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Multiple Treatment Types in Combination are Most Effective Against Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma lawyers are always urging those who have been exposed to asbestos to monitor their health carefully and get regular checkups to test for mesothelioma. Based on the results of a recent study, the type of treatment you receive after being diagnosed with mesothelioma may be almost as important to survival time as detecting it early.

Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs, heart and abdominal organs. It is caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos and there is no known cure. Although it can take 20 years or longer to surface after exposure, it spreads very quickly after it does.

Treatment options for mesothelioma are limited, therefore it is important to try to detect it early. Mesothelioma patients are usually treated with either chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or a combination of two or all of these.

Treatment with only one method is known as single modality treatment, while a combination of two is bimodality and all three together is trimodality treatment. The recent study by a top cancer researcher examined the effectiveness of the three.

The study followed 110 patients who suffered from malignant pleural mesothelioma. For the study, patients in the latest stages of mesothelioma received only single modality radiation or bimodal radiation and chemotherapy, while those in the earliest stages received surgery as well.

Not surprisingly, those patients in the study who received the most intensive treatment had the longest survival rate on average. For those receiving only radiation, the survival period averaged 8 months. For those undergoing two types of treatment survival averaged eleven months and those who had all three types of treatment experienced 16 months of survival on average.

While these survival rates are not optimistic, the study did point out that some patients who underwent the aggressive trimodal treatment survived for over 5 years. This suggests early stage mesothelioma patients should at least consider an aggressive course of treatment.

The results of the study contrast the typical methods of treatment to date, which usually only consist of radiation.

While each patient will certainly consider different factors such as pain, comfort level and quality of life when deciding how aggressive of a treatment plan to pursue, every patient should definitely discuss all their options with their doctor.