Mesothelioma Treatment Costs

The costs of treating malignant mesothelioma are extremely high; estimates range from $150,000 to over $ 1 million. The most commonly used anti-cancer drugs used to treat malignant mesothelioma are AlimtaÒ and cisplatin. The combined cost of these drugs for one treatment cycle is approximately $4,100; multiple treatment cycles may be required, and a cure is not assured. In fact, even with aggressive treatment, the median survival of a patient after diagnosis with malignant mesothelioma is between one and two years.

Some mesothelioma treatment costs may be covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. However, many people may not have health insurance or be eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. Information on sources of financial assistance can be obtained from the social services units of hospitals, the Cancer Information Network and the American Cancer Society.

When occupational exposure to asbestos can be proven, patients with malignant mesothelioma may be able to seek damages from former employers through lawsuits. While there is a current cap of $1.1 million on the total amount that can be awarded to a single individual in a mesothelioma lawsuit, this cap is considered insufficient by some mesothelioma treatment advocates. They say that better diagnostic tests, combined with the availability of more effective treatment, means more people with malignant mesothelioma are diagnosed at a younger age and live longer. Increased survival is associated with increased treatment costs.

Some novel mesothelioma treatment options are being investigated in clinical trials. These include more affordable options such as immunotherapy, or expensive options such as gene therapy. In gene therapy, specific materials injected into the patient attack the genes in cancer cells, ultimately killing them. A single session of gene therapy may cost between $150,000 and $950,000. Clinical trials may cover some costs of treatment. However, certain trials only enroll people who have been recently diagnosed and who have not begun any other type of treatment.

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Mesothelioma Treatment: What You Should Know

Mesothelioma treatment:

There are certain factors that influence the type of treatment a patient with malignant mesothelioma may undergo. These include the type of cancer, the location of the cancer, the stage or extent to which it has spread at diagnosis, whether the cancer can be removed by surgery, the amount of fluid collected in the chest or abdomen, and whether the cancer has occurred for the first time or has come back (recurrent malignant mesothelioma). As with other cancers, the patientï¿bf½s general health at the time of diagnosis may also determine how aggressively the cancer can be treated. In general, patients with better general health tend to withstand the insults of anti-cancer treatment better than those who are in poor health.

Standard treatment of malignant mesothelioma may include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Surgery is used to treat early, localized disease by removing the tumor mass. It may also be used to offer symptomatic relief in pleural mesothelioma by removal of the pleura (pleurectomy or decortication). Pleurodesis is a surgical method used to obliterate the space between the pleural membranes where fluid collects. Chemotherapy may range from single-drug therapy to multi-drug therapy. It is used to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing them or by stopping their further division. Radiotherapy is used to provide symptomatic relief, particularly relief from severe pain.

While some treatments for malignant mesothelioma are standard, other treatments are investigational and are only available if a patient enrolls in a clinical trial. Besides the methods described above, some clinical trials are using biotherapy, which is a form of treatment that stimulates the patientï¿bf½s immune system to fight the cancer. Median survival time after diagnosis with malignant mesothelioma is between one and two years; this is why many patients opt to enroll in clinical trials. The National Cancer Institute website provides information on ongoing clinical trials and enrollment criteria.

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New Mesothelioma Treatment Research Shows Promise

New mesothelioma treatment research to determine if chemotherapy before surgery and radiation can prevent mesothelioma recurrence could provide a major step forward for the treatment of this rare cancer of the lining of the chest caused by exposure to asbestos.

This new mesothelioma treatment study is an attempt to build on previous clinical trials that have shown promise at M.D. Anderson which involved extra pleural pneumonectomy (EPP) surgery where the affected lung and lining of the chest are removed. This is followed by Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

What is really unique about this new mesothelioma treatment study is the fact that this is the first trial to investigate the use of chemotherapy before surgery and radiation.

Results Of Previous Trials Of This New Mesothelioma Treatment

Previous trials of this new mesothelioma treatment involving extrapleural pneumonectomy and IMRT was 90 per cent effective in preventing a local recurrence in patients. However about half the patients who underwent the trials got a recurrence in a different location. Quite often, this was the other lung or another part of the body.

Researchers into this new mesothelioma treatment add that chemotherapy before surgery and radiation usually reduce the possibility of the cancer spreading to another area away from the original site.

Visit the author's mesothelioma research blog for the latest mesothelioma research findings.

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Mesothelioma Treatments

Mesothelioma treatments:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Alimta (pemetrexed disodium) for use in combination with cisplatin for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. It is the first drug approved for this condition.

Mesothelioma treatment can involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of the three. Malignant mesothelioma is, however, difficult to treat as it can spread quickly to nearby organs. Mesothelioma treatment is most successful if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage. A staging system is used to determine just how advanced the case is.

In stage 1, the disease has only spread as far as the pleura. At this stage, tests are done to make sure the cancer has not spread, and to check if the lungs and heart are functioning well. If the patient is young and healthy, aggressive surgery can be attempted. This is high-risk surgery and involves the removal of the pleura, the lung, the diaphragm and the pericardium. Radiation or chemotherapy is commonly done post-surgery to eliminate any remaining tumor cells. In heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy, surgery is followed by the direct administration of a chemotherapy agent, heated to between 40 and 48°C, in the abdomen. This can increase the penetration of the drugs into tissues. Moreover, the damage produced by heat is greater to cancerous cells than to normal cells.

In stage two of mesothelioma, the cancer has reached the chest wall. By stage three it has affected the diaphragm. In stage four there are signs of metastases spreading through the blood stream. If surgery is undertaken during these stages, it is generally only for relief of symptoms. A needle may be inserted into the chest to drain the fluid, relieving breathlessness and pain. Talc may be injected into the pleural space to stop fluid from accumulating. Or the pleura may be surgically removed to alleviate the pain. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy can also be used to relieve the symptoms.

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Mesothelioma teratment.