Brachytherapy for Treatment of Mesothelioma - Health

Brachytherapy is a form of radiotherapy and is an advanced form of treatment for mesothelioma. It has been used for over a century for the treatment of mesothelioma.

Radiotherapy is used to treat mesothelioma by ionizing radiation, thus killing cancer cells. Radiotherapy can be performed internally or externally. When radiotherapy is performed externally the radiation is put into the body from an object outside the body, which is usually called a linear accelerator.

When radiotherapy is performed internally radiation is put inside the body. Internal radiotherapy can also be called brachytherapy. "Brachy" comes from the Greek word for "short range." The radiation is put into the body at short range, thus, brachytherapy. Some other names for internal radiotherapy are sealed source radiotherapy, seed implantation radiotherapy or endocurietherapy.

The radiation is placed either inside the cancer source or very close to it. The radiation that is placed inside emits radiation killing the cancerous cells but can only kill up to a one inch diameter, so the radiation must be placed close to the cancerous site.

There are two different types of brachytherapy:

- temporary brachytherapy- permanent brachytherapy

Temporary brachytherapy consists of placing the radioactive seeds (radiation) inside the body and then taking them out after a certain amount of time.

Permanent brachytherapy consists of placing the radioactive seeds inside the body and leaving them. The radioactive seeds actually stop emitting radiation after a certain amount of time but lay in the body causing no problems.

There are actually teams of people who administer the brachytherapy. Among this team are a radiation oncologist, a radiation physicist, a radiation therapist, and the person who manually does the procedure.

The radiation oncologist decides the area to be treated and the overall treatment plan, the radiation physicist decides the best equipment to be used to infuse the radiation, the dosimetrist decides the dosage to be given and helps in distributing the dose and the radiation therapist operates the equipment that administers the radiation.

Brachytherapy is considered to be a safer method of treatment for mesothelioma than other treatments for the cancer, but there are side effects of this procedure. Right after the procedure there is soreness at the site of the radiation there may also be swelling in the same area. Short-term side effects are soreness and bleeding at the site but generally only last a few days.

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Mixed Results for Mesothelioma From Targeted Therapies - Health - Cancer

A review of recent clinical trials on various targeted therapies for malignant mesothelioma indicates that, while some are helpful, none are likely to become standard treatments yet.

In an article in the international journal Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, a pair of Danish researchers reported their analysis of 32 clinical trials on 17 different targeted agents for mesothelioma. A targeted agent is a medication that takes aim at a specific cellular function within mesothelioma tumor cells. Some inhibit proteins needed for growth or replication. Others may attack the formation of blood vessels or other structures that feed the cancer cells.

The extensive look at clinical trials of these targeted agents found that, overall, those that were used as a first-line treatment for mesothelioma induced responses ranging from 0 to 14%. Those that were used as a second-line treatment, after another therapy had already been tried, induced a 0 to 16% response. One of the more effective targeted agents appears to be sunitinib (brand name Sutent), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that triggered some tumor shrinkage in 10% of mesothelioma patients, but resulted in 'stable disease' for 66% of them when used as a second-line treatment.

Another potentially effective targeted agent for some mesothelioma patients is bevacizumab (brand name Avastin). Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody and the first FDA-approved therapy designed to inhibit angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels form to support cancer cells. Primarily used for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, recurrent metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, and metastatic renal cell carcinoma, it is being tested as an addition to chemotherapy for mesothelioma patients.

As reported by the Danish researchers, some of the results of Avastin trials have been positive. When added to pemetrexed and cisplatin chemotherapy drugs, bevacizumab 'significantly improved disease control in 73.5% of mesothelioma patients, compared to 43.2% who had chemotherapy alone. Bevacizumab did not appear to offer the same advantages when used along with another chemotherapy combination - gemcitabine and cisplatin. Unfortunately, other studies suggest that the drug may increase the risk of kidney damage.

The results of these mesothelioma trials prompted the authors of the meta-analysis to cautiously conclude, "Disease stabilization is reported in some patients with several targeted treatments and might be beneficial in subgroups of patients or in combination with classic chemotherapy." They add, however, that none of the current targeted treatments available are effective enough to be recommended as standard treatment for malignant mesothelioma.

