What can impinge on life Expectancy of Mesothelioma Patient?

There are a variety of factors that can have an effect on the prognosis and endurance of mesothelioma patients. Hence these factors cannot be overlooked and it becomes very necessary to have a deep look on them. The common factors which affect subsistence and survival of mesothelioma patients are-

ü Type of mesothelioma: In general 3 types of mesothelioma are common known as pleural, peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma. The details about them are already discussed in the previous posts.

ü There are also some other types of mesothelioma such as testicular mesothelioma. Amongst all, pleural mesothelioma is widespread in nature affecting the lungs lining so the studies and research works are done maximum in this. Hence, the victims of pleural mesothelioma live longer as compared with victims of other types of mesothelioma.

ü Smoking: The life expectancy of mesothelioma victim is reduces to a great extent with smoking, as smoking increases the amount of free radicals in our body. Especially in the cases of pleural mesothelioma smoking should be prohibited.

ü Age of the patient: In about 75-80% of the cases, mesothelioma occurs in people of 55 years or above. But according to recent reports the average age of start of mesothelioma is declining.

ü Psychological aspect: Life expectancy of mesothelioma patient can be influenced up to some extent due to psychological aspect. It is seen in some of the cases that the patient with sound psychology can endure the dreadful disease like mesothelioma as it happens in the case of other diseases as well.

Mesothelioma- what are the treatment alternatives available?

Mesothelioma is a disease that when diagnosed in the early stages can be treated with great chances of recovery. The stage of Mesothelioma is often the primary factor that determines that whether the same can be treated effectively or not. The other factors that judge the treatment stage is the location or site that has been affected, the age of the one suffering and also the overall health of the patient. Like any other cancer Mesothelioma too has three treatment options that can be used either in combination or singly depending on the factors. The three treatment alternatives are;

* Surgery
* Radiotherapy
* Chemotherapy

Surgical treatment is the most commonly used treatment and depending on the area affected by cancer the different surgical procedures can be carried out. The part of the lining of the abdomen or the chest can be removed surgically along with the normal tissue by the surgeon. Also, in patients with pleural Mesothelioma the part of lung is removed by a procedure called as pneumonectomy which may even entail the removal of some part of the diaphragm in some cases.

Radiotherapy is another treatment alternative that is used in combination with chemotherapy or surgery and this entails the use of very high energy rays to directly kill the cancerous cells and shrink the tumor growth. The radiation therapy can be internal or external depending on the area or the location of the cancer in the body.

The third alternative is chemotherapy that uses drugs for treating Mesothelioma and these are given intravenously while treating the patients.

Presently there are some researches going on the effectiveness of using chemotherapy directly in the abdominal or chest area, but only result will actual say how effective this will be in the future.