Posts Tagged cancer cells
Mesothelioma – The Next Level of Treatment
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 23rd, 2009
Mesothelioma is a rare, but very difficult form of cancer to treat. A diagnosis can often lead to a fatality within a year or two. Current forms of treatment meet with intermittent success, which is why many Mesothelioma patients consider more radical steps.
Mesothelioma is a cancer most associated with exposure to asbestos particles in the air. The particles are breathed into the lungs and become trapped in the area where the air is converted into oxygen in the blood. Over a long period of time, the lining of the lungs, the mesothelium, can be infested with cancerous tumors that can spread throughout the chest and abdomen.
The current treatment for Mesothelioma involves a three prong approach. The most common step taken is to pursue the surgical removal of infected areas. This is supported by radiotherapy wherein waves of radiation are shot into the infected area in an attempt to kill cancer cells and reduce tumor sizes. A third step involves chemotherapy in which anti-cancer drugs are often introduces intravenously to the blood stream in an attempt to also kill cancer cells.
The success rates of these three treatments are not great for Mesothelioma. They are effective, but the disease is usually discovered at such a late stage that no much can be done. Given this, many Mesothelioma patients turn to more aggressive approaches, particular clinical trials of other drugs.
The National Cancer Institute sponsors clinical trials on a host of treatments for all kinds of cancer. Mesothelioma certainly is one. As we speak, new drugs and treatments are being tested on the cancer. Some will work. Some will not. Faced with terminal cancer, many Mesothelioma patients are ready to roll the dice and rightly so.
If you, a friend or loved one has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, clinical trials may offer you the best possible treatment option. Your first step is to discuss trials with your doctor. You can then review possible trials at the website of the National Cancer Institute. Mesothelioma is sufficiently rare that you should be able to partake in just about any trial being undertaken. When things look very gloomy, such trials can be a source of hope.
Thomas Ajava is with AtlantaMesotheliomaClaims.com – where you can learn the ins and outs of Atlanta Mesothelioma claims.
What Are the Different Stages of a Mesothelioma Clinical Trial?
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 12th, 2009
Clinical trials are typically conducted in different phases. Each phase is designed to answer certain questions. Knowing the phase of the clinical trial is important because it can give you some idea about how much is known about the treatment being studied. There are advantages and disadvantages of taking part in each of the different phases of a clinical trial.
Clinical trials for mesothelioma cancer passes through this different stages:
1-Phase 0 clinical trials: Does the new drug work? How does it work?
Phase 0 studies are exploratory studies that involves the use of few small doses of a new drug in each patient. They test to find out whether the drug reaches the tumor, how the drug acts in the human body, and how cancer cells respond to the drug. The patients in these studies must have extra biopsies, scans, and blood samples. The biggest difference between phase 0 and the later phases of clinical trials is that there is no chance of a direct benefit to the patient from taking part in a phase 0 trial. Because drug doses are low, the chances of risks is less compared to the other phases of the clinical trial.
Phase 0 studies help researchers find out early which drugs do not do what they are expected to do. If there are problems with the way the drug is absorbed or acts in the body, this should become clear very quickly in a phase 0 trial. This process may help avoid the delay and expense of finding out years later in phase II or even phase III clinical trials that the drug doesn’t act as it was expected to based on lab studies.
The studies are very small, mostly with fewer than 20 people. Although this phase 0 is not a compulsory part of testing a new drug, it is used as part of an effort to speed up and streamline the process of testing new drugs.
2-Phase I clinical trials: How safe is the new treatment?
Although the treatment has been tested in lab and animal studies, the side effects in people can’t always be predicted. For this reason, these studies usually include a small number of people (15 to 50). These studies are usually done in major cancer centers.
The main reasons for doing phase I studies are to find out the highest dose of the new treatment that can be given safely (without serious side effects) and to decide on the best way to give the new treatment. The first few people in the study often get a low dose of the treatment and are watched very closely. If there are only minor side effects, the next few patients may get a higher dose. This process continues until doctors find the dose that is most likely to work while having an acceptable level of side effects.
Safety is the main concern at this point because this is usually the first time the treatment has been used in people. Doctors keep a close eye on how the people in the study are doing. They watch for any common but serious side effects. Special tests, such as blood tests to measure levels of the drug in the body at certain time points, are often a part of these clinical trials. Some studies may require time in a hospital.