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The Top Highest-Risk Occupations for Mesothelioma - Health - Cancer

Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer originating in the lining around your heart, lungs or abdominal cavity. It is caused by exposure to asbestos, a fibrous material known for being resistant to fire, heat and chemicals. These properties made the use of asbestos in the construction and manufacturing industries popular during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Once the cancer-causing effects of asbestos fibers became known, regulations were put into place to contain and limit exposure to this hazard. However, the cancerous fibers remain present in many older buildings and some products, continuing to put people at risk. In addition, if you ever worked in a high-risk occupation, you will continue to have a lifelong increase in your chance of developing mesothelioma. The following are among the highest-risk occupations for mesothelioma:

1. Construction Workers. Before it was banned, asbestos was used by the construction industry to strengthen cement and plastics. It was also a routine ingredient in roofing materials, insulation, floor tiles, ceiling tiles and patching supplies. Electricians, plumbers, laborers and other individuals at construction sites were regularly subjected to increased levels of asbestos. This risk continues for demolition and construction workers who tear down, renovate or repair older buildings.

2. Auto Mechanics. Asbestos was once a common component of gaskets, exhaust systems, and brake and clutch pads in automobiles. It can still be found in some of these items. Normal wear and tear to these parts releases the asbestos fibers. When auto mechanics remove and repair these items, the air and work space becomes contaminated. Mechanics who specialize in the restoration of older vehicles are particularly vulnerable.

3. Navy Personnel and Sailors. Boilers, steam pipes and hot water pipes were once insulated with asbestos. Dust containing asbestos fibers and limited ventilation within ships resulted in high asbestos levels. The refurbishing of older ships can elevate this concentration further, putting ship occupants and workers in danger of exposure.

4. Factory Workers. Just as the workers who used construction materials and automotive parts were subjected to high levels of asbestos, those who made these items were exposed as well. In addition, production workers came into contact with the cancer-causing fibers during the manufacturing of products like hair dryers, vermiculite-containing garden products and talc-containing crayons.

5. Firefighters and Emergency Personnel. The destruction of structures and homes that occurs during a fire, natural disaster or conflict can result in the release of asbestos fibers. Firefighters, police and rescue personnel working under these conditions are vulnerable to inhaling dust and coming into contact with contaminated debris.

Treatment for mesothelioma is frequently delayed because early symptoms are typically mild and general, causing them to be dismissed. The disease has often progressed into advanced stages by the time the symptoms are severe enough to warrant seeking medical treatment. Late diagnosis results in delayed treatment, shortening the mesothelioma life expectancy.

A diagnosis of mesothelioma is devastating. The knowledge that some manufactures knew about the dangers of asbestos and failed to inform consumers and employees creates additional anguish. An experienced mesothelioma attorney can help you determine the source of your exposure and better understand your legal rights.

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New Hope For Mesothelioma Victims - Health

Asbestos related diseases usually are diagnosed anywhere from fifteen to fifty years after a person has been exposed to asbestos fibers, dust, or particles. These diseases include asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other types of cancer.

Most asbestos related diseases are fatal, although a number of treatment options are available.

When a person is diagnosed with mesothelioma their life expectancy is approximately eleven to eighteen months.

Mesothelioma can be a very painful disease and treatment for the disease can help to alleviate the pain.

When a person is diagnosed with mesothelioma it is a very frightening experience. In order to ensure the best possible care and treatment the patient's oncologist should be updated about any medical changes that have transpired.

There are generally three treatment options available: surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Surgery might remove the cancer. Radiation therapy generally works by killing cancer cells by using high energy beams. Chemotherapy uses drugs to fight the cancer.

Chemotherapy is almost always included as one of the treatments for mesothelioma. The chemotherapy is used to try to destroy or stunt the mesothelioma cells.

The type of mesothelioma treatment will be determined by the patient's surgeon. This will often depend on the extent that the cancer has spread, the location of the tumor(s), and the health and age of the patient.

Although the life expectancy is limited, the patient's doctors are always looking for ways to slow down the further spread of cancer as well as ways that they could remove the cancer cells.

Recently new treatment options have been tested and they seem like they may be able to increase the life expectancy beyond the original expectations.

Even when an advanced stage of malignant mesothelioma has been evidenced, a stage that seems to be incurable, small clinical trials involving radical surgery have resulted in approximately 48% of the patients living a minimum of five years beyond their original life expectancy dates.

This type of surgery is called "extrapleural pneumonectomy." It involves the removal of internal body parts that mesothelioma cells tend to invade.

Both prior to the surgery and after both radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used.

During the treatment of mesothelioma the oncologist will continue to perform tests in order to make sure that the therapy that is being used is appropriate and that it is working correctly.

