Saturday, September 5, 2009

Mesothelioma Treatment for Advanced Malignant Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma treatment and treatment options for advanced malignant
mesothelioma are not limited to surgery and chemotherapy. Increased
awareness of mesothelioma and other asbestos-caused diseases has led
to an increase on medical research to cure and control asbestos-caused
cancers and related asbestos heart and respiratory diseases. Although
chemotherapy and surgery are the most common forms of treatment,
participating in clinical trials can provide you with alternative
mesothelioma treatment options.

Perhaps the most common clinical trials and mesothelioma treatment
options for advanced malignant mesothelioma involve chemotherapy and
drug combinations. Drugs produce a medical benefit by themselves, and
they can produce a different benefit when combined with other drugs –
a chemical reaction that produces a third result. Advanced malignant
mesothelioma clinical studies with Cisplatin, now often used with
chemotherapy, proved Cisplatin to be effective. Mesothelioma clinical
trials with Gemcitabine proved Gemcitabine to be ineffective. However,
mesothelioma clinical trials using Cisplatin and Gemcitabine together
are proving to be even more promising. Finding the right drug
combinations to slow tumor growth and contribute to improved pain
management is one of the fastest paths to wide-spread availability of
new mesothelioma treatment options.

Anti-angiogenic therapy is a biological therapy based on interfering
with the blood vessels that the cancer needs to survive. Advanced
malignant mesothelioma patients have a higher vascular endothelial
growth factor than patients with other cancers. Anti-angiogenic
therapies focus on natural body substances that affect the
mesothelioma cancer's growth, including the use of drugs made of these
substances to inhibit cancer growth factors.

Immunotherapy is also classified as a biological therapy.
Immunotherapy, as the name suggests, concentrates on building immunity
to the cancer cells. Immunotherapy can involve vaccines, and in cases
of mesothelioma, these are likely to be injected in the pleural
region. IL-2 is made naturally by the body, and clinical trials have
demonstrated its success at treating mesotheliomas in the early
stages, mesothelioma stages one and two, but not effective in treating
advanced malignant mesothelioma.

Photodynamic therapy has gained increase attention in many medical
fields for various treatment options, including mesothelioma
treatment. Photodynamic therapy uses light and heat to kill cancer
cells. Unfortunately, clinical trials have not been successful with
advanced mesothelioma patients, nor patients in the mesothelioma
patients in stages one and two. It has been successful in treating
other cancers.

Gene therapy, also referred to as molecular therapy, is an exciting
and relatively new field of research being applied to mesothelioma
treatment. Oncogenes contribute to the fast spreading of the cancer
cells and tumor suppressor genes stop cells from spreading. The
medical premise is to replace the genes in cancer cells with healthy
genes. Gene therapy is also a biological therapy and explores using
the body's natural substances to treat mesothelioma stages.

Mesothelioma treatment for advanced malignant mesothelioma is slowly
finding new mesothelioma treatment options. It takes years to evaluate
the clinical significance of a clinical trial and medical research to
prove that a mesothelioma treatment option is a promising and viable
alternative. Thorough medical research on mesothelioma treatment
contributes to safe medical treatment options being widely-available
to the public. Mesothelioma in any of its stages is dangerous, but
with researchers working together, mesothelioma treatment options will
be safer and mesothelioma research will someday find a cure.

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