Sunday, July 17, 2011

Types of Cancer Treatment Malignant Mesothelioma

Treatment for malignant mesothelioma has not been found, but the people affected by the disease still prefer to undergo treatment with a mixture of methods or participate in various clinical trials. Types of mesothelioma treatment techniques regularly performed with the surgical procedure, drug therapy, and radiation therapy.

Malignant Mesothelioma Cancer SymptomsAlthough these treatments are most often found, you can find other treatment options are now increasing in popularity. Some of these treatment options is gene therapy, immunotherapy, and photodynamic therapy.
The different surgical procedures performed on patients with malignant mesothelioma have 3 types of palliative surgical procedures, surgical procedures diagnostic, curative surgical procedure. Surgical palliation is aimed at reducing the symptoms and eliminate all cancer cells. However, this type of surgery is not very advisable.

The goal of surgery is to remove as much as possible curative mesothelioma cancer, hoping this type of therapy can be completely healed. Usually curative surgery followed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Differences pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesotheliomaDiagnostic surgical approach intended to do with finding the fact that cancer is present or not in patients. This procedure is an addition that can help identify where the location of the cancer, if found, the diagnosis of mesothelioma usually remains in the form of non-invasive.

Chemotherapy drug given intravenously with the aim to destroy cancerous tissue.Mesothelioma cancer cells are growing very fast and chemotherapy would be more effective if given quickly.

Radiation therapy is done by comparing drug therapies, which aim to destroy cancerous tissue and limit the spread of cancer cells much as possible. This method is also called "ionizing radiation" and is usually used after surgery. The mechanism of action similar to that palliative care is also aimed to eliminate the pain caused by the disease.
Mesothelioma PrognosisPhotodynamic therapy is usually used if the cancer is malignant mesothelioma is still small and less effective for photodynamic cancer metastasis.Terapi requiring intravenous drug therapy to cancer cells will be killed as a result of certain vulnerable.

This gene is still an experimental treatment d? N need people who will be infected by an h? virus will change genetically. These viruses enter the mesothelioma cancer cells that lead to the production of proteins. Some time after the virus infects patients that have been genetically altered, will be given a chemotherapy drug that does not damage normal cells, but able to kill cancer cells.

Immunotherapy is given transform and the immune system of individuals trying to destroy cancer cells. Individuals with active immunotherapy, malignant mesothelioma cells to be removed which is then used to produce vaccines. The person who injected the vaccine, will have an immune system capable of recognizing "malignant mesothelioma cell vaccine" as a hazardous substance, so the presence of the cancer cell itself is known as a dangerous substance.

Mesothelioma Study: The role of mesothelin in the establishment of Cancer Genes

Japanese researchers have recently investigated the mechanism of mesothelin genes that result in malignant mesothelioma. The study was published in the medical journal Human Pathology.


Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that occurs almost entirely caused by exposure to asbestos. 


Because there is no cure for this disease, life expectancy for most mesothelioma patients ranged between four and 18 months after diagnosis of mesothelioma is known for sure. 


Although there is no cure to date, some patients who are diagnosed early mesothelioma can be given a combination of aggressive therapy, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. 


Combination therapy, which is known as a multimodality therapy, currently has the best chance to extend the life of the patient.


      The study's authors explained, "Gene methylation led to the development of malignant tumors in several tumor [malignant mesothelioma] are histologically divided into three subtypes, namely, epithelioid, sarcomatoid and biphasic types, and it shows that mesothelin expression is restricted to epithelioid type and the epithelioid component of biphasic MM type (malignant mesothelioma). However, the mechanism of expression regulation has not been clarified. "


Asbestos Pipe workers at high risk for Mesothelioma A total of 118 lung specimens examined, including 39 MM, 41 lung carcinomas, 26 nonneoplastic lung lesions, and 12 samples of normal lung tissue. Specimens were tested for mesothelin expression by immunohistochemistry test, along with the methylation status of 20 locations mesothelin gene promoter.


The results showed mesothelin is expressed in the epithelioid subtype of epithelioid and biphasic subtypes. However, the expression of mesothelin is not found in either the subtype of sarcomatoid or sarcomatous part of the biphasic type. Mesothelin gene promoter have a significantly hypomethylasi on mesotehelioma malignant specimens without subtype when compared with other lung lesions and lung tissue samples to normal.


The risk of asbestos industry workers The researchers concluded, "These findings suggest that hypomethylasi of mesothelin gene promoter may be specifically associated with the formation of MM, regardless of expression status, and that the mesothelin protein expression is lost in the sarcomatoid type due to some posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms are unknown. "

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer (malignancy) that most frequently arises from the cells lining the sacs of the chest (the pleura) or the abdomen (the peritoneum). Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form, often presenting with symptoms in the chest area. Peritoneal mesothelioma is much less common. This can effect the organs in the abdomen, and its symptoms are related to this area of the body, that is, abdominal swelling, nausea, vomiting, and bowel obstruction. The rarest form of mesothelioma is pericardial mesothelioma, which involves the sac surrounding the heart. There are two major cell types of mesothelioma, epithelial and sarcomatoid. Sometimes both of these cell types can be present. The sarcomatoid type is rarer and occurs in only about 15% of cases; it portends a poorer prognosis. In very rare cases, mesothelioma can originate from benign, non-malignant cells. This so-called benign mesothelioma can be cured surgically.


What are the symptoms of mesothelioma?

Most people present with complaints of shortness of breath. They also can have complaints of chest pain. Surprisingly, this pain is often not pleuritic; that is, it does not get worse with deep breathing. This is surprising in that the pleura (outer surface of the lung) is often involved in this disease, and most other diseases involving the pleura are often associated with pleuritic pain (pain that worsens with deep breathing). Patients may also be asymptomatic, with the disease discovered by physical exam or an abnormal chest X-ray.
As the disease progresses, shortness of breath increases, and weight loss, decreased appetite, and night sweats can develop. Local invasion by the tumor can result in changing of voice, loss of function of the diaphragm, and symptoms specific to the area and involvement of adjacent structures.

What causes mesothelioma?

Most people with malignant mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they breathed asbestos. Usually, this involves men over 40 years of age. Others have been exposed to asbestos in a household environment, often without knowing it. Interestingly, the number of new cases of mesothelioma has been relatively stable since 1983, the same time that the restrictions on asbestos were instituted by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In Europe, the number of new cases of mesothelioma continues to rise.