Mesothelioma was often caused when an employee was exposed to asbestos while at work. Often their employers knew of the dangers involved but did nothing to protect the people that worked for them.

Any victim of mesothelioma deserves the best medical treatment available - and the best legal advice - no matter what their financial situation is.

Even the best mesothelioma attorneys will often represent victims of mesothelioma on a contingency basis. This means that the victims will not have to pay any money to the attorneys unless they win the case. When that happens a pre-agreed upon percentage of the settlement or award will be apportioned to the attorneys.

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What Are Some Of The New Treatments Or Breakthroughs In Treatments Of Mesothelioma - Health

Mesothelioma is a family of cancer which is truly impossible to cure. Here are some newest treatment techniques that are really showing promise when it aggregates to curb this type of cancer. Anti-angiogenesis is a type of the recent mode of cancer treatment. Such drugs are in no way configured to pinpoint the tumor that is the cause of the mesothelioma. The drugs are meant for the blood vessels that pull the tumors develop. The drugs pinpoint the vascular endothelial progress element that is instrumental in enable blood vessels to form. So the anti-angiogenesis drugs clear sure that the vascular endothelial growths do in no way feed the tumor. This in effect causes the tumor to halt growing and spreading to very important body organs.

New treatments for mesothelioma include immunotherapy which is very effective. The logic behind why it is effective is since it uses the the basics of disease prevention in the body. Biological response modifiers help in improving the immune system of individuals thus making it conceivable for the body to rid of the cancerous cells of the mesothelioma. These modifiers play a big role in making the tumors harmless to the body as well as what comes about is that the modifiers inhibit the cancer cells from developping hence pulling down mesothelioma spread highly impossible. The modifiers practically strengthen the functions of the antibodies. They can certainly manufacture the body identify cells that are in no way decent for it and thus eliminate them before they cause further harm. Mesothelioma comes about when cells that are normal are transformed to cancerous cells. The modifiers tear off the immune system very strong in the sense that they cease the transformation from normal to cancerous.

The photodynamic therapy is one more form of brand-new age mesothelioma treatment. This treatment uses laser light that is induced in to the system of the patient. The light targets the cells that have been harmed by the mesothelioma. When the cells are in contact with the light, then they are going to slowly stop thriving as well as then eventually die. This therapy is normally in the form of drugs that on times affected some patients who kept mesothelioma. The effect is not as drastic the only complication is the patients experience sudden sensitive skin.

Gene therapy is in addition a new age mesothelioma treatment progression that is proving to be very effective. This type of treatment thinks about everything to dupe with the genes of the patient who thinks about the mesothelioma. This type of therapy forms the gene structure of the patient who has mesothelioma have the genes to eradicate this type of cancer.There are some researchers who have located out that dermis cancer cream support in the treatment of mesothelioma. This clinical trial involves the cream being put in the tumor that has the mesothelioma. When the cream was in the tumor, the body acted in response by reproducing cells that in turn eradicate the cancerous mesothelioma cells. This type of trial looks to be very promising and numerous mesothelioma patients will most likely quickly be cured as well as the cancer is going to go as well as stop composing their health life harder.

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Treatments for Mesothelioma Under Investigation - Law

Researchers continually find ways to treat diseases that seem counter-intuitive to the rest of us. There are hundreds of clinical trials underway at any given time. Clinical trials are research programs that are approved for trial on humans. These trials are restricted to people who meet inclusion and exclusion criteria for that specific study. Clinical trials conducted through four trial phases, each involving a larger number of participants. The fourth phase is a post marketing study.

Several clinical trials are using gene therapy to stimulate immune responses in humans. One treatment in Phase I involves injecting a dose of a gene therapy involving a virus thymidine kinase into the intrapleural space (between the two pleural mesothelial membranes that line the lungs and ribcage) twice daily for 3 days. This treatment showed sufficient promise in the treatment of pleural mesothelioma to recommend it for Phase II testing. Several other gene therapy trials by different groups of researchers use variations of gene therapy with promising results. These trials involved patients with localized pleural mesothelioma.

A double-blind study in Phase II Trial will compare the results of administering the combination of Gemcitabine and Cisplatin with, and without Bevacizumab, a drug that inhibits the growth of blood vessels that can nourish new cancer cells in the hope that the tumor will shrink.

