Mesothelioma Treatment Options

Mesothelioma Treatment Options











Of late, there are several new mesothelioma treatments are being developed. This give rise to new hopes for more mesothelioma treatment options for victims of this disease.



Research is mostly revolving around developing new treatments or improving upon the past traditional treatments. It is very encouraging for mesothelioma patients as new chemotherapy agents and combinations of agents have been showing improved results.



Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one of the new mesothelioma treatment options being looked into. It is based on the theory that single celled organisms die when exposed to certain frequency of light. In order for this to happen in this treatment, certain photosensitive drugs are administered intravenously into the patient. Normally, over a few days, the drug will zoom in and concentrate on the diseased cells and destroy it. There are however, some side effects such as skin sensitivity, nausea and vomiting.



Another treatment option is Immunotherapy, which is sometimes known as biological therapy. In this treatment method, the immune system of the patient's body is used to treat and fight off the disease. When struck by mesothelioma, the patients body's ability to treat itself might be hampered due to the disease.







The Immunotherapy treatment will then try to rejuvenate the patients' immune system and thereby, improving the patients natural immune system which is the most effective way to combat any disease. This therapy will also try to repair the immune systems in areas where they are faulty. A naturally occuring substance called, Biological response modifiers (BRMs) are what is used in immunotherapy. Although BRMs naturally occur in the body research has proven that it can now be prepared in laboratory and is found to be just as effective as the natural BRMs.



Another new mesothelioma treatment option that has been developed is the Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a new treatment used to enhance localized control of mesothelioma. In this therapy, researchers have found a way for radiation doses to be administered to the tumor without causing undue damage to nearby normal, healthy cells.



Treatment at the DNA level is also another important breakthrough that researchers have made. In Gene Therapy, doctors will try to correct or replace the abnormal or damaged genes. The two main types of Gene Therapy most commonly used today are Replacement gene therapy and knockout gene therapy therapy. In replacement gene therapy the mutated or missing gene which causes the mesothelioma is replaced whereas in knockout gene therapy, the gene responsible for creating the tumor is completely eliminated. With more research being done in gene therapy today, much more information regarding genes are being unfolded constantly.As such, gene therapy treatments holds the highest promise of the future in the treatment of mesothelioma.







Other forms of treatments which use some combinations of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, sometimes called multimodality therapy, are also currently being researched.



Last but not least, Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy combined with the use of a pemetrexed drug, brand named Alimta, are some of the new developments in the treatment of mesothelioma.



With research going on in some many spheres from Gene Therapy, Biologicals as well as combinational treatments, the outlook for mesothelioma treatment options looks to be bright and expanding.Ben is an accomplished online publisher with many websites setup dealing with a variety of issues. Check out his latest site on Mesothelioma Treatment Options and also the article on Dealing With Abestos At Home