mesothelioma development and treatment
Mesothelioma usually spreads slowly, taking the path of least resistance. This is initially within the space between the layers of the lining of your chest/abdomen. In later stages, the tumour can grow to be very large. Mesothelioma does not usually spread around the body like other cancers sometimes do.
What is the treatment?
If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, the next step is to find out what stage the disease is at. This is done using a scan called a CT scan.
For treatment, a team including doctors and nurses who are specialists in various areas of cancer care, will study your individual case to consider what treatment is most appropriate. They will take into account:
The type of the mesothelioma (chest or abdomen)
How developed it is
Your age and general health
Your symptoms
And, lastly but most importantly, what you want to do about your treatment.
There is no cure for mesothelioma at the moment. If it is caught very early it can sometimes be removed by surgery. Unfortunately, this is rare. The usual treatment for mesothelioma is based on 'active symptom control' .
Active Symptom Control (ASC)
Active Symptom Control directs treatment specifically at your symptoms. The symptoms that are likely to need controlling are:
breathlessness
pain
lack of energy
lack of appetite
constipation due to pain killers
anxiety and depression
Treatment with steroids, various levels of painkillers, drugs to improve appetite, laxatives and drugs to improve the breathing may all help.
Managing fluid in your chest
The fluid that can build up in your chest can be removed on a regular basis. But it can become more and more difficult to do this.
Your doctors may try to stop the fluid accumulating altogether. This involves putting talc or another chemical into the space between the two layers of the chest lining once all the fluid has been drained off. This causes the two layers to stick together, so there is nowhere for fluid to collect. (This talc is a special type of the talc which you may know as an ingredient in talcum powder. It has also been sterilised.)
Infomation sourced from the British Lung Foundation.
