Treatment

As there is no cure for mesothelioma, all treatments are geared to prolonging the patient's life span and or making the patient as comfortable as possible by alleviating the painful symptoms.

• Surgery - some tumors may be removed. In the early stages of this disease, surgery can provide improvement in the symptoms and slow the disease's progression. In cases where the surgery has gone beyond the chest, this treatment option is less effective. It may help advanced cases breathe easier and feel more comfortable.
• Chemotherapy - used to stop the cancer cells from growing and dividing. This treatment uses very toxic drug (s) to kill the tumor cells but will also kill off many healthy cells. The newer drugs have shown fewer side effects and if some drugs are combined they can have the ability to reduce the toxic side effects.
• Radiation - this treatment sends high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells in a localized area. It's also used to shrink the size of the tumors prior to surgery and to reduce the level of discomfort. Even though radiation can more accurately target the affected area, some damage to healthy cells does occur.

As with most cancers, early detection leads to more treatment options. If the mesothelioma is not caught until it's already in an advanced state, then the prognosis is not very good. The survival rate from the time of diagnosis is usually less than one year.

It's natural when faced with such a difficult prognosis to look at alternative therapies not only as a potential improvement in your condition but also to improve your quality of life.