Mesothelioma Attorney

Mesothelioma cancer is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers or dust and primarily strikes persons who worked with asbestos products. It is a type of lung cancer that takes many years to develop and produce symptoms.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, or a family member has died as a result, you may be entitled to recover compensation from the companies that made these asbestos products.

Mesothelioma is serious and life-threatening. By the time cancer is diagnosed the survival time of patients is usually short. Mesothelioma usually spreads throughout the peritoneal or pleural cavity before diagnosis, and complete surgical removal is unlikely. Because of this, the average survival time is only 1 year. If the cancer is found early, approximately 50% of the patients survive 2 years and approximately 20% survive 5 years. Additionally, unlike with other tumors, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not very effective.

SURGERY

Surgical intervention is the normal first course of action provided the tumor is confined