Mesothelioma is a cancerous disease of mesothelial tissues which covers many internal organs like lungs, abdomen, heart etc. (also known as mesothelium). It is also called malignant mesothelioma or cancerous mesothelioma.
In most cases, mesothelioma is caused by inhaling asbestos which is highly poisonous. These tiny particles are not visible to human eyes and when they are inhaled, they bind with the linings of lungs and destroy normal cells causing mesothelioma. Mostly, the people over 40 years of age fall victims to this cancerous disease. It causes serious genetic problems and infections.
Best treatments for mesothelioma:
The study of cancer-causing tumors and their treatments is called oncology. Many kinds of treatments are offered by oncologists for mesothelioma. Some of the best treatments for mesothelioma are listed below:
Surgical treatment:
Mesothelioma, when diagnosed at its early stage is curable with 100% success. One of the best treatments for mesothelioma is surgical treatment which includes pleurectomy, extra pleural pneumonectomy (EPP), pericardiectomy etc. Whatever type of surgery may be used, the main objective remains the same i.e., removing cancerous cells or tumors from lining of internal organs. Researches say that surgery when combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy proves to be more efficient and life-saving.
Chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy is the best method for the treatment of mesothelioma as in this method the survival rate is high. In this method, high energy chemical rays are used which destroy malignant tumors without causing any harmful effect on the normal cells. According to research, it is regarded as the best method for treating mesothelioma. If the disease has been diagnosed at its early stage then doctors usually recommend chemotherapy.
Radiotherapy:
In radiotherapy, radio waves are used instead of chemical rays which destroy tumors. This treatment is used only for those patients in which the tumor is localized and those who can tolerate radiation exposure. The tumors in mesothelioma are resistant to radiations so radiotherapy alone cannot be effective but when used along with surgery proves very effective for treating mesothelioma and gives 99% successful results.
Heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy:
This type of treatment is used along with surgical method. In this method, doctors remove much of the cancerous cells through surgery followed by heated chemotherapy which kills rest of the tumors thus treating mesothelioma. Chemotherapy at a high temperature kills all the cancerous cells without killing the normal body cells.
Anti-angiogenic therapy:
In this type of treatment, anti-angiogenic drugs are used which prevents the cancerous cells to spread to the whole body and harming other cells (which is called metastasis) thus the cells remain localized and are then killed using chemotherapy or radiotherapy. This is also one of the best methods for curing mesothelioma.
Multimodal therapy:
Multimodal therapy also known as “multimodality therapy” includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy in a combined manner. It is being conducted on clinical trials but most of the researchers think this method as one of the best ways for the treatment of mesothelioma because the survival ratio is higher in this therapy.
