Mesothelioma Treatment depends on stage. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Supportive treatments can relieve symptoms.
Treatment for mesothelioma can include a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Emerging mesothelioma treatments such as immunotherapy may be available through clinical trials. Palliative treatments can be used to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life for many patients.
How Is Mesothelioma Treated?
The American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2018 published its updated mesothelioma treatment guidelines that doctors follow when treating patients diagnosed with mesothelioma.
ASCO RECOMMENDS THE FOLLOWING MESOTHELIOMA TREATMENT OPTIONS:
Surgery: Patients diagnosed in the early stages benefit most from mesothelioma surgery. It offers them the best chance at living longer lives. These procedures, often performed with chemotherapy, remove all visible tumors from the chest area and improve quality of life.
Radiation: Radiation therapy controls symptoms when surgery is not an option. It eases symptoms such as chest pain and discomfort. Radiation can also reduce the risk of local recurrence when combined with surgery, and it can be used as a palliative procedure.
Chemotherapy: Doctors may recommend chemotherapy to mesothelioma patients deemed ineligible for surgery. Chemotherapy also helps extend survival rates. A 2016 Wayne State University study found patients given a chemo drug combination lived three times longer than patients without it.
Multimodal Therapy: Multimodal therapy, which is also known as multimodality treatment, is the combination of two or more conventional treatments to treat the pleural and peritoneal types of mesothelioma. This combined approach controls cancer growth better than using only one treatment.