used in phase I trials which are very early trials.

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy for mesothelioma is still being researched and is not yet readily available. Researchers are manipulating genes to make them more susceptible to certain anticancer drugs.  It is possible that this therapy will destroy tumor cells while preserving healthy cells. Gene therapy for mesothelioma is currently being investigated by Dr. Steve Albenda at the University of Pennsylvania.  He may be contacted through www.uphs.upenn.edu.

Other Drug Therapy

• Antiangiogenesis
  Antiangiogenesis is drug therapy that causes tumors to shrink or even disappear by depriving tumor cells of their blood supply and nourishment.  As of May 2008 there were 11 mesothelioma antiangiogenesis trials using drugs like Avasin, and VEGF-Antisense Oligonucleotide, AZD 2171, and others.  For more detailed information see this NCI information series.

Pain Control and Management

Whatever treatment option you choose, you must discuss pain management with your doctor. Your doctor has many pain remedies to choose from which, while they may not completely relieve the pain, they may make you more comfortable and improve your quality of life.  Pain drugs range from asperin to narcotics.  Some hospitals offer behavioral medicine programs for pain management, including training in meditation and biofeedback.  Each time you see your doctor, you should tell him or her how much it hurts and how well the pain remedies are working.  This allows your doctor to adjust the pain remedies to help you as much as possible.

Miscellaneous Treatments

Here is a list of a few other treatments that have been used for mesothelioma:

• Hemotherapy - is therapy through blood, serum, or plasma transfusion.
  
• Centesis - Pleural, peritoneal, or pericardial fluid is tapped and evaluated.  It is used both for diagnosis and to relieve pressure, pain, and fullness in the chest or abdominal areas.
  
• Talc Pleurodesis - Inserting surgical talc in the pleural space, typically through a thoracotomy incision, to stiffen the pleura and prevent the fluid from re-accumulating. Used if pleural, peritoneal, or pericardial fluid continues to accumulate.

Contact Us Today For A Free Confidential Consultation

The law firm of Paul & Hanley, LLP specializes in mesothelioma cases, and has offices located throughout California, including Berkeley, Westlake Village (Los Angeles), San Francisco, and San Diego.  Our  cancer attorneys handle malignant mesothelioma cases in courts throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, and across the United States.  To learn more about mesothelioma, treatment options, or the California malignant mesothelioma cancer attorneys at Paul & Hanley, please contact us today for a free confidential consultation.  For immediate assistance call us toll free at 800-933-2244.