These studies are not designed to find out if the new treatment works against cancer. Overall, these trials are the ones with the most potential risk. And only phase 0 has a smaller chance of helping you than phase I. But phase I studies do help some patients. For those with life-threatening illnesses like mesothelioma, weighing the potential risks and benefits carefully is needed.
3-Phase II clinical trials: How effective is the new treatment?
If a new treatment is found to be reasonably safe in phase I clinical trials, the treatment can then be tested in a phase II clinical trial to see if it works the way researchers think it will.
Usually, a group of 25 to 100 patients with mesothelioma cancer gets the new treatment in a phase II study. They are treated using the dose and method found to be most safe and effective in phase I studies. In a typical phase II clinical trial, all the volunteers usually get the same dose, and no placebo is used.
But some phase II studies do randomly assign participants to 1 of 2 treatment groups, much like what is done in phase III trials (see below). These groups may get different doses or get the treatment in different ways to see which provides the best balance of safety and effectiveness. Phase II studies are often done at major cancer centers, but may also be done in community hospitals or even doctors’ offices.
Doctors look for some evidence that the treatment works. The type of benefit or response they look for depends on the goals of the clinical trial. This may mean the tumor shrinks or disappears. Or it might mean there is an extended period of time where the tumor does not get any bigger, or there is a longer time before a cancer comes back. In some studies the benefit may be an improved quality of life. Many studies look to see if people getting the new treatment live longer than they would have been expected to without the treatment.
If a certain percentage of the patients benefit from the treatment, and the side effects aren’t too bad, the treatment is allowed to go on to a phase III clinical trial. Along with watching for responses, the research team keeps looking for any side effects. Larger numbers of patients get the treatment in phase II studies, so there is a better chance that less common side effects may be seen.
4-Phase III clinical trials: Is it better than what’s already available?
Treatments that have been shown to work in phase II studies usually must go through one more stage of testing before they are approved for general use. Phase III clinical trials compare the safety and effectiveness of the new treatment against the current standard treatment.
Phase III clinical trials usually have a large number of patients, at least several hundred. These studies are often done in many places across the country (or even around the world) at the same time. They are more likely to be offered by community-based oncologists.
Because doctors do not yet know which treatment is better, patients are often chosen at random, (called randomized) to get either the standard treatment or the new treatment. When possible, neither the doctor nor the patient knows which of the treatments the patient is getting. This type of study is called a double-blind study.
As with other studies, patients in phase III clinical trials are watched closely for side effects, and treatment is stopped if they are too bad.
Randomization is used in many phase III studies because it helps reduce the risk that one group will be different from the other when they go into the study, which could affect outcome. Blinding reduces the risk that the doctors will be biased in their evaluations of the patients’ outcomes. These controls help make the study results more credible.
5-Phase IV clinical trials: What else is there to know about the drug?
Although a drug might have been approved for general usage, the full effects of the treatment may not be known, and their might still be some questions about the drug that are yet to be answered. For example, a drug may approved by the relevant drug regulatory authority based on the fact that it was shown to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence but does this mean that those who get it are more likely to live longer? Are there rare side effects that haven’t been seen yet, or side effects that only show up after the drug is used for a long time? These types of questions may take many years to answer fully, and may not be critical for getting a medicine to market. They are often addressed in what are known as phase IV clinical trials.
Phase IV studies look at drugs that have already been approved by the relevant drug regulatory bodies. They are already available for doctors to give to patients, but these studies are still needed to answer important questions.
When thinking about taking part in a phase IV trial, you should know that the drug has already been approved for use. The care you would get in these types of studies often is very much like what you could expect if you were to get the treatment outside of a clinical trial. You should be reassured that in taking part you would be getting a form of treatment that has already passed through different phases of testing and that you would be doing a service to future patients.
Bello kamorudeen.For more information on Mesothelioma treatment go to http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blogspot.com
Article Source: What Are the Different Stages of a Mesothelioma Clinical Trial?
