Mesothelioma

You may have very limited number of mesothelioma treatment options some time ago if you have mesothelioma, but not any longer, as new alternatives to mesothelioma treatment have been developed with the advancement of medical research.

Classical Treatment Options

There are three conventional treatment options or methods for patients with malignant mesothelioma:

* Surgery: That is to get rid of the cancer out of patient's body)
* Chemotherapy: This is to take medications or drugs to treat the cancer)
* Radiation Therapy: This is to use high-dose x-rays or alterative high-energy rays to make cancer cells dead so to treat mesothelioma)

These options are often combined in the treatment of mesothelioma patients.

New Development:

MESOMARK Blood Test:

Early this year, January 2007 to be exact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Mesomark assay to help track responses to treatment in epithelial and bi-phasic patients with malignant mesothelioma.

Unfortunately, like most of the new medications or treat methods, the costs of the MESOMARK blood test are really high. Most likely your medical insurance company, Medicaid or Medicare may not cover that cost. Go check with your insurance company to make sure if the coverage is available under your medical insurance policy.

Intraoperative photodynamic therapy

Intraoperative photodynamic therapy is a new type of treatment. It uses special medications and light to kill cancer cells during surgery. A medication is injected into a vein, which makes cancer cells more sensitive to light. This treatment is studied for early stages of mesothelioma in the chest.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a new approach too. It uses the patient's own immune system to fight the cancer. Immunotherapy treatments are now under study in clinical trials.

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy treatments are designed to cure mesothelioma by correcting the genes that cause a cancerous tumor to grow. It may be able to be controlling tumor size and spread. Like immunotherapy treatments, mesothelioma Gene Therapy is also under clinical trials.

About all those mesothelioma treatment options

Recent studies indicate that the approaches to use a combination of treatments are more effective to mesothelioma patients. For example, surgery followed by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, the so called "multimodality approach".

Let us know if you have any questions about mesothelioma treatment options.