It is a silent killer there. He furtively over their victims, the attacks of calm and Unsuspectingly, initiated and developed a wound that for many years, before finally causing pain. This stops killer is known as mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a malignant tumor developed on the mesothelial cells or lung, heart or abdominal organs, parasites and those who are threatened by asbestos over a long period. Many victims of this disease are people who have worked in some areas where there is trade in the 1970s, such as blacksmiths, electricians, Miller, and oil refinery workers.

Because it can reach forty years for symptoms to surface, mesothelioma death are higher than ever in the 21 century. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that 1493 people died from asbestos in 2000, compared to 77 people in 1968.

Mesothelioma treatment methods vary depending on the stage of cancer detection, as well as patient age and treatment of personal choice. The four phases of the disease are a factor in determining the type of treatment, mesothelioma can be implemented. The first step is, if the tumor has limited growth in food of the pleura (the lining of the lungs). At that time, a test may be done surgically remove the tumor while. However, if the tumor is detected at a later stage, when it conquered the surrounding areas, it is considered incurable.

Traditionally, the later stages of mesothelioma have been treated either by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs used to kill cancer cells during radiotherapy high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.

Although the methods of treatment of mesothelioma have to extend patients’ lives, they can not cure the disease. Clinical studies are underway to overcome this crippling disease. Experimental being processed are:

Drug Therapy: A drug called Alimta, developed by Eli Lilly, has shown significantly increase the life expectancy of patients and reduce the symptoms of the disease. It is the only drug of chemotherapy, which by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Gene therapy: Mesothelioma is currently undergoing treatment in the experimental stages. The process involves inserting a “suicide gene” directly into the tumor. This gene makes the cells sensitive to a drug called glanciclovir usually ineffective, which destroys cancer cells and leaving healthy cells intact.

Photodynamic therapy: still in experimental stage, photodynamic therapy using light to kill cancer cells. The patient receives a first photosensitizer that accumulates in cancer cells. Fiber-optic cable are in the body for the right frequency of light on the tumor. The photosensitizer is created for a toxic oxygen molecule, the death of the cancer cell.

Immunotherapy: Even as biological therapy, this treatment mesothelioma personal exploits of the immune system of the body to defend itself against mesothelioma. It was discovered that the immune system is able to decipher the healthy cells of cancer cells and can therefore eliminating the cells that cause cancer.

While treatment methods are still developing or experimental phase, there is hope that one day all victims of mesothelioma by the hands of this deadly illness.

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