Jan
1
Mesothelioma Treatment Options
January 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Mesothelioma Treatment Options
By T Mi
Mesothelioma is very similar to other cancers in respect to treatment. Mesothelioma patients have three treatment options available to them: chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery. These treatments are typically performed in conjunction with one another to ensure the most effective treatment. Let’s start off with surgery. Surgery can be performed on mesothelioma patients to either enchance their quality of life or attempt to cure their illness.
The most common procedure performed is known as a plurectomy. During a plurectomy, the patient’s chest lining is removed. A similar procedure known as a extra pleural pneumonectomy involves the removal of inner-chest lining, the pericardium, hemi-diaphragm and the lining of the lung. Surgery alone cannot typically cure mesothelioma. However, when surgery is combined with post-operative treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation, chances of survival are greatly improved. Read more
Dec
28
Mesothelioma Treatment Costs
December 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Mesothelioma Treatment Costs
By Eric Morris
The costs of treating malignant mesothelioma are extremely high; estimates range from $150,000 to over $ 1 million. The most commonly used anti-cancer drugs used to treat malignant mesothelioma are AlimtaÒ and cisplatin. The combined cost of these drugs for one treatment cycle is approximately $4,100; multiple treatment cycles may be required, and a cure is not assured. In fact, even with aggressive treatment, the median survival of a patient after diagnosis with malignant mesothelioma is between one and two years.
Some mesothelioma treatment costs may be covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. However, many people may not have health insurance or be eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. Information on sources of financial assistance can be obtained from the social services units of hospitals, the Cancer Information Network and the American Cancer Society. Read more
Dec
22
Alternative Mesothelioma Treatment
December 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Alternative Mesothelioma Treatment
By Marcus Peterson
People are on the lookout for alternative mesothelioma treatment due to the complex nature and deadliness of mesothelioma. Not only patients, but researchers and doctors are trying to find out new ways to treat mesothelioma. ‘Alternative’ refers to the use of different methods from the traditionally accepted. Most alternative mesothelioma treatments are not scientifically approved but certain treatments have found to give relief to patients and certain others are found to be of no use. Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy (IPT), Immunoaugmentative Therapy (IAT) and Gene Therapy are some of the important alternative mesothelioma treatments in modern medicine.
Alternative treatments attack the mesothelioma cancer quite aggressively, with few or no side effects. It works by training the patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy the tumor tissue. The method relies on cancer vaccines to stimulate the patient’s immune system and destroy tumor cells. Immunoaugmentative Therapy (IAT) works by strengthening and balancing four different proteins found in the blood. Special drugs are administered to kill cancer cells in Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy (IPT). The drug makes cancer more sensitive to light. Several days before the surgery, it is injected into a vein. A special light is used to detect cancer during surgery. IPT is basically used in the early stages of mesothelioma in the chest. Mutilated genes, which cause mesothelioma, are either replaced or removed in gene therapy. This treatment is at its infant stage but is a promising treatment. Read more
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