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Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that develops
through exposure to asbestos. Treatment for mesothelioma depends on
various factors such as where the cancer is located, the actual stage
of the disease, the patient's age, and the patient's general health.
The most common and standard treatment options used are surgery,
radiation therapy and chemotherapy. In a few cases all these treatment
options are combined. There is no cure for mesothelioma, unless the
affected part can be removed by an operation.
Surgery is a common treatment type for mesothelioma.
In surgery, the entire lining of the chest or the abdomen is removed,
along with a few of the surrounding tissues. Pneumonectomy is a kind
of operation which involves the removal of the lung in the disease of
pleural mesothelioma. In few cases, a part of the diaphragm - the
muscle below the lungs which helps in breathing - is also removed.
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy uses high-energy
rays to kill these malignant cancerous cells; it shrinks the tumors
that are developed. The radiotherapy is used to affect the cancerous
cells only in the treated area. Mesothelioma treatment is done in two
different radiations such as external radiation and internal
radiation. External radiation uses a machine to radiate into the
cancer cells. The process where thin plastic tubes are generally used
to radiate into the area where the cancer cells are found is referred
as internal radiotherapy.
Chemotherapy is a kind of treatment which involves
the use of anticancer drugs to kill the cancerous cells in the entire
body. These drugs, which are used as the treatment for mesothelioma,
are injected into the vein. Use of a needle or a thin tube used to
drain the fluid which has developed in the region of chest or abdomen
is used by the doctors for relieving the symptoms and control pain.
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