Immunotherapy -A New Way of Fighting Mesotheloma
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 7th, 2009
Conventional cancer treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy are more widely used to treat mesothelioma, but alternative treatments such as immunotherapy are becoming more and popular too. Other therapies such as immunotherapy provide the patient with additional options for the control of symptoms. While immunology does not yet offer a cure for mesothelioma, researchers continue to experiment with the treatment in hopes of achieving better results.
Immunotherapy involves the use and manipulation of a patient’s own immune system to help them fight diseases to which the immune system would not normally respond.
In the case of mesothelioma and other types of asbestos cancer, the patient’s immune response does not typically react or destroy cancer cells for one very important reason: a normal healthy immune system does not recognize cancer cells as foreign cells so it does not destroy them.
Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that tricks the immune system into believing that cancer cells are foreign. When this type of treatment is administered to cancer patients, the immune system can be made to destroy cancer cells, while leaving normal healthy cells unharmed.
Treating mesothelioma patients with immunotherapy relies on helping the body’s immune system to recognize the difference between healthy cells and cells that have become cancerous.
To understand how immunotherapy works, it is first important to understand how the immune system differentiates between normal body cells and foreign cells. The immune system does this by recognizing and reacting to antigens. Antigens are molecules that are present on the surface of all cells, whether human, bacterial, or viral. A normal immune system can react to and destroy cells that produce antigens that are foreign, but cannot react to cells that produce “self” antigen (an antigen produced by the body).
Immunotherapy, therefore, is geared towards making the immune system recognize antigens on cancer cells as being foreign, allowing the immune system to destroy those cells. There two ways by which immunotherapy can be used:1]Active immunity and 2]Passive immunity
Active Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma
Active immunotherapy treatments stimulate the immune system to fight disease. Vaccines, for example, are a type of active immunotherapy. Cancer vaccines are slightly different in that they are designed to fight diseases that already exist in the body, whereas most other vaccines are administered to prevent disease.
Mesothelioma vaccines may be created by removing cancer cells from a mesothelioma patient. This is usually done in a laboratory by using either whole cancer cells or antigens removed from cells. The cells or antigens are modified in a laboratory so they can be recognized by the patient’s immune system and are then injected back into the patient.
Active immunotherapy treatments for mesothelioma are highly specific treatments made with cells from the patient’s own body. Thus, a different vaccine is created for each patient who receives active immunotherapy treatment.
Passive Immunotherapy Treatment for Mesothelioma
Passive immunotherapy treatments are those which use components that are created outside the body. These types of treatments differ from active immunotherapy in that passive treatments do not attempt to force the immune system to actively destroy cancer cells.
One example of a passive immunotherapy treatment is monoclonal antibody therapy, which is currently the most widely used immunotherapy for treating cancer. Antibodies are molecules the immune system produces to help fight infections. In an immune system that is functioning normally, antibodies are produced that recognize and bind to foreign antigens present on foreign cells, which effectively targets foreign cells for destruction by other parts of the immune system.
Monoclonal antibody therapy involves removing cancer cells from a patient, which are then grown together in a laboratory with other cells that produce antibodies in response to antigens on the cancer cells. During this process, identical antibodies are produced that recognize the same antigen (hence the termed monoclonal).
The next stage of the treatment involves injecting the patient with the monoclonal antibodies. Once inside the body, the antibodies recognize and bind to tumor cells, as the tumor cells possess the specific kind of antigen that the antibodies were created to identify. If the cancer treatment is successful, the immune system will recognize the monoclonal antibodies and destroy the cancer cells.
Immunotherapy is however still largely in experimental stages of different clinical trials all over the world and most of them are yet to be approved for general use, so if any mesothelioma patient wants to benefit from immunotherapy they must participate in relevant clinical trials.
Bello kamorudeen.For more information on mesothelioma treatment visit http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blogspot.com
Article Source: Immunotherapy -A New Way of Fighting Mesotheloma
Mesothelioma Treatment-Commonly Asked Questions About Radiotherapy
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 3rd, 2009
Radiotherapy or radiation therapy is one of the commonly used conventional medical methods of treating mesothelioma. Most mesothelioma patients will undergo radiation therapy at one stage or the other of their treatment and it is better for you to be well informed about this form of treatment so that you can get the maximal benefit out of it. These are some commonly asked questions about radiotherapy:
-What is radiation therapy?