Pemetrexed combined with Cisplatin was compared to Cisplatin alone in a Phase III trial involving patients with metastatic pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The combination of both drugs with the addition of vitamin B12 and folic acid resulted in superior survival time, time to progression, and response rates Adding the vitamins reduced toxicity.

Another study in Phase I involves Pemetrexed and Carboplatin in patients with MPM. During Phase I some of the patients experienced toxicity related to the dosage, however, 70% of the patients experienced improvement in their symptoms after only two courses of treatment. Time to progression was delayed 305 days (about ten months) and median survival time 451 days (about fifteen months.)

Photodynamic therapy is another approach that is currently being studied. Patients are pretreated with light-sensitive molecules that cause the cancer cells to become sensitive to light. During surgery, these cells are exposed to light of a specific wavelength. Though there have been positive results, this treatment also requires more study. In comparison, the patients who qualified for these clinical trials had a life expectancy of six to nine months at the time they entered the trials. While there is still a long way to go, scientists are working to find the key to curing mesothelioma. In the past surgery was done as a palliative treatment.

Fifteen years ago researchers were hopeful that surgery combined with chemotherapy, radiation therapy would provide more significant results than each give separately. Today, therapy combining surgery with chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy and gene therapy are producing encouraging results.

You may be entitled to compensation if you have received a diagnosis of mesothelioma or asbestosis. Please visit the website of Parker, Dumler & Kiely, LLP, the experienced mesothelioma lawyers in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

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Five Fake Treatments for Mesothelioma - Health - Cancer

Mesothelioma cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos. Sadly, most people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma die within five years of their mesothelioma diagnosis. In their quest for a cure, many patients turn to alternative "treatments." According to recent medical data, most of these "treatments" simply do not work, and many can cause serious harm. Read on to learn which fake mesothelioma treatments to avoid.

1. Rattlesnake Powder Therapy Rattlesnake treatments are based on a medically unproven claim that a powder derived from rattlesnake has the power to kill cancer. The rattlesnake powder is made by cutting off the head of the snake and drying the remaining flesh in the sun. The dehydrated snake is then ground into powder and packaged into capsules. The patient is supposed to take one capsule every hour until he or she is healed. Alarmingly, many rattlesnake healers insist that this "cure" cannot be combined with any other medication. Thus, cancer patients are told to stop taking their cancer drugs and painkillers in order to benefit from the magical power of rattlesnake.

2. Oxidative Stress Treatments Oxygen-based treatments are grounded in the idea that cancer cells cannot survive in a highly oxygenated environment. Oxygen therapy proponents attempt to produce lethal levels of hydrogen peroxide in cancer cells by administering high-dose intravenous combinations of vitamin C, vitamin K and a drug called Perftec. Although the proponents of this therapy claim that it only kills the cancer cells and is harmless to the surrounding tissues, these claims have not been scientifically proven.

3. Melatonin Therapy Melatonin cancer treatments use high doses of melatonin, a hormone that is naturally produced by the body, to defeat cancer. The melatonin healers claim that, in high doses, melatonin boosts the immune system, which then destroys the cancer cells. While some healers recommend increasing the levels of melatonin through a twice-a-day meditation sessions, most others administer melatonin in capsules. This approach might be dangerous because the long-term effects of high doses of melatonin are unknown.

4. The Rife Machine The Rife machine was developed in the 1930s by a microbiologist named Dr. Royal Rife. This machine attempts to kills cancer cells by administering specific sound frequencies to the body. The machine allegedly sends the sound waves deep into the tissues and is so effective that all that is required is a three-minute treatment every other day. While the promoters of this super-treatment (which costs thousands of dollars) claim phenomenal success, their claims are lacking evidentiary support.

5. DHEA Therapy DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is a potent steroid hormone. The body produces low quantities of DHEA naturally, but the production of DHEA decreases as the body ages. The DHEA promoters claim that the reduction in the "fountain of youth" hormone causes cancer, which is why high-dose DHEA supplementation is necessary to beat cancer. However, high doses of DHEA can potentially cause liver and prostate damage. While the research into the benefits of DHEA continues, so far no proof has been produced showing that DHEA helps fight cancer.

A mesothelioma prognosis is a difficult reality to contemplate. Those who are diagnosed with the disease typically die within one to two years. Due to the shortened lifespan of those stricken by the illness, it is especially important to avoid fake treatments and receive care from a qualified medical professional. A mesothelioma attorney may be able to help you receive financial compensation in order to cover some of the costs of your treatments.

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