Saturday, April 26, 2008

Mesothelioma Treatment

Mesothelioma Treatment
By Mandy Buchanan

Mesothelioma has become a concern to many people after the dangers of asbestos have become known. It is a deadly cancer but there are some forms of treatment which are being used and the prognosis may be better than is often mentioned. In this article we consider the different forms of treatment used.

Mesothelioma Surgical Treatment

Surgery is usually done first to diagnose but can also be used to remove the cancer cells. There are also different types of surgical treatment that may be used such as thoracoscopy, video-assisted thoracic surgery, mediastinoscopy and laproscopy.

Palliative Treatment

Palliative treatment is treatment that deals specifically with the symptoms rather than the disease itself. The most common palliative treatment used is Chest tube drainage which helps to relieve the symptom of pleural effusion that is so common among Mesothelioma patients. There are also a number of other palliative treatments.

Curative Treatments

These procedures are done with the intent of completely removing all gross Mesothelioma and include radical surgery and chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Like all other cancers, Mesothelioma may also be treated using chemotherapy. Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma however is not generally considered a curative procedure and may be used just to control the cancer, relieve symptoms or used in conjunction with other forms of treatment.

Mesothelioma may be treated using a number of different procedures, some which aim mainly at alleviating the symptoms while others attempt to cure. These procedures include surgery, chemotherapy and other medical procedures. A combination of methods may also be used to try and get the best results for the patient.

This article was written by Mandy Buchanan. TO learn more about Mesothelioma visit our report on M Buchanan reports on What is Mesothelioma




http://meso-center.blogspot.com

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