Mesothelioma Treatment

Treatment program for mesothelioma depends on many factors, such as: stage of cancer, where cancer is, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under a microscope, the patient's age and psychological patients.

People who are diagnosed with this disease are often said to only have the ability to survive eight to twelve months. However, specialists in dealing with malignant mesothelioma at leading cancer centers often have better statistics.

For example, the survival rate in five years has approached 40% for patients who selected Dr. David Sugarbaker at Brigham and Women's Center in Boston. To qualify to receive Dr. Sugarbaker's treatment you must meet certain criteria. One is the disease is still in its early stages.

There are three types of treatment are usually done for patients who develop malignant mesothelioma:

* Surgery (take it out)
* Chemotherapy (using medicines to fight cancer)
* Radiation Therapy (using high-dose x-rays or high energy rays to kill cancer cells)

Often two or more from this combined treatment.


Thoracoscopy enables a physician to evaluate the pleural space and to perform biopsy of some tissue under direct vision. At up to 98% of cases, definitive diagnosis can be obtained. Often, chemical pleurodesis aimed at reducing the accumulation of fluid in the intrapleural space, can be achieved during the same procedure. It is also possible to measure the extent of the tumor, and make a determination of surgical resectability. While less invasive than open biopsy, can only be performed in patients where the tumor is not removed pleural space.

thoracic surgery with the help of the video is an alternative to thoracoscopy, although because it is more invasive, concerns of tumor seeding increases. By utilizing small incisions, doctors can view the pleural space with the aid of a camera, and obtain adequate tissue samples for analysis by a pathologist. Level of tumor (eg, pleural involvement, chest wall invasion) may also be determined, and recommendations for the type of significant procedures required can be made at this time.


Mediastinoscopy is sometimes used as an aid in the rate of disease stage when enlarged nodes seen using imaging techniques.

Laproscopy used on mesothelioma patients in cases where imaging techniques suggest the possibility of tumor invasion through the diaphragm. This information can be important in evaluating a patient for potential pleurectomy or extrapleural pneumonectomy.