Radiation therapy makes use of high-energy particles or waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, or protons to destroy or damage cancer cells. This form of cancer therapy is also known as radiotherapy, irradiation, or x-ray therapy.
Radiation therapy is commonly used for the treatment of mesothelioma cancer. Radiation can be given alone or combined with other treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy. And sometimes patients get more than one type of radiation therapy.
How does radiation therapy work?
Cancer cells divide and multiply more rapidly than the normal body cells. Radiation therapy uses special equipment to deliver high doses of radiation to these rapidly dividing cancer cells. This radiation kills these cells and stop them from multiplying, thus preventing the tumor from spreading.
Radiation targets and breaks a piece of the DNA molecule in the cancer cell, thus preventing the cell from multiplying. Some nearby normal cells may be affected by radiation, but most fully recover from the effects of the treatment and go back to working the way they are supposed to.
Radiation therapy is usually a local treatment and it is only the part of the body that is affected by the tumor that is exposed to the radiation. The goal of radiation treatment is to damage as many cancer cells as possible, with little harm to nearby healthy tissue.
Occasionally radioactive substances may be given in a vein or by mouth, and the radioactive substance gets to travel throughout the body, but most of the time , it is only the part of the body affected by the tumor that is exposed to radioactive substance so that there is little effect on the rest of the body.
Do the benefits outweigh the risks and side effects?
Although mesothelioma cancer is can hardly ever be cured by any form of treatment, radiotherapy if given in combination with other forms of treatment like surgery and chemotherapy it can prolong the lifespan of the patient and radiotherapy can also be used to offer palliative treatment for advanced mesothelioma cases.
How much does radiation treatment cost?
Radiotherapy is very expensive, it involves the use of very sophisticated equipments which can only be handled by highly specialized medical personnel. The exact cost of your radiation therapy will depend on the type and number of treatments you need.
Most health insurance plans, including Medicare Part B, cover the charges for radiation therapy. Talk with your doctor’s office staff or the hospital business office about your health plan and how your bills for treatment will be paid.
In some states in the US, Medicaid (which makes health care services available to people with financial need) may help pay for treatments. Call your city or county social services office to find out if you qualify for Medicaid and if radiation therapy is a covered expense.
Who gives radiation treatments?
There are different types of medical personnel that will be involved in administering radiotherapy to you. These personnel include:
• Radiation oncologist: A doctor specially trained to treat cancer patients with radiation. He or she is in charge of your radiation treatment plan.
• Radiation physicist: The person who makes sure the radiation equipment is working as it should and gives you the dose prescribed by your radiation oncologist.
• Dosimetrist: Supervised by the radiation physicist, this person helps the radiation oncologist plan the treatment.
• Radiation therapist or radiation therapy technologist: This person operates the radiation equipment and positions you for treatment.
• Radiation therapy nurse: A nurse with special training in cancer treatment who can give you information about radiation treatment and side effects.
You may also need the services of a dietitian, physical therapist, social worker, dentist or dental oncologist, or other health care professionals.
Bello kamorudeen.For more commonly asked questions about mesothelioma visit http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blogspot.com
Article Source: Mesothelioma Treatment-Commonly Asked Questions About Radiotherapy
What is Mesothelioma Cancer Recurrence?
Posted by in Uncategorized on September 26th, 2009
Cancer recurrence is defined as the return of cancer after treatment and after a period of time during which the cancer cannot be detected. (The length of time is not clearly defined.) The same cancer may come back in the same place where it first started or in another place in the body.Mesothelioma cancer is a cancer with very poor cure rate so the chances of recurrence after a seemingly successful treatment is unfortunately very high.
Progression is when cancer spreads or gets worse. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between recurrence and progression. For example, if cancer has been gone for only 3 months before it comes back, was it ever really gone? Is this a recurrence or progression?
Chances are this is not a recurrence. It is likely 1 of 2 things happen in cases like this. One is that, in spite of what the tests showed, the cancer was never completely gone. Sometimes, even with surgery, small clusters of cancer cells that cannot be seen or found on scans can be left behind. Over time they grow large enough to be detected or cause symptoms. These cancers tend to be very aggressive, or fast-growing.
