Mesothelioma Treatment-A basic explanation

Mesothelioma Treatment-A basic explanation



Mesothelioma is an uncommon type of cancer that affects the lining cover of mainly the lungs and abdomen.



There are two types of surgeries for mesothelioma treatments,

Aggressive Surgery and Palliative Procedures. Before performing any

surgery, it is necessary to check whether the heart and lungs are

functioning properly. Of the two types, aggressive surgery, also known

as Pneumonectomy, is complicated surgery performed on younger patients,

who are good in health and can bear the surgery. Pneumonectomy involves

the removal of extra pleural membrane and a lung. The main purpose of

this surgical treatment is to physically remove as much tumor as

possible.



Palliative procedures of mesothelioma treatment are known as

Pleurectomy. It is done in the early stages of cancer. This process of

treatment involves surgical removal of pleura. However, the procedures

are involved to lessen and control the symptoms rather than to cure the

disease. This surgery reduces the pain caused by the tumor mass and

helps in preventing the recurrence of pleural effusion. Complete

removal of tumor is not possible with this procedure.



Chemotherapy is a form of treatment method that makes combined use of

certain drugs for shrinking the tumor. Though some patients show only

partial success to this method, some combination's of chemotherapy drugs

have proved successful. Scientists have developed some new chemotherapy

drugs for treating the cancer.



Radiotherapy makes use of nuclear radiations to try and selectively

kill the cancerous cells and shrinkdebulk the tumor. This radiation

can however also destroy the surrounding normal tissues of the heart,

lungs and other nearby organs.



Most often a combination therapy is employed in the treatment of the

disease. This involves the use of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and

surgery together. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used to kill any

remaining tumor cells left after the surgery and the combination

therapy helps to relieve symptoms like pain.



Mesothelioma treatments can be very expensive and the victim can file

lawsuits to get compensation and settlements to pay for medical

expenses, loss of income, lost earning capacity, pain and sufferings.

The mesothelioma victim will often need to seek the services of a

competent asbestos attorney to be able to secure their deserved

compensations from the industries/companies responsible for exposing

them to asbestos.