Diagnosis of any cancer, especially malignant pleural mesothelioma in any family member can cause depression in whole family. As malignant pleural mesothelioma is not curable, it should be managed with holistic approach (use of all types of treatment modalities such as homeopathy, naturopathy, herbal or any alternative form of medicine if required) along with conventional therapy. A holistic approach in management of pleural mesothelioma can at least give some hope to the patient and family members, if it can not alter the course of the disease. Use of alternative medicine deserves at least a try for management of incurable diseases such as pleural mesothelioma.

An increasing number of doctors (oncologists) are using CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) for management of cancers including pleural mesothelioma. Use of holistic approach in management of cancer can be called “integrative oncology”, where not only conventional therapy, but also other alternative therapies used. Commonly used Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) include acupuncture, massage, and reflexology.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy for pleural mesothelioma treatment should be considered if the cancer is in late stage, where surgical intervention is likely to be of any use due to spread (metastasis) of pleural mesothelioma to other parts of the body such as abdomen and other body parts.

Chemotherapy for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma:

This is the most common form of treatment in pleural mesothelioma, as most of the patients with pleural mesothelioma are treated with chemotherapy, even if surgery and/or radiotherapy is used for management of pleural mesothelioma. Chemotherapy must be used in late stages of the disease, when surgery will have little or no effect in treatment of pleural mesothelioma due to spread of the disease in distant parts of the body. There are several chemotherapeutic agents which are useful in treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma, but at present USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) approve only use of Cisplatin along with Alimta for treatment of pleural mesothelioma.

All patients diagnosed to have pleural mesothelioma should receive some form of treatment, which can extend the lifespan and survival with latest treatment modalities that are available, although there is no cure for pleural mesothelioma, as is the case for most of the cancers. At present treatment modalities for pleural mesothelioma include, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and the treatment option depends on many factors such as the stage of pleural mesothelioma, spread to other organs of the body, age of the patient and general health of the patient.

Surgery for pleural mesothelioma:

Surgery (resection of part of lung) should be performed in all cases of pleural mesothelioma, if diagnose at early stage. If at the time of diagnosis, the pleural mesothelioma is in late stage surgical modality may not yield result as the disease most like has already metastatized to other organs of body and surgery will not help much. If surgical resection is performed at an early stage of the disease, it can slow down the spread of the disease.

Mesothelioma is a form of dreaded cancer which occurs in the mesothelail lining of lungs, heart, peritoneum etc. The mesothelial cells produce fluid which lubricate these organs and protect them from damage due to friction.

The only major known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos and no other cause has yet been found or proved. The exposure to asbestos typically occurs at the place of work where exposure occurs for prolonged time. Although the exposure to asbestos generally occurs at the place of work, there are also reports (proven) that mesothelioma can also to occur bystander i.e. working near others using asbestos products as well as household exposures (for example exposure from family members and their work clothes in the home or exposure at home due to use of products made of asbestos). There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos as mesothelioma can occur at any level of exposure. Mesothelioma has been reported to occur even 30 years after last exposure to asbestos.

Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma. Pleural (pleura is the thin lining or coverings of lungs) mesothelioma generally occurs to individuals exposed to high level of asbestos. Exposure to high level of asbestos for 10 or more years is generally required for pleural mesothelioma to develop. Pleural mesothelioma may occur, like other forms of mesothelioma, even decades (sometimes as late as 30 years after last exposure to asbestos) after last exposure to asbestos.

Pleural mesothelioma may start as simple pleural disease such as calcification of pleura or thickening of pleural lining and it is not uncommon to diagnose them as pleural calcification, pleural thickening or pleural plaques. As these pleural diseases are not fatal disease, they may be ignored and later on these pleural diseases may lead to development of pleural mesothelioma. Pleural diseases may not be fatal but they impair normal functioning of lungs and should be addressed appropriately. If a patient with pleural disease gives a history of asbestos exposure even only for a brief period the diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma should be considered.

There are various factors that can affect the prognosis and life expectancy (survival) of mesothelioma patients. Some of the factors have greater affect on the survival of mesothelioma patients than others. The common factors that influence survival and life expectancy of a mesothelioma patiets are:

Type of mesothelioma:

Generally three types of mesothelioma are common and they are pleural, peritoneal (lining of abdomen) and pericardial (covering of heart is known as pericardium) mesothelioma. There can also be other uncommon types of mesothelioma like testicular mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma is the commonest type which affects the pleura or the lining or the coverings of lungs. Generally patients with pleural mesothelioma lives longer, because it is the commonest form of mesothelioma and most of the research and treatment studies are done on pleural mesothelioma in compare to other less common types.

In the United States more than 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed every year and most of the cases are due to exposure to asbestos due to presence of asbestos in the work place of some indirect exposure to asbestos. It is only natural for the patient to know about the possible prognosis of the disease he/she has developed. The disease may be mild simple viral fever or a cancer like mesothelioma. Even it becomes a duty of the doctor diagnosing the mesothelioma or treating the disease to discuss the possible prognosis of mesothelioma or any other disease and also the probable influence mesothelioma will have on the normal functioning of the patient of mesothelioma.

The factors which may influence the prognosis of mesothelioma are many. The most important factor that influence the prognosis of mesothelioma is detection time, the earlier it is diagnosed the better is the prognosis; unfortunately most of the mesotheliomas are diagnosed when they are in late stage.

Mesothelioma is a relatively rare cancer, but the outcome of the cancer is not favorable. The treatment options (generally surgical, radiotherapy and chemotherapy options are available for treatment of mesothelioma) that are available at present are not satisfactory.

At NCI (National Cancer Institute) there are certain modalities of treatment procedures are being studied. Several clinical trials (research studies involving people with mesothelioma and normal people without mesothelioma) are being done to find out the best available treatment option for mesothelioma. The clinical trials are for finding out the best ways to use among presently available treatment options and also to try to find out new treatment modalities.

Treatment of mesothelioma depends on many factors. These factors are mainly of patient related, like the stage of mesothelioma, the location of the mesothelioma cancer, general health status of the patient and also the age of the patient. In general like any other cancer mesothelioma has three options of treatment, which may be used alone or in combination one two or more options together. The standard treatment options of mesothelioma are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Diagnosis of mesothelioma may pose a problem due to the similarity of the symptoms and signs with many other medical conditions, especially those of respiratory diseases. But sometimes the diagnosis can be predicted based on careful assessment of clinical and radiological findings (if accurate diagnosis is not possible, a good guess can be made).