The second possibility is that the cancer may be resistant or refractory to treatment. Chemotherapy or radiation may have killed most of the cancer cells, but some of them were not affected or changed to survive despite the treatment. Any cancer cells left behind can then grow and show up again.
The shorter the time between when the cancer was thought to be gone and the time it came back, the more serious the situation. Most doctors would agree that 3 months of appearing to be cancer-free is too short to be considered a recurrence if the cancer does come back. Although there is no standard period of time in the definition of recurrence, most doctors consider it a cancer recurrence if you have had no signs of cancer for at least a year. If your cancer has been gone for only 3 months, this would most likely be a progression of your disease. In this case, the doctors would assume that the cancer (even though they could not find it in any of the tests) never totally went away.
There are different types of recurrence:
-Local recurrence means that the cancer has come back at the same place where it first started.
- Regional recurrence means that the cancer has come back in the lymph nodes near the place where it started.
-Distant recurrence means the cancer has come back in another part of the body, some distance from where it started (often the lungs, liver, bone marrow, or brain).
If you have a cancer recurrence, your doctor can give you the best information about what type of recurrence you have and what it means to have that type.
What is the risk of recurrence?
The risk of recurrence for cancer survivors is very high in mesothelioma cancer, most patients do not survive beyond at most a year after diagnosis.Although there are few documented cases of long term survivors of mesothelioma, they are far and in between.The survival rate of each case of mesothelioma is dependent on a number of factors and if you find yourself haunted by questions about your chance of recurrence, talk with your doctor about the realistic chance of recurrence in your specific situation. You may find this information reassuring or somewhat unsettling. Whatever information you get, remember that each person’s situation is unique, no matter what statistics you are given. There may be factors that may make your case different from the usual.
You may want to ask your doctor or nurse questions like these if you are concerned about recurrence:
-Is it possible that my cancer can come back?
-When is it most likely to come back?
-Where would it most likely come back?
-How likely is it to come back? (numbers and statistics)
-Is there anything I can do keep it from coming back?
-How can I know if it’s back? What should I look for?
Bello kamorudeen.For more information on prognosis of mesothelioma visit http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blogspot.com
Article Source: What is Mesothelioma Cancer Recurrence?
New Mesothelioma Treatment
Posted by in Uncategorized on September 19th, 2009
Significant progress has been made in the early cancer detection and treatment options but still there are cancers, such as Mesothelioma, that are not easy to treat. Since 2006, scientists have learned quite a bit about the differences between normal cells and cancer cells. They are working overtime to come up with drugs that can treat mesothelioma without causing any side effects. Angiogenesis drugs are promising treatments that have no side effects attached and target the tumor rather than the normal cells of the body.
Immunotherapy and Mesothelioma
Commonly known as biological therapy, immunotherapy uses the immune system of the body to protect it against disease. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the immune system can distinguish between cancer cells and healthy cells and it can get rid of cancerous cells. The main objective of immunotherapy is to repair and increase the natural anticancer function of the immune system. Substances employed in immunotherapy are known as biological response modifiers. With biological response modifiers, you will find that your body can fight disease much better.
There are plenty of biological response modifiers such as antibodies and cytokines that occur naturally in the body. However, with advancements in technology, scientists are making biological response modifiers in the laboratory that can imitate natural immune response agents. These biological response modifiers increase the immune system so cancer cell growth can be reduced. They also create cancer cells that can be easily destroyed by the immune system.
Photodynamic Therapy for Mesothelioma
Photodynamic therapy is a treatment set on the basis of the “single-celled organisms” concept. The main function of photodynamic therapy is to get rid of the cancerous cells using fixed frequency light. By using fixed frequency light, photosensitizing drugs are activated. Generally, photosensitizing drugs are accumulated in body tissues.
In photodynamic therapy, a photosensitizing drug is administered intravenously. Within two or three days, photosensitizing drugs selectively focus on diseased cells while avoiding normal cells. After this, the treated cancer cells are exposed to a laser light directed on the cancer site using a fiber-optic device which allows manipulation of the laser light.
The major side effect associated with photodynamic therapy is skin sensitivity. If you are undergoing photodynamic therapy, you must avoid direct sunlight for a period of one month. Other side effects of photodynamic therapy are nausea, eye sensitivity to light, vomiting and a metallic taste in the mouth.
