There are three options of mesothelioma treatments. They are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Which one is the best? It’s only your doctor who can answer this. It is because only your doctor who knows your condition very well. He will give you the best option for your treatment. But, as well as other kinds of cancer, mesothelioma chemotherapy is the most common treatment that is suggested to mesothelioma patients.
Chemotherapy For Mesothelioma
The mesothelioma chemotherapy is usually used to support the other treatment. It can be used to make the tumor smaller so it will be easier to take it with surgery. It can also be used to destroy the cancer cells that remain after the surgery. The mesothelioma chemotherapy also helps the radiation therapy works more effectively. But mesothelioma chemotherapy can also be used as a stand alone treatment. It is done when the patient is not a surgical candidate
The mesothelioma chemotherapy basically refers to the process of using drugs to treat mesothelioma. It is also the choice in curing the dangerous mesothelioma. But after all, mesothelioma chemotherapy can not cure mesothelioma totally. It only shrinks the tumor and aimed to relieve the symptoms of mesothelioma.
There are two ways in the process of mesothelioma chemotherapy. The drugs can be injected into a vein or muscle or given to the patient in pill form. The negative side of mesothelioma chemotherapy is that it does not only destroy the cancer cells but can also destroy the healthy cells. The healthy cells that might be affected by chemotherapy are the blood cells forming, cells in the digestive tract, and also hair follicle. This is why the patients lose their hair during the chemotherapy process. But the hair will grow again after the chemotherapy is over.
The patients’ body is sometimes can not handle the combination of the drugs used in mesothelioma chemotherapy. They sometimes complain that it is really painful. Besides hair loss, mesothelioma chemotherapy can also cause nausea, loss of appetite, mouth sores, and vomiting. The worst thing is mesothelioma chemotherapy can also lower the immunity and lead to low blood cell counts. It may cause fatigue and short breath of the patient.
Doctors try to reduce the side effects of mesothelioma chemotherapy by adjusting the dosage of the medicine. The doctors will also carefully monitor the patients’ condition. Chemotherapy is still always developed to reduce the toxic effects. Doctors have developed certain ways in delivering the drugs for a better target of cancer cells.
