Does Chemotherapy really work for Mesothelioma?
Chemotherapy is just one of a group of treatments managed together to help treat the deadly diagnosis of Mesothelioma Cancer. You may be concerned with what chemotherapy entails, and want to know the type of side effects to expect. Below you will find the answers to these questions and more. As with any cancer, the sooner the symptoms are noticed and diagnosed, the more likely a positive outcome may occur. Persons who are diagnosed in the later stages of Mesothelioma are unlikely to be cured, though the comfort and pain level of the time they have can be relieved.
Some of the approved drugs used for Mesothelioma include Cisplatin, Onconase, Bevacizumab (Avastin) Pemetrexed (Alimta) and others. The goal of these drugs is to destroy cancer cells. They can be used to shrink a tumor, prior to surgery, or to help destroy any remaining cancer cells after a surgery. They can also use these drugs as a treatment if the patient does not have the option of surgery available to them.
In most cases, two or more of the chemotherapy drugs are put together. Anticancer drugs attack abnormal cancer cells in the body to keep them from multiplying out of control. Since these drugs are administered to the whole body and not just the cancer-infected area, they can cause healthy cells to be effected. When this happens, side effects from these drugs can add more complications for the Mesothelioma cancer patient. Areas that are usually affected include the hair follicles, (thus causing hair loss) vital organs such as the bladder, kidney, lungs and nervous system. The blood cells that form bone marrow and cells in the digestive tract are invaded by the chemotherapy. This can cause nausea, vomiting and dizziness.
Newer drugs are used in clinical trials, drugs such as anti-angiogenesis agents. These include bevacizumab and endostatin. Ranpirnase (onconas) is also being experimented with.
Your doctor should discuss and explain all the side effects associated with the chemotherapy treatment so you know what to expect. Once your chemotherapy is completed, the side effects should diminish or disappear. The amount of time it will take for the side effects to stop will be different with each patient depending on a number of factors, which include your age, overall health and stage of when your Mesothelioma was diagnosed.
When treating Mesothelioma, chemotherapy may be put directly into the chest cavity through injection to the veins surrounding the affected areas.
A new kind of treatment is now being studied. It is intraoperative photodynamic therapy. It involves using special drugs that are sensitive to a special light. These drugs are administered a week or so before surgery, and then a special light is used during surgery to shine on the pleura. This helps find more of the cancerous cells during surgery. This is one of the new treatments currently studied to help cure early stages of Mesothelioma can
Radiation therapy can be used in combination with chemotherapy. Radiation uses high-energy x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons to kill cancer cells and shrink the tumors. Using just a single therapy does not usually help the Mesothelioma cancer patient, rather a multimodality approach is more likely to used. This includes surgery followed by chemotherapy and then radiation.