Mesothelioma is the severest health condition caused by asbestos. The fibers of this material that relieve into the air in the places of high concentration damage human lungs and cause irreversible changes in tissues. As a result, in 20-40 years after being exposed to asbestos a person can get dangerous diagnosis – mesothelioma, a specific type of cancer that considered incurable for a long time. Today the doctors apply complex therapy for treating it, while scientists find new, more effective methods of mesothelioma treatment.

First of all, therapy depends on the stage of the disease. The first stage is called localized mesothelioma. The tumor affects pleura from the right or left side, and lymph glands are not involved in the process. On this stage surgical method is highly efficient. A surgeon removes the tumor together with affected pleural tissue to clean up the body from cancerous cells. It helps to fight mesothelioma with minimal damage to a body. Moreover, a surgical operation may be performed for relieving the severe symptoms or complications of the disease.

The next stages of mesothelioma require more complex treatment. In the second stage the tumor is spread on the diaphragm and lung tissue. In the third stage the process extends onto the front chest wall, interpleural space, pericard or lymph glands on the mesothelioma side. And the fourth stage is when cancer affects muscles, bones, grows into the diaphragm and other organs. On stages II – IV together with surgical method doctors usually apply chemotherapy, as well as drug therapy and beam-therapy. Palliative surgeries also effective in removing the excess fluid from lungs and improving the work of other affected organs. In complex all mesothelioma treatment methods help to extend the patient’s life, or fight it completely on early stages.

Besides the methods aimed at fighting the disease directly, doctors extensively apply immunotherapy aimed to support the body and eliminate by-effects of anti-cancer therapy. Surgeries, chemo- and radiotherapy often kill the immunity, making the body unable to resist various complications and new diseases. Immunotherapy helps to cope with these consequences efficiently.

The V stage is considered as incurable, and the therapy is aimed for relieving the condition.

However, the progress moves into the new directions of mesothelioma treatment. For instance, in 2013 researchers from Korea have found that red wine inhibits the development of mesothelioma tumor and can fight the disease, if combined with leukemia drugs. Red wine and red grapes and grape juice contain resveratrol that makes cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy. This means that more patients with such diagnosis will get a chance for full healing, if further studies confirm the found effect.

Italian scientists found a specific protein that helps to fight cancerous cells, not letting cancer grow in the body. They recreated it in their laboratory and learned its influence on lung cancer on live mice with human mesothelioma. Combined with chemotherapy the protein called dulanermin it showed much better effect than only chemo or only drug therapy.

There are a lot of treatment options for mesothelioma, and every year new methods are studied and approved. The problem of asbestos-related lung cancer is studied by governmental and private scientific groups for getting more knowledge about this disease and possible ways to fight it.