Overview | Surgery | Radiation | Chemotherapy | Other Procedures | Emerging Therapies | Where to go for Treatment | Articles in Medical Journals

Overview

Treatments for mesothelioma are based on the stage of the disease and the patient’s age and general health.

The most common treatments are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Multimodality therapy, the combination of surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy, is a common therapeutic approach for early stage mesothelioma. Trimodality therapy, in which all three of these modalities are used, is considered the most effective aggressive approach.

Research is ongoing to find a cure and more effective treatments for mesothelioma.

Clinical trials are ongoing to develop and test new and more effective treatments. Clinical trials should be discussed with your doctor before beginning treatment.

Surgery

The mesothelioma tumor is often bulky and spread out, which makes it difficult to remove completely. Most of the time surgery alone is not considered as a treatment option, although in some cases it may be used to relieve symptoms. more...

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. more...

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. more...

Other Procedures

Fluid that may have collected in your chest or abdomen can be drained out of your body. Your doctor will put a needle in your chest or abdomen and gently remove the liquid. If fluid is removed from your chest it is called thoracentesis. The procedure to remove fluid from the abdomen is called paracentesis.

Emerging New Therapies

Many clinical trials are examining the usefulness of new drugs in development or new combinations of traditional drugs. Also emerging are immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and gene therapy. more...

Where can I go for Treatment?

Because mesothelioma is an uncommon disease, and its diagnosis can be challenging for doctors with limited experience treating the disease, it is recommended to go to a treatment center and to a doctor with experience treating mesothelioma.

Articles/Abstracts in Medical Journals

These articles are from medical journals and are intended for health care professionals. Many contain information and statistics that may be disturbing to read for someone who is dealing with mesothelioma.