Prognosis of mesothelioma patients is poor, and peritoneal
mesothelioma patients are no exception. Most peritoneal mesothelioma treatment
regimens for patients include palliative methods such as mesothelioma
chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, if the disease is
diagnosed in its earlier stages, such patients as those diagnosed with stage 1
mesothelioma, these individuals may be eligible for surgical
resection of the disease, which could potentially add years to initial
prognoses.
Surgery is possible for patients diagnosed with earlier-stage
disease. Some surgical options include pneumonectomy, extra-pleural
pneumonectomy, and palliative procedures such as thoracentesis or
pleurodesis. Pneumonectomy and extra-pleural pneumonectomy are extensive
procedures that involve there removal of the affect lung and
surrounding body structures. Certain physicians, including Dr. David
Sugarbaker of the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, have become extremely well-versed and
experienced in the surgical treatment of malignant mesothelioma. In many
cases, surgical treatments for mesothelioma will be coupled with
chemotherapy or radiation therapy regimens.
Chemotherapy is the most common treatment for mesothelioma disease.
Currently, there is only a single chemotherapy regimen (Alimta
(pemetrexed) in conjunction with Cisplatin) approved by the Food and
Drug Administration as a prescribed therapy for the treatment of
malignant pleural mesothelioma. There are however, dozens of clinical
trials being conducted for mesothelioma patients experimenting with new
drugs, including gemcitabine, Navelbine, Onconase, and others for the
treatment of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.
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