Other Therapies for Mesothelioma Patients
Gene Therapy treats the disease at the DNA level. For individuals with abnormal genes, this therapy can be quite useful.
Replacement Gene Therapy where a missing gene is substituted. The p53 gene is often the main target for gene substitution.
Knockout Gene Therapy the emphasis is on the oncogenes products (cancer causing genes) that are responsible for tumor formation.
Mesothelioma Stages – the Butchart System
Posted by in Uncategorized on September 16th, 2009
Mesothelioma is a cancer that is most often associated with exposure to asbestos. A diagnosis of Mesothelioma necessarily engenders a question of the possible treatments and outcome for the patient. The Butchart system is one way to gauge the stages of Mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is like many cancers in that the variety of treatment options available changes with the progress of the disease. Catch it early and there are plenty of options to choose from. Catch it in the later stages and the prospects are not so positive. To understand the situation you or a friend who has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma are in, you need to understand the stages of the disease.
The Butchart System is the oldest staging system used for Mesothelioma. Oddly, there are others as well, but we will focus on the Butchart version in this article. The system is comprised of four stages and focuses on the primary tumor as a starting point. Let’s take a closer look.
Stage One
In stage one, the Mesothelioma has manifested in the pleura or lining of the chest. It is usually present in one side or the other. It may have also manifested in the diaphragm area as well.
Stage Two
The Mesothelioma has advanced significantly at this stage. It is now in the lining of both sides of the chest cavity. It may also be in the esophagus and lining of the heart. Lymph nodes in the chest are almost certainly impacted and may be creating a method of movement for the cancer.
Stage Three
The cancer continues to spread. It is now clearly into the esophagus and heart lining. It is also spreading throughout the Mesothelium of the abdomen. Lymph nodes beyond the immediate chest area are also showing cancer cells.
Stage Four
The Mesothelium has metastasized fully. It is moving through the blood stream to other parts of the body. Multiple internal organs are now showing cancer cells. The situation is very dire.
So, what treatment options apply to each of these stages? There really isn’t a pat answer. The problem is the treatment usually is very aggressive. It can involve any combination of surgery, radiation and chemo therapy. The exact mix will depend on your overall health and the opinion of your physicians.
Thomas Ajava writes for TXAsbestosLawsuits.com – where you can learn more about the asbestos lawsuits being filed in Texas related to the oil and shipping industries among others.
New Mesothelioma Approach
Posted by in Uncategorized on July 12th, 2009
These methods include the following :
Angiogenesis and Anti-angiogenesis Drugs
Although progress has been made in the early detection of cancer, and in improved treatment options once cancer is diagnosed, there are still many cancers, including mesothelioma, which can not be cured and remain difficult to treat effectively. In recent years, researchers have learned a great deal about how cancer cells differ from normal cells and, in an effort to find drugs without the potentially severe side effects of chemotherapy, have now discovered drugs which target the tumor itself while sparing the body’s normal cells. One such group are the anti-angiogenesis drugs.
Learn more about anti-angiogenesis agents in the treatment of mesothelioma.
Immunotherapy, sometimes called biological therapy, uses the body’s own immune system to protect itself against disease. Researchers have found that the immune system may be able to recognize the difference between healthy cells and cancer cells, and eliminate those that become cancerous. Immunotherapy is designed to repair, stimulate, or enhance the immune system’s natural anticancer function.
Substances used in immunotherapy, called biological response modifiers (BRMs) alter the interaction between the body’s immune defenses and cancer, thereby improving the body’s ability to fight disease. Some BRMs, such as cytokines and antibodies, occur naturally in the body, however, it is now possible to make BRMs in the laboratory that can imitate or influence natural immune response agents. These BRMs may:
Enhance the immune system to fight cancer cell growth.
Eliminate, regulate, or suppress body responses that permit cancer growth.
Make cancer cells more susceptible to destruction by the immune system.
Alter cancer cell’s growth patterns to behave like normal cells.
Block or reverse the process that changes a normal cell into a cancer cell.
Prevent a cancer cell from spreading to other sites.
