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There are several teatment options: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy. Surgery is commonly used in the treatment of mesothelioma. Surgeons may remove the lining of the chest and some of the tissues around it. For pleural mesothelioma, a lung may be removed or the muscle below the lungs that help with breathing the diaphragm may be removed. Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This type of therapy only affects the cancer cells in the treated area. The radiation can come from external sources (for example, machines that are targeted to deliver high-energy rays to the cancer cells inside your body) or internal (from implanting isotopes in your body to kill the cancer cells). Chemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells throughout the body. The drugs used to treat mesothelioma are sometimes given by injection in a vein. In some mesothelioma cases, the chemotherapy may be put directly into the chest. Immunotherapy is a new approach that uses your body's immune system to fight the mesothelioma in your body. This approach is currently under clinical trial for mesothelioma patients. |