Can Radiation Therapy Help Mesothelioma, How Radiation Therapy Can Treat Mesothelioma Mesothelioma Research News

Although it is not a cure recent studies show modern precise forms of radiation therapy can improve prognosis and prolong survival in patients with pleural mesothelioma.

Dr myers powell. Radiation therapy can extend a mesothelioma patients survival and ease symptoms. Radiation for mesothelioma is typically used in combination with other treatments including chemotherapy or surgery. Pleural mesothelioma more commonly utilizes ebrt as it has proven to be more effective.

The goal is to slow the growth of these cells or kill them outright. It uses x rays from a machine. The iort approach also prevents damage to healthy tissues since radiation does not pass through the skin from the outside.

Even when there is no hope for a cure radiation can still be a useful treatment. It can be used as a palliative procedure to ease symptoms of mesothelioma such as shortness of breath pain bleeding or trouble swallowing. Its unrealistic for radiation to completely eradicate all mesothelioma tumors but the therapy can diminish the size and scope of the cancer in the body.

When cancer cell dna is severely damaged the cells die and can no longer replicate helping to prevent metastasis or cancer growthit can take days or weeks for the cells to die and they continue to die for weeks or months. Radiation therapy for mesothelioma uses beams of radiation like x rays to target cancer cells and damage their dna. Despite external beam radiation involving high energy rays to target malignant tumors.

It can help control pain in people with pleural mesothelioma. By reducing the size of the tumor pressure on the lungs and pleura is reduced. Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high energy x rays or particles to kill malignant cells.

This is called adjuvant radiation therapy. In other types of mesothelioma radiation can have a similar palliative effect. Overview how radiation treats mesothelioma.

Types of radiation therapy external beam radiation therapy ebrt this is the main type of radiation therapy used for mesothelioma. Radiation can be applied both internally and externally for malignant mesotheliomathe internal form is brachytherapy whereas the external form is called external beam radiation therapy ebrt. Radiation therapy also called rt is the delivery of targeted energy to treat or control mesothelioma tumors.

However a new article in the oncology nurse advisor explores the role of radiation therapy in treating mesothelioma. By applying radiation therapy directly to the open mesothelioma site doctors can increase surgical success by preventing mesothelioma cells from spreading. New evidence suggests radiation therapy used with chemotherapy can slow the disease.