Effective Peritoneal Mesothelioma Treatment Options

Most great cases of mesothelioma are either in pleural or peritoneal form. Mesothelioma is not such a forgiving disease. Many people that contract the disease have been known to live for only a a year and not more.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is rare and quite different from the other type of mesothelioma, its said to affect the abdominal lining(peritoneum). Peritoneal mesothelioma take up only 30% of all the mesothelioma cases reported.

The disease takes such a long time to develop and with symptoms that are quite similar to many other less serious types of ailments. When a person is diagnosed their chances of surviving the disease are very small. The disease is said to be so lethal to the point that survival chances are limited to just a few months. But fortunately peritoneal mesothelioma is treatable and the treatment largely depends on the cancer stage, Age and overall health of the patient. But of course if detected in its early stages treatment can increase your survival chances ten fold.

Treatment options for peritoneal mesothelioma include>

Surgery> surgery is the most common form of treatment option for malignant types of mesothelioma. The Doctor removes part of the lining for the abdomen and some of the tissue around it. Surgery depends largely on the extent the cancer has spread in the body.

Below are 2 of the surgical procedures administered to peritoneal mesothelioma patients.

Pleurectomy: A surgery is conducted to remove the abdomen lining and and some of the tissue surrounding it. This procedure is performed for a variety of disorders including pleural effusion, malignant pleural mesothelioma, and trauma.

Pleurectomy/decortication: A surgery is conducted to remove a a part of the abdomen lining(peritoneal) and as much of the tumor mass as possible. This procedure can be performed to reduce pain caused by the tumor mass. This form of surgery can be generally aimed at relieving symptoms, such as recurrent ascites or bowel obstruction.

Chemotherapy: This type of treatment is administered to help kill the cancerous cells. Chemotherapy can be taken in the form of pills or through syringes. Chemotherapy is also known as systematic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body.

Radiotherapy: This form of treatment is administered in the form of High-energy x-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, and other sources of radiation are used to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.

Studies have shown that using only a single one of the treatments listed above have listed to fail to improve the conditions of the patients. Instead combining all of the above options has been known to improve the patents chances of surviving.