Peritoneal mesothelioma is an extremely rare form of mesothelioma that affects the abdominal lining, or peritoneum. Caused by asbestos exposure, peritoneal mesothelioma can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms are not entirely unique to the disease, so a diagnosis has to be more than just what symptoms are observed. Through[…]
Surgery
Pleural Catheter vs. Pleurodesis
Symptoms for pleural mesothelioma are typically centered on lung function breathing, with shortness of breath (dyspnea), pleural effusion (fluid build-up), and pain in the chest being the primary indicators. There is no cure for malignant pleural mesothelioma and while scientists and researchers are continually developing new treatments and therapies, in[…]
Palliative Care for Mesothelioma Patients
What is Palliative Care? For serious illnesses, some patients may receive palliative care, or palliative treatment. Palliative care treats the symptoms of the disease, not the disease itself, in an attempt to provide relief and make the patient as comfortable as possible during their illness. Palliative treatment can be provided[…]
Pleurectomy and Decortication Improve Survival, but May Impact Quality Of Life
Pleurectomy and Decortication (P/D) is a two-part surgical procedure that removes the pleural lining around the lungs (pleurectomy) and tumors along the surface area of the lung (decortication). To qualify for this surgery, mesothelioma patients must be in overall good health, and in the early stages of the disease. Since[…]
Trimodality Therapy Increases Survival; Immunotherapy Treatment Approved by FDA
Since mesothelioma is often difficult to treat, scientists and researchers look to combination treatments and therapies to improve chances of patients’ survival. There is no “one” treatment that is used across the board in treating mesothelioma, because patients react differently, whether it is to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, or surgery.[…]
Mesothelioma Treatments Used Alongside Surgery – A Clinical Trial
Rare and aggressive in nature, mesothelioma is often a fatal cancer mainly due to its lack of response to most treatments. Surgical options have a higher chance of success for those in the early stages of the disease, but since there is a long latency period between asbestos exposure and[…]
Improvements in Radiation Therapies Give More Treatment Options
When it comes to different treatments for mesothelioma patients, there is no shortage of diversity, as options include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, immune-based therapies, gene-based therapies, and more. Chemotherapy treatments cisplatin and pemetrexed are first line treatments, especially among those who do not quality for surgery. Radiation treatment is available, but[…]
Surgical Techniques for Mesothelioma
While surgical techniques are not the most common effort when it comes to treating mesothelioma, the pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) is a technique that has been the most successful over the years. A recent study took a look at the different surgical techniques that can be used with P/D and noted the[…]
Nutritional Status and Tumor Thickness Helps Determine Mesothelioma Prognosis
The overall nutritional health of a patient suffering from mesothelioma can have major impact on how the patient will respond to treatment, which affects patient survival. To determine a patient’s nutritional factors on a more exact basis, researchers and scientists from Japan used a scoring system called Controlling Nutritional Status[…]
Lung-Sparing Surgery Dramatically Improves Prognosis for Mesothelioma Patients
Those suffering from mesothelioma know that the prognosis is grim. The average life expectancy for someone who is recently diagnosed is only eight months. Chemotherapy is the standard treatment for mesothelioma, but in most cases, the cancer is too far advanced for chemotherapy to be effective. Surgery for mesothelioma is[…]
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