Treatment for mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos, exposure, has been making headway. Experts predict that in the next five to ten years treatments will become increasingly personalized.
The occurrence of mesothelioma in the U.S. is rare with about 3,000 cases per year, but the number of cases worldwide is rising. The disease is extremely aggressive and has a long latency period that can last up to 20 years. Once diagnosed it is difficult to treat so many patients succumb within a year of diagnoses, so researchers have been working to help predict which treatments will work for which patients.
Individualizing the treatment of mesothelioma can help doctors decide which treatments will have greater effectiveness on which patients. Doctors can individualize the treatments by molecular or genetic tumor profiling and/or genetic biomarkers. These can help decide which chemotherapeutic agent will work best for which patients and whether or not they need to combine the agent with a cytoreductive surgery. Patients, who may be too sick for surgery, would use chemotherapy as a primary treatment alone.
To learn more about mesothelioma and your legal options contact LegalView for a free mesothelioma law consultation at 866-9LAW-NOW. Our operators are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. 1-866-952-9669. Visit LegalView for more information about finding a potential mesothelioma lawyer and other information about environmental toxins, including asbestos.
Tags: Asbestos, Mesothelioma
This entry was posted on Friday, December 10th, 2010 at 9:20 am and is filed under Asbestos & Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
No comments:
Post a Comment