What Are the Treatment Options for Mesothelioma?

In the past decade, there have been significant advancements in the treatment options for victims of mesothelioma. Speaking of surgical options first, there are basically two types of surgeries that are available for mesothelioma clients. One is an extrapleural pneumonectomy. That is a procedure basically in layman’s terms, where the surgeon actually removes the entire affected lung, in addition to the pleural space, the lining of the lung, and also removes the diaphragm, perhaps in some cases, the lining of the heart. And so it’s a very radical invasive surgery. The other type of surgery that is available is called a pleurectomy, and that is essentially, basically the same as a pneumonectomy, except the lung is not removed. So this pleura, the tumor and the entire pleura, the lining of the lung is removed. As well as the diaphragm and other affected parts, but the lung is preserved. So that’s a less invasive procedure and safer if you will, and not all patients can, are candidates for a pneumonectomy. So that’s the second option. It would be a pleurectomy. With regard to non-surgical treatments, there have been significant advancements in chemotherapy, targeted radiation, and particularly immunotherapy, which is maybe the future of treatment of cancer, all types of cancer, but that is a significant development and basically immunotherapy is where doctors use drugs to supercharge the immune system of the person. So, the person’s own immune system is actually attacking the cancer as opposed to chemotherapy or radiation.