Many BRMs are currently being used in cancer treatment, including interferons, interleukins, tumor necrosis factor, colony-stimulating factors, monoclonal antibodies, and cancer vaccines. More on immunotherapy for mesothelioma.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a type of cancer treatment based on the premise that single-celled organisms, if first treated with certain photosensitive drugs, will die when exposed to light at a particular frequency. PDT destroys cancerous cells by using this fixed frequency light to activate photosensitizing drugs which have accumulated in body tissues.
In PDT, a photosensitizing drug is administered intravenously. Within a specific time frame (usually a matter of days), the drug selectively concentrates in diseased cells, while rapidly being eliminated from normal cells. The treated cancer cells are then exposed to a laser light chosen for its ability to activate the photosensitizing agent. This laser light is delivered to the cancer site, (in the case of mesothelioma, the pleura), through a fiberoptic device that allows the laser light to be manipulated by the physician. As the agent in the treated cells absorbs the light, an active form of oxygen destroys the surrounding cancer cells. The light exposure must be carefully timed, so that it occurs when most of the photosensitizing drug has left the healthy cells, but is still present in cancerous ones.
The major side effect of PDT is skin sensitivity. Patients undergoing this type of therapy are usually advised to avoid direct and even indirect sunlight for at least six weeks. Other side effects may include nausea, vomiting, a metallic taste in the mouth, and eye sensitivity to light. These symptoms may sometimes come as a result of the injection of the photosensitizing agent.
Gene therapy is an approach to treating potentially fatal or disabling diseases by modifying the expression of an individual’s genes toward a therapeutic goal. The premise of gene therapy is based on correcting disease at the DNA level and compensating for the abnormal genes.
Replacement gene therapy replaces a mutated or missing gene, most often a tumor suppressor gene, with a normal copy of that gene which serves to keep cell growth and division under control. The p53 gene, the most common gene mutated in cancer has become a prime target for gene replacement, and has met with some success in inhibiting cell growth, inhibiting angiogenesis (the development of a tumor’s blood supply), and inducing apoptosis (cell death).
Knockout gene therapy targets the products of oncogenes (a gene that can induce tumor formation) in an effort to render them inactive and reduce cell growth.
With constantly expanding knowledge of the genes associated with cancer, their functions, and the delivery systems used in administering these genes, gene therapy has a promising future.
Complementary and alternative medicine covers a wide range of healing philosophies that conventional medicine does not commonly accept or make available to its patients. Some of these practices include the use of acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, therapeutic massage, and Far Eastern medicine to treat health conditions.
These therapies may be used alone as an alternative to conventional medicine, or in addition to conventional medicine, in which case they are referred to as complementary. Many are considered holistic, meaning their focus is to treat the whole patient – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. These treatments are not widely taught as a part of the medical curriculum, are not generally used in hospitals, and, for the most part, are not covered under insurance policies.
Many cancer patients try various complementary and/or alternative medicine techniques during the course of their treatment, and although they may not work for everyone, some patients benefit by managing their symptoms or side effects. One important caveat, is to discuss any complementary or alternative treatments you may be considering with your doctor to be sure nothing interferes with your conventional care. For instance, dietary supplements such as herbs or vitamins may be “natural”, but not necessarily “safe”. They may lessen the effectiveness of certain anticancer drugs, or when taken with other drugs or in large doses, may actually cause harm. Since supplements of this nature are not governed by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and a prescription is not necessary to purchase, it is up to the consumer to make informed and conscientious decisions regarding their use.
Your personal physician may be able to advise you about the use of complementary and alternative treatments and therapies, and how they relate to mesothelioma. The combinaton of complementary and conventional therapies is sometimes referred to as integrative medicine.
Unconventional methods of cancer treatment make claims that can not be scientifically substantiated. They commonly claim to be effective against cancers that are considered incurable, and tout treatments with relatively few, if any, side effects.
The use of these unconventional methods may result in the loss of valuable time and the opportunity to receive potentially effective therapy. It is always important to remain in the care of a qualified physician who uses accepted methods of treatment or who is participating in scientifically designed investigational therapies.
Mesothelioma Treatments-What are your options?
