Mesothelioma Treatment Option Found EffectiveLugano, Switzerland - A treatment option for mesothelioma cancer patients has recently been evaluated at a European medical conference. A surgical procedure known as a pleurectomy/decortication, which involves the removal of the outermost lining of the lungs, is intended for patients suffering from malignant mesothelioma.
According to a study presented at the 2009 European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology, the surgery was considered successful when it preceded chemotherapy treatment and was used as part of a three-fold treatment approach along with radiation therapy.
The study was devised by a group of mesothelioma treatment experts to validate the efficiency of the pleurectomy/decortication procedure another type of surgery: pneumonectomy, the medical term for the removal of a lung.
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. Due to a long latency period, patients often develop mesothelioma symptoms several decades after the initial exposure.
Mesothelioma patients are often advised by doctors to undertake multiple forms of treatment at once in order to have the highest chance of survival. One popular treatment combination involves Alimta®, a type of chemotherapy, following resectable surgery.
For this study, thirty-five patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma were observed over a five-year period from November 2002 through October 2007. Patients underwent the pleurectomy/decortications procedure prior to four chemotherapy sessions and radiation to the chest wall and thorax.
Approximately 94 percent of the patients finished the treatment regimen. The one year survival rate was 75 percent, the two year survival rate was 61 percent, and the three year survival rate reported at 43 percent.
The researchers believe that further study is needed, but pleurectomy/decortication did demonstrate positive survival results. Here in the United States, leading oncologists, such as Dr. Carrie Redlich of Yale University, are working to find a cure for this devastating disease.
