Chemotherapy Treatment Of Mesothelioma
Chemotherapy has thus far proven to be the only treatment of mesothelioma that has demonstrated an improvement in survival for this disease
. This has been the case in both random and controlled trials. This is according to a study published in 2003 which involved patients who were not candidates for surgery.
Chemotherapy is a form of treating cancer that involves medication. These drugs typically work by killing cells that divide rapidly, which is a characteristic of most cancer cells. Unfortunately, this also implies that these drugs will also kill normal cells that also have this same characteristic, such as the cells in hair, in the bone marrow, and in the digestive tract. As a result, the common side effects of chemotherapy are hair loss, inflammation in the digestive tract (typically leads to vomiting), and the suppression of the immune system due the effects on bone marrow.
Cancer is generally defined as an uncontrolled growth of cells that have malignant and metastatic behavior. In other words, these cells invade other cells, and subsequently spread from organ to organ. Cancer may be caused by genetic defects, environmental causes or a combination of both.
Chemotherapeutic drugs are designed to impair cell division (mitosis), and are targeted toward faster dividing types of cells. As a result, cancers that involve faster cell division tend to be more sensitive to chemotherapy treatment, while cancers with slower growth rates do not respond as well to the treatment.
At present, there is no known cure for mesothelioma. However, the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin in combination with permetrexed has been demonstrated to increase survival time in patients who were not candidates for surgery. In the study mentioned previously, this combination increased survival time by a little more than three months in patients who were treated only with this chemotherapy.
In 2009, the FDA approved the combination of conventional treatments such as surgery with radiation or chemotherapy in the treatment of mesothelioma. This was for patients diagnosed at earlier stages of the disease. A study by Duke University, which indicated a 50 point increase in the rate of remission, was the impetus for this approval.
Generally speaking, the most effective treatment of mesothelioma involves a combination of treatments. In cases where patients are candidates for surgery, such as when the tumor is more localized, the combination of chemotherapy and surgery has been demonstrated to increase life expectancy substantially. In fact, when mesothelioma is diagnosed at a very early stage, life expectancy has been increased by five years or more.
Due to the likelihood of many more cases of mesothelioma arising in the coming years because of the slow development of the disease and continued use of asbestos in some countries, there will be continued research into the treatment of mesothelioma. In fact, there is some promise shown by some non-chemotherapy drugs in the treatment of the disease. The drug temsirolimus, a kinase inhibitor used to treat renal cancer, is one such drug.
With this in mind, any patient diagnosed with mesothelioma should do some research to find out what are the best treatment options for their condition. The devastating effects of the disease are providing researchers with the motivation to develop new treatments, and thus providing hope for new breakthroughs in the foreseeable future.
by: Scott Connolly
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