The treatment program for mesothelioma depends on many factors, including: the stage of the cancer, where the cancer is, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope and the patient’s age and desires.
TIME MATTERS
People diagnosed with this disease are often told the expected survival rate is only eight to twelve months. However, specialists in treating malignant mesothelioma at the leading cancer centers often have better statistics.
For instance, the five-year survival rate has approached 40% for selected patients of Dr. David Sugarbaker at Brigham and Women’s Center in Boston. To qualify for Dr. Sugarbaker’s treatment you must meet certain criteria. One of them is being in the early stages of the disease, so time is of the essence.
TRADITIONAL CARE
There are three traditional kinds of treatment for patients with malignant mesothelioma:
•Surgery (taking out the cancer)
•Chemotherapy (using drugs to fight the cancer)
•Radiation Therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells)
Often two or more of these are combined in the course of treatment.
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