Alternative Mesothelioma Treatments

Traditional cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy may be more widely used to treat mesothelioma, but alternative therapies and treatments are on the rise. To date, few cases of mesothelioma have been cured, and it is this fact that motivates the trend toward unconventional forms of therapy. It is the hope of countless mesothelioma patients and medical professionals across the globe that other therapies will one day afford a cure for this rapacious disease.
Alternative therapies such as gene therapy, immunotherapy, and photodynamic therapy are showing promising results and may one day be considered conventional forms of mesothelioma treatment.

Mesothelioma Gene Therapy

Gene Therapy aims to correct the issues caused by a defective gene by using special techniques to replace the defective copy of a gene with a copy that functions properly.
The process is performed by genetically altering a virus to carry a normal copy of the gene. The patient is 'infected' with the virus, which enters target cells and causes them to produce normal proteins. Concerning mesotheliomatreatment, this therapy uses genetic material to target cancer cells to make them susceptible to chemotherapy drugs

Mesothelioma Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is another form of alternative therapy that involves the use and manipulation of an individual's immune system to assist in the fighting of disease. When applied to mesothelioma and other forms of cancer, immunotherapy fools the immune system into registering cancer cells as foreign. This directs the immune system to destroy cancer cells, while leaving normal and healthy cells undisturbed.
Active immunotherapy treatments generally encourage the immune system to fight disease. Vaccines are considered an active type of immunotherapy. Conversely, passive immunotherapy treatments use components that are created outside the body. Non-specific immunotherapy treatments are different from active and passive in that they do not involve the use of cancer cells from the patient.

Mesothelioma Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic Therapy works off the principle that normal cells and cancer cells react differently to photosensitizing drugs. This form of therapy utilizes light energy to obliterate cancer cells with the aim of leaving healthy cells mostly unaffected.
This process works by administering drugs called photosensitizers. These drugs cause cells to become sensitive to light. Upon receiving medication, treated cells are exposed to light of a particular wavelength. This causes the treated cells to produce a specific form of oxygen that is toxic to the cell, which results in the death of nearby cancer cells

Causes

Mesothelioma is primarily caused by asbestos exposure.Though the exact way asbestos causes mesothelioma is currently being researched, medical professionals have a number of theories:

Asbestos causes irritation and inflammation of mesothelial cells, which results in irreversible scarring, cellular damage, and eventually cancer.
Asbestos fibers enter cells and disrupt the function of cellular structures that are essential for normal cell division, causing cellular changes that lead to cancer.
Asbestos causes the production of free radicals. These molecules damage DNA, and cause cells to mutate and become cancerous.
The presence of asbestos causes cells to produce oncoproteins. These molecules cause mesothelial cells to ignore normal cellular division restraints, and this can lead to the development of cancer.

Lung Cancer

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that was widely used for many decades in a number of applications, most notably construction, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of consumer products. Throughout the past century, millions of Americans and people abroad were exposed to asbestos, which can lead to the development of devastating illnesses and cancers. To read more about this toxic mineral, please see the Bleow Detail of Asbestos.

What is Asbestos?

The term "asbestos" has been given to six naturally occurring mineral fibers that have been used for commercial purposes. It can be found in hundreds of countries on just about every continent. These fibers belong to two separate mineral groups, known as serpentine and amphibole.

The serpentine group, usually of a curly form, contains only one asbestiform variety, referred to as chrysotile. The amphibole group, which is straight and needle-like, contains five asbestiform varieties: anthophyllite, grunerite (amosite), riebeckite (crocidolite), tremolite, and actinolite.
The U.S. Bureau of Mines has listed more than 100 mineral fibers as "asbestos-like" fibers, but the United States government only regulates the six aforementioned forms (primarily due to effective lobbying on behalf of the asbestos and stone industries).
These very fine fibers are separable, hundreds of times thinner than human hairs, and too small to be seen with the naked eye. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines fibers of concern as at least five micrometers long and at least three times as long as their diameters. For a frame of reference, mineralogists work with fibers as much as a thousand times as long as their diameters.

Associated Risk Factors

As with exposure to many carcinogens, the risk of developing cancer is influenced by a number of factors relating to exposure. First, the amount of asbestos to which a person is exposed is an important factor. Evidence shows the likelihood of developing serious asbestos-related disease compounds as the number of asbestos fibers in the body increase