Mesothelioma Treatment

Posts Tagged ‘treatment’

Addiction to drugs is a serious health problem but do not always receive treatment, with consequent implications for the health of addicts, suffering in their family environment and social risks in educational and youth, the associated violence, or the public health costs related diseases by failing to act properly against drug addiction.

In many cases the absence of benzodiazepine drug treatment due to misconceptions about what addiction is. Yet for many people, the addiction is a matter of personal decision, ie it would be because the addict wants to consume a lot of drugs, or is it a matter of lack of character, and so the addict stops using drugs because he has no willpower . Behind these conceptions is the belief that leaving chemical addiction is entirely in the hands (at will) of the addicted person.

General approach to the treatment of mesothelioma

The mesothelioma is an orphan disease, which means it is very rare. For years, only about 3,000 cases diagnosed in the United States. If you are diagnosed with any type of mesothelioma, it is important to find specialists who have the experience to deal with this unusual disease. The
major cancer hospitals are usually the best place to find doctors and other experts who could determine how long they have the disease (the stage ).
Then they use that information to get an idea of ??the options for treatment.

Care palliative or supportive

Some treatments for mesothelioma are intended to calm the pain and try to prolong the life of the patient with the hope that someday cure disease. Another of these treatments known as palliative, merely aim to ease symptoms, and not try to stop the cancer. The surgery , the radiotherapy and chemotherapy
can be used in both directions (as well as treatment and palliative care).

You can choose to support or palliative care if the disease is well advanced and his physical condition is too frail to withstand surgery or chemotherapy, or if you decide you do not want any aggressive treatment. Mesothelioma patients who choose this type of care, generally live between four and nine months after being diagnosed with the disease.

Sometimes, palliative care appear to be the only option, however, if you want to beat cancer and have been told that their choices are limited, it is important to seek a second opinion from another medical team experienced mesothelioma. Although this type of cancer is a rare disease, new treatments are being developed. Make sure you know all the options.

Traditional cancer treatments

The methods used to treat this disease, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are known as modalities. Therapy that combines more than one form of treatment is called multimodality treatment. It is believed that multimodality treatment is the best chance is to prolong the life of the patient. At the same time, is the most aggressive and complex.

Already some time ago that traditional cancer treatment that combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, has more than doubled the survival rate of patients with mesothelioma at an average of 18 months. But let’s face 18 months of life, even with aggressive treatment, is a frightening figure.

Thanks to the great campaign of legislative persuasion by the mesothelioma lawyers and others who fight for the rights of mesothelioma victims in recent years, more money was allocated for research. New drugs for chemotherapy and other treatments are providing more hope to patients. Many patients with mesothelioma live today, for four or five years. It is expected that the horizon appear higher survival rates.

Before considering any treatment for malignant mesothelioma, to assess your overall health. The tests are done to ensure that the cancer has not spread to distant sites and to assess how well your lungs and heart. Lung tests detect signs of lung injury by snuff or other diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These tests determine the level of risk they would do surgery, especially if it is necessary to remove a lung.

The surgery of malignant mesothelioma could aim to control long-term cancer (aggressive surgery) or relief of symptoms (palliative treatment).

* Aggressive surgery: a procedure called extrapleural pneumonectomy involves removal of the pleura, lung, diaphragm and pericardium. The goal of this surgery, very complicated and aggressive is to remove as much tumor as possible. Not all centers will perform this procedure because it is very complex and has a high risk of death within 30 days after surgery. This procedure is usually performed on younger patients with good general health with stage I disease Patients are evaluated carefully to determine their willingness to tolerate surgery.

* Palliative treatments: When malignant mesothelioma is advanced, one can resort to palliative treatment to relieve or control symptoms such as shortness of breath caused by fluid or tumor pressing on the lung or other organs. These treatments do not cure the disease, and are detailed below:

- You can use a treatment called thoracentesis to treat fluid accumulation (pleural fluid) in pleural mesothelioma. A needle is inserted into the chest to drain the fluid, relieving breathlessness and pain. Talc may be injected into the pleural space to try to stop the accumulation of fluid in that region. This treatment is called pleurodesis with talc powder. There are other similar treatments to relieve fluid buildup (ascites) in peritoneal mesothelioma (paracentesis).

- treatment called pleurectomy and decortication is the surgical removal of the pleura. This treatment may be performed to reduce pain caused by the tumor or to prevent fluid buildup. In case of peritoneal mesothelioma usually the goal of surgery is to relieve symptoms.