Oncologists yet to perfect the Prognosis of the Cancer Treatment

Reporting of Cancer incidents in Canada is on the rise. The treatment of Cancer or Mesothelioma as it is widely known is very painful and expensive process.

A reliable and perfect cure for Mesothelioma is yet to be developed. While a cancer patient undergoes a lot of pain and suffering, the cost of treatment of Mesothelioma can make a person bankrupt unless one has sufficient back up medical insurance cover.

Mesothelioma which is untreatable one can opt for clinical trials of new treatments that are in progress in several research laboratories and centers. The best advice on the line of treatment would be that recommended by the oncologist or physician.

Prognosis or projection that how would a cancer patient respond to the treatment is often poor as the treatment of Mesothelioma often depends upon the age, health of patient as well as location of the cancer.

Oncologist has to decide the line of treatment out of the following principal options-

1.       He can remove the infected tissues with the surgery if the Mesothelioma is detected in early stages. This process is called thoracoscopy. In this option, often an oncologist would resort to palliative procedures like chest tube drainage. This is more of treatment of symptoms of Mesothelioma rather than the disease.

2.       In case cancer is at little later stage, Radiation is prescribed along with the combination of surgery. However as Radiation therapy also damages surrounding healthy tissues, cancer patients usually end up with lots of side effects as loss of hair, loss of appetite, blurred vision etc. Research is on to improvise radiation therapy using implants or UV light therapy to prevent damages to surrounding healthy tissue.

3.       To prevent the healthy cells from becoming infected from cancerous cells, chemotherapy is used to shrink the tumor prior to surgery. This is also known as neoadjuvant therapy. This also annihilates any remains of the tumor in the body after the tumor has been removed surgically.  About 20% of the patients respond well to it.

4.       Another commonly used procedure by an oncologist is to stimulate and strengthen the immune system of the body, regulate metabolism and reverse the process that leads to formation of cancer. This procedure is known as Immunotherapy. This procedure is yet to be developed and research is on.

5.       Perfect treatment of Mesothelioma is yet to be developed. Oncologists are working on to identify the genetic sequence that causes the cancer. Once this research is complete, aim would be to replace the genes in the patient through replacement gene therapy and knockout gene therapy. 

6.       Lovastation is a cholesterol lowering drug often given to Mesothelioma patients to control the deterioration of health of cancer patients.

7.       During surgical removal of cancerous tissues, oncologists often resort to Photodynamic treatment by giving a photosensitive medication using a laser.

8.        In case a cancer patient develops uncontrolled fluid accumulation, oncologists resort to draining of fluid in the chest or abdominal cavity followed by introduction of medications into the cavity.

 Trimodal therapy – a combination of radiation and chemotherapy is also widely used in most of the patients.