Posted by in Uncategorized on July 3rd, 2009
There are several options available for the treatment of mesothelioma. The most recommended forms of treatment are: a} Surgery b} Chemotherapy c} Radiotherapy. There are however other less popular, less commonly used forms of treatments, these include gene therapy, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy and others.
Some of these other forms of treatment are still in the stage of experimental and clinical trials usage.
The cancer is usually treated by the use of combination therapies involving the use of more than one type of therapy. Most times, surgery is used to remove as much of the tumor as possible and this is followed with chemotherapy and or radiotherapy to kill the remaining cancer cells. This particular combination of surgery and chemotherapy with radiotherapy is one of the commonest forms of therapy adopted for treatment.
Alternative therapies are also sometimes used in combination with the traditional treatment options. Many victims seek to add alternative therapies like TENS therapy, acupuncture, or massage to their treatment.
When you or your loved one is diagnosed with mesothelioma, you will have work with your doctor to choose the best treatment plan for you. To make the right choice, you have to know all the options available to you. Having a good knowledge of your chosen treatment option often helps you{the victim} and your family cope and cooperate better with the treatment.
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is notoriously resistant to most forms of treatment. Most of the presently available forms of treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy only offer palliative relief and not a cure.
Many scientific studies and clinical trials have tried find a cure for mesothelioma, but all have failed to come up with a cure. Because mesothelioma is a rare cancer, attracting the necessary funding for the research to find a cure has been difficult, but recently as result increased public awareness about the disease, more people and specific interest groups are beginning to show more interest in supporting research for mesothelioma cure. Once good funding is available for research, the hope for a cure will become a tangible reality in the not too distant future.
Treatment Options
1-Surgery
There are three main types of surgical treatments for mesothelioma: a}diagnostic surgery b}curative surgery c}palliative surgery. Some types of surgeries fall into more than one category.
Thorancentesis{removal of fluid from the pleural space}which may be a diagnostic procedure may also be used as a form of palliative treatment to provide symptomatic relief.
Curative surgery is aimed at removing if possible all cancerous cells from the body. Curative surgery is only recommended for the early stages of the cancer, that is stage 1 and stage 2.Unfortunately however mesothelioma is not usually diagnosed until it has reached an advanced stage that is stage 3 and stage 4, when curative surgery is no longer relevant.
2-Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is an effective treatment option but it has a lot of side effects. Chemotherapy involves the use of anticancer drugs which are usually given intravenously. Examples of such drugs are Alimta and Cisplatin. Anti cancer drugs target and kill cancer cells by inhibiting their rapid and haphazard multiplication and division. These drugs are however not specific in their mode of action and they end up killing some normally dividing healthy cells causing most of their unpleasant side effects associated with use of anti cancer drugs. Newer chemotherapy drugs are generally more effective than the older drugs. A new form of chemotherapy called heated chemotherapy which involves the perfusion of heated chemotherapy drugs into the peritoneum following surgery is used for the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma.
3-Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy or radiation therapy is the use of high energy rays to kill the cancer cells. This form of therapy is usually used in combination with surgery. Radiotherapy may also be used as a sole therapy to relieve pain and some other symptoms associated with mesothelioma. Radiotherapy generally gives short term symptomatic relief. There are two types of radiotherapy therapies:
a-External beam radiation which is the commoner type in which radiation beam is directed unto the affected area of the body from an external source.
b-Brachytherapy or internal radiotherapy; This is a newer type of radiotherapy in which tiny radioactive rods are implanted into the tumor area of the body to provide a strong concentrated dose of radiation to the tumor while doing very little damage to the surrounding normal healthy tissues.
4-Photodynamic Therapy
This is a form of highly specialized and specific form of treatment that uses light energy to kill cancer cells, it is used to treat skin cancers, some types of lung cancers, and pleural mesothelioma. This form of treatment is however not suitable for patients with metastasized cancers, it is most effective in patients with localized form of mesothelioma. Photodynamic therapy involves giving the patient an intravenous solution of a medication that makes the cancer cells highly sensitive to a particular kind of light. One to two days after their treatment, the patient is exposed to light, and the cancer cells that have absorbed the medications are killed.
For more information on the types of treatment of mesothelioma go to http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blogspot.com
Article Source: Mesothelioma Treatments-What are your options?
