Common treatment options for pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer are just the same as for other sorts of cancers, which include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. But, the types of surgery, chemotherapy plans and the techniques of radiation which are used for treating pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer are different. Different combinations of the conventional treatments, which are known as multimodal therapy, are used for each type of cancer and widely depend on the sage of tumor and the overall health of patient.
Surgeries for lung cancer will be projected to remove either a portion of the affected lung, a lobe or the entire lung. The surgeries for pleural mesothelioma may include the removal of pleural lining, part of the lung or eve the whole affected lung. Certain surgeries which are palliative such as pleurodesis, may also be operative in dealing with the advanced cases of any of these cancers.
Some of the same drugs for chemotherapy are used to treat pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer, but not all are included to treat both, and the allowed dose will be dependent on which cancer the patient has, as well as the stage of the tumor. Pemetrexed and cisplating are the most general chemotherapeutic agents that are used in the advanced cases of either cancer. Some of the same chemotherapy drugs treat pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer, but not all are included to treat both, and the dose will be dependent on which cancer is present the stage of the tumor. On the other hand, paclitaxel, decotaxel, and vinorelbine are common to treat lung cancer. Some chemotherapy drugs, such as carboplatin, cisplatin, pemetrexed, and gemcitabine are common for treating both cancers.
Radiation therapy is hard to carry out to either cancer due to the proximity of the lungs to vital organs such as the heart and spinal cord. When it is administered along, radiation aims at easing the pain in both pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer patients, but cannot and does not aim at curing these cancers. When radiation therapy is combined with the other treatments, usually following aggressive surgery,it can reduce local tumor occurrence in pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. Radiation has also been operative in treating pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer along the tracts which are created by biopsies, surgical incisions and chest tubes so as to prevent tumor seeding, or any local metastasis along the incision.
Photodynamic therapy has also been used to treat both lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma, yet it is more commonly administered to patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer. The other new treatments, such as gene therapy and immunotherapy, are used experimentally for each of these cancers with small possibility of success therefore they are not quite recommended. Complementary and alternative medicine is also available for these cancers, and can be used to ease the occurring symptoms and bring down the side effects of the more conventional treatments. With the difference in treatment plans, the prognosis of these cancers is also different, which is usually marked by one year gap.
