Doctors specializing in mesothelioma treatment frequently adopt a multimodal approach: they treat a patient with a combination of therapies. Due to the relative lack of effectiveness of single-modality treatment in affecting patient survival, the multimodal combination of treatments holds more promise for survival of malignant mesothelioma patients. For an over view of single-mode and multimodal treatment regimens, see the abstract of "Treatment of Malignant Mesothelioma" by M.T. Jaklitsch, S.C. Grondin, and D.J. Sugarbaker and published in the World Journal of Surgery in 2001.
The December 1999 issue of the medical journal, Chest, published a clinical case presentation that illustrates a fairly typical multimodal treatment. The patient was a 52-year-old man with an early diagnosis of Stage I pleural mesothelioma. Doctors performed a pleurectomy (i.e. surgery) and then delivered intrapleural doses of chemotherapy drugs. Then he received additional localized radiation and chemotherapy. Two years after the surgery he did not show evidence of the tumor.
The author concluded that "Aggressive trimodality therapy for mesothelioma is presented as a successful treatment option." (R. Buono - "Mesothelioma Clinical Presentation", Chest 1999; 116:444S-445S).
In recent years, there has been some progress made in the management of malignant mesothelioma, particularly in the area of combination of agents and treatment methods used. More details can be found in this interview with mesothelioma medical expert, Dr. Nicholas Vogelzang: "New Directions for the Treatment of Mesothelioma: An Expert Interview" (Oncology 6(1), 2003).
The following discussion of mesothelioma treatments is organized into separate sections (surgery, photodynamic therapy, radiation, etc.) so that each component of a combination of treatments (multimodality therapy) can be better understood.
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