Conventional Treatments

There are treatments for patients with malignant mesothelioma, although there is no known cure. Three kinds of treatment are used:

• surgery (taking out the cancer)
• radiation therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells)
• chemotherapy (using drugs to fight the cancer)

Surgery

Surgery may be an option for patients with malignant mesothelioma. The doctor may remove part of the lining of the chest or abdomen and some of the tissue around it. Depending on how far the cancer has spread, a lung also may be removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy. Sometimes part of the diaphragm, the muscle below the lungs that helps with breathing, is also removed.

Radiation

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy) or from putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer cells are found (internal radiation therapy).

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in the vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. In mesothelioma, chemotherapy may be put directly into the chest (intrapleural chemotherapy).

Find the treatment that's right for you

Consult with your doctor to find out which treatment option is right for you. You may also consider some experimental treatment options.