Mesothelioma Surgery: A Closer Look

Learning of a mesothelioma diagnosis may result in feelings of confusion, anger and vulnerability. Once a patient understands more about the cancer, treatment options are often explored and surgery may be considered if a patient is a candidate.

In terms of mesothelioma treatment, surgery is divided into three main categories depending on the purpose of the procedure. Prior to diagnosis, diagnostic surgery is completed to determine whether or not mesothelioma is present in the body. Palliative surgery is performed to provide a patient with relief from mesothelioma symptoms while curative surgery involves removing cancerous cells and tissue in hopes of curing the patient (though no known cure for mesothelioma currently exists).

Following a mesothelioma diagnosis, a variety of surgical procedures may be recommended for mesothelioma patients. Thoracentesis is often used to diagnose mesothelioma in patients where pleural mesothelioma is suspected. The procedure is also used as a palliative treatment option and involves the insertion of a long and hollow needle into certain spaces in the lung where fluid in the area is extracted.

Another palliative treatment option that may be available to mesothelioma patients includes pleurodesis which involves the draining of pleural spaces in the lungs before treating the area with a chemical that causes inflammation. This is done to cause the spaces to close up and prevent future fluid buildup.

A pneumonectomy is performed to remove a patient’s infected lung, though this procedure is typically not performed unless the patient is in otherwise good health. Paracentesis is a palliative procedure that patients with peritoneal mesothelioma may elect to undergo to remove fluid buildup in the abdominal cavity using a long, hollow needle.

Though the surgeries mentioned above are the options typically explored by mesothelioma patients who are candidates for surgery, additional procedures and treatments may be recommended to combat the cancer.

Commonly used treatment options include chemotherapy and radiation, which may also be recommended following surgery.  Alternative therapies such as massage, acupuncture and the use of supplements are also explored by many mesothelioma patients.

Additional information about mesothelioma and mesothelioma treatments may be found through the Mesothelioma Center.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 26th, 2009 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.