Mesothelioma Treatment - Malignant Mesothelioma, Asbestos
Mesothelioma Treatment Options: Traditional Vs. New
Traditional approaches to treating malignant mesothelioma are similar to the methods used to treat other types of cancer. Traditional mesothelioma treatment options include:
- Surgery: the physical removal of diseased tissue.
- Chemotherapy: the use of anticancer drugs to treat cancer cells.
- Radiation therapy: the use of high-powered gamma / x-rays to kill cancer cells.
One of the more radical of the traditional mesothelioma treatment options is a type of surgery called an extrapleural pneumonectomy. Standard pneumonectomies treat advanced lung cancers by removing the diseased lung. An extrapleural pneumonectomy is used to treat patients suffering from pleural mesothelioma and involves the removal of pleural tissue lining the lung cavity and the lung closest to this diseased tissue. Although extrapleural pneumonectomies are not able to eradicate pleural mesothelioma cancer cells, they have proven successful in extending sufferers’ lives by as much as five years.
Traditional mesothelioma treatment options are seldom used alone; rather, a combination of two or more traditional treatment modalities are used to attack cancer cells on multiple fronts. For example, chemotherapy is often administered for several months to slow the spread (metastasis) of cancer cells prior to surgery. Post-surgical radiation therapy could then be employed with the hope of killing any lingering mesothelioma cancer cells.
Unfortunately, traditional mesothelioma treatment modalities have proven ineffective in combating the fatal disease. Malignant mesothelioma has a particularly long “latency” period, allowing the cancer to develop into an advanced and virtually untreatable stage. The average post-diagnosis survival time of a malignant mesothelioma sufferer is between one and two years.
The failure of traditional methods of mesothelioma treatment has opened the door to a variety of new treatment models.
New Mesothelioma Treatment Options
Years of dedicated research, used in conjunction with scientific advancements, have paved the way for a slew of new approaches to the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. Most of the research revolves around the development and testing of new chemotherapy drugs; however, additional new mesothelioma treatment options include:
- Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
- Photodynamic therapy (PDT)
- Immunotherapy
- Gene therapy
New Chemotherapy Drugs
Anti-angiogenesis drugs represent one of the more exciting chemotherapy breakthroughs of recent years. Angiogenesis is the physiological process of new blood vessel formation from pre-existing vessels. Tumors require blood vessel growth into them so as to receive the nutrients and oxygen necessary for metastasis. Anti-angiogenesis drugs inhibit vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF), preventing the formation of new blood cells and halting tumor metastasis.
Some of the newer chemotherapy drugs currently garnering a great deal of attention include:
- Alimta: the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the specific treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
- Veglin: an anti-angiogenesis drug, Veglin is in phase II of its clinical trial process at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
- Onconase: a ribonuclease protein, Onconase inhibits cellular growth and initiates programmed cellular death (apoptosis).
Malignant Mesothelioma Information
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer affecting the mesothelial lining of three large body cavities: the pleura (lung cavity), the peritoneum (abdominal cavity) and the pericardium (heart sac).
Malignant mesothelioma is believed responsible for an estimated 200,000 deaths worldwide, with 2,000 to 3,000 new cases being reported each year in the United States alone. The only known cause of malignant mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos, a naturally occurring carcinogenic fibrous mineral group.