Mesothelioma Chemotherapy

Mesothelioma chemotherapy is a specific therapy which treats cancer with drugs that destroy cancer cells in the body. The drugs may be used to completely or partly shrink a tumor before surgery, to completely or partly help destroy cancer cells that may still remain after mesothelioma surgery, to make immunotherapy or radiation therapy work more effectively, or to help destroy cancer that recurs again in any part of the body or has spread from the present site of the original tumor to other parts of the body. When the mesothelioma patients’ health is poor and unfit for any kind of surgery then chemotherapy may be used as a stand-alone treatment in that cases.

Mesothelioma chemo drugs used

Chemotherapy drugs may be administered in the mesothelioma treatment as single agents according to the patient’s condition, but often, two or more drugs are administered simultaneously. This is also known as "combination therapy" in the medical field. Sometimes the main investigational drug, ALIMTA is combined with "standard" drugs such as cisplatin or gemcitabine is administered in the mesothelioma patient. When in a patient cancer occurs, normally the abnormal cells in the body multiply. Anticancer drugs plays a pivotal role in destroying cancer cells by preventing them to greater extend from multiplying but in rear cases, healthy cells may also be harmed, and it is the damage caused to the healthy cells that may ultimately lead to many side effects.

Mesothelioma chemo treatment

The world wide usage of asbestos and the increasing number of malignant mesothelioma is a great cause of concern in this contemporary world. The mesothelioma patient’s health condition is well analyzed by the doctor and chemotherapy treatments are administered in order to shrink the tumors.

  • Pemetrexed is a chemotherapy drug which was approved to specifically treat pleural mesothelioma patient. It has successfully prolonged patients’ survival and improved the quality of their lives to a comfortable zone.
  • Onconase is an enzyme found originally in frogs which speeds up the enzyme that specializes in the rapid break down of RNA which in turn can successfully destroy a cell or stop it from multiplying.

The side effects of chemotherapy are studied by a team of doctors while giving chemotherapy to the mesothelioma patient. There are specific cases where this treatment causes a lot of inconvenience to the patient in a short period or long period. Therefore the patient health level should be monitored periodically in the administration of chemotherapy.

Please contact an asbestos professional for more information!