Mesothelioma Chemotherapy
Mesothelioma chemotherapy uses chemical substances to treat the deadly mesothelioma cancer disease. Lots of mesothelioma treatment options available nowadays but none of them is successful in fighting this disease. There are two types of mesothelioma chemotherapy such as traditional mesothelioma and new mesothelioma treatments.
Chemotherapy is one of the familiar mesothelioma treatment options recommended by the concerned doctors. In fact like radiation it is not the complete mesothelioma eradication method. Chemotherapy is given in pill form or injected. In the case of mesothelioma patients, the drugs are given intrapleurally (into the chest cavity) or intraperitoneally (into the abdominal cavity).
In traditional mesothelioma, most chemotherapy drugs work by less effective cell division or initiating programmed cellular death. The number of mesothelioma patients is increasing significantly day by day. Thus the doctors and surgeons have started doing research in the field of chemotherapy for mesothelioma patients. Mesothelioma chemotherapy uses medicines, drugs and chemicals as a way to kill cancer cells. For mesothelioma patients, the results of chemotherapy for mesothelioma have been mixed, yet there is now cause for hope as new drugs are discovered and made available.
Mesothelioma chemotherapy may be used in combination with surgery to slow mesothelioma tumor growth. It is also used alone in more advanced mesothelioma cases when surgery is inappropriate.
Mesothelioma Chemotherapy Treatment:
Mesothelioma chemotherapy treatments are not always used with restorative purposes. There are various types of mesothelioma treatments available now. Some of the most important mesothelioma treatment types are as follows:
Combined modality chemotherapy:
This type of mesothelioma chemotherapy is often used in combination with other treatment types such as radiation therapy or surgery.
Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT):
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy:
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used with the aim to reduce the size of a tumor mass prior to surgical treatment.
Adjuvant chemotherapy:
Adjuvant chemotherapy is used after surgical treatment if there is a risk of cancer recurrence.
Palliative chemotherapy:
This is one such type of mesothelioma chemotherapy that is used to treat symptoms of the disease as opposed to providing a curative solution which is known as palliative technique.
Mesothelioma Chemotherapy – Side Effects
Mesothelioma chemotherapy can affect physically and mentally exhausting for mesothelioma patients. Continuous chemical treatments of the patients can take their toll in a variety of ways, some of them as symtomps are as follows:
* Nausea and vomiting
* Hair loss
* Lowered number of red blood cells (anemia)
* Diarrhea
* Constipation
* Secondary neoplasm
* Weakened immune system
* Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
* Hepatoxicity
* Nephrotoxicity
* Ototoxicity
* Cardiotoxicity
Specific side effects will depend upon the drug that you are using, its dosage, and the length of your treatment. Once you know about the side effect of the mesothelioma chemotherapy which you have been taken earlier then you should consult your doctor both before and after the treatment. The doctors will say you the best way to minimize these side effects.