Chemotherapy for Mesothelioma

Chemotherapy is a treatment in which doctors use drugs on patients which kills the cancer cells. Chemotherapy for mesothelioma can be used in different situations such as


1) To minimize the tumor before surgery

2) To kill remaining cancer cells after surgery

3) To kill cancer tumor that recurs

4) To use on patients who are not surgical candidates.

Chemotherapy is being continually developed by the researchers. Good news for the mesothelioma patients is that, there is considerable progress is the systematic treatment of this disease in last few years. Pemetrexed is seen as the most promising drug to treat mesothelioma. This is an inhibitor of proteins including thymidylate synthase and dihydrofolate reductase which are required in synthesis of DNA.

Chemotherapy drugs are often used in combination of others and this process is called combination therapy. When cancer occurs, bad cells in the body keep growing as exponential rate and the anticancer drugs can help the bad cells keep in control and during the process good cells may also get damaged which is the main reason for side effects. The cells most likely to be affected are the fast-growing normal cells such as the blood cells forming in bone marrow, and cells in the digestive tract which includes the mouth, stomach, intestines, and esophagus. Hair follicles may also be affected, hence, hair loss during chemotherapy. Some drugs affect cells of vital organs, such as the heart, kidney, bladder, lungs, and nervous system.