Asbestos Cancer Treatment Options - Learn more about treating asbestos cancer
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Share ArticleTreatment of asbestos cancer, like any cancer, depends on the type of cancer present—small or non-small cell—and the stage it has reached.
Asbestos cancer is most commonly diagnosed as either lung cancer, or mesothelioma, a rare but extremely fatal form of cancer caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos.
Asbestos induced lung cancer can be broken down into two main types, small cell and non-small cell.
Small cell lung cancer is less common, accounting for approximately 20 percent of all lung cancer cases that are diagnosed. It grows and spreads rapidly, dictating aggressive treatment. While its occurrence is most closely linked with smoking at this time, asbestos exposure increases its risk of developing.
Non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which tends to develop and spread much more slowly, is classified into three types: squamous carcinoma, cancer in the cells which line the lung airways; adenocarcinoma, cancer of the cells which produce mucous; and large cell carcinoma, which derives its name from the appearance of the abnormal cells under a microscope. Patients can have mixed histologies—adenosquamous, mixed small & non-small cells.
Traditional treatments for both lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; often, a combination of treatments is used. Newer treatments, such as photodynamic therapy and targeted/biologic therapy, are coming into broader use. Under certain circumstances, participation in clinical trials is an option.
For patients who have been diagnosed and who are in Stage I or II, surgery is usually chosen as the first treatment, which can also be effective for some cases of Stage III cancer. The goal of these surgeries is to remove all of the cancer if possible. If performed early enough, before the cancer has spread outside of the chest, surgery can cure the cancer by eliminating it from the body. Radiation is a potentially curative option in patients who are not candidates for surgery.
Depending on the location and size of the cancer, different types of surgery may be performed. A thoroscopy, or Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) is minimally invasive, allowing the surgeon to access and remove instances of lung cancer through a small incision in the chest. If the cancer has spread within the lung, the surgeon may perform a wedge resection, removing a small section of the lung with the cancer; a segmentectomy, removing part of one lobe of a lung; or a lobectomy, removing an entire lung lobe. Lobectomy is the most common type of lung cancer surgery.
In more advanced cases of cancer, a pneumonectomy, or the removal of an entire lung, may be necessary. It is possible to preserve lung tissue in some of these cases by performing a sleeve resection, in which the cancerous part of the airway is cut away, with or without adjoining lung tissue.
Some patients will undergo chemo or radiotherapy prior to and/or after surgery. This combination is becoming increasingly common as new data suggests a lower incidence of cancer recurrence and increased survival rate.
In external radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, strong x-rays or other type of radiation targets cancer cells to kill them. It is an important part of cancer treatment in all stages. A typical course of therapy involves five treatments per week for up to 6-8 weeks, and can be used to shrink a tumor for ease of surgical removal, as well as to provide insurance against cancer recurrence. In cases where surgery is not possible because of the patient's age or physical condition, radiotherapy will be used as an alternative. In late-stage cancers, radiation can be used as a palliative therapy, easing the discomfort of the terminal cancer.
Internal radiation therapy can also be used, in which radioactive substances are placed near or directly into the cancer with needles, wires or catheters. Radiotherapy is sometimes used in conjunction with chemotherapy apart from surgery, particularly in cancer cases where the lymph nodes and lungs are the only cancerous sites, and surgery is not an option. Small cell lung cancer is almost exclusively treated this way. The two therapies may be administered simultaneously, or at separate times.
Chemotherapy, in which strong cytotoxic (anticancer) medicines are administered, is given orally or intravenously and can help to control the growth and spread of cancer. It is standard treatment for lung cancer in most stages. Many different types of chemotherapy drugs are available and are often prescribed in combinations.
Treatments are typically given once every three to four weeks for a period of at least six months and can either be systemic, where the drugs travel throughout the entire body, or targeted, where the drugs are injected directly into the cancerous area. Often used alone in late-stage cancer, chemotherapy can improve life quality and prolong the lives of Stage IV cancer patients.
Whatever stage a patient's lung cancer or mesothelioma have reached, treatment plans can be developed to suit their age, physical condition, and personal preferences. The key to the most successful treatments is early detection.
- U.S. National Library of Medicine, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
- OncoLink - Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu/
- Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, http://www.mayoclinic.org/
- Brayton Purcell LLP, http://www.asbestosnetwork.com/
- Health-Cares.net - Cancer, http://cancer.health-cares.net/
- Asbestos Legal Watch - Law Offices of Thomas J. Lamb, http://www.asbestos-mesothelioma.com/
- The Mesothelioma Center, http://www.mesotheliomacenter.org/
- Healthline, http://www.healthline.com/
- PeaceHealth, http://www.peacehealth.org/
- National Cancer Institute, http://www.cancer.gov/
- AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, 6th ed.
- Mesothelioma Information & Resource Group, http://www.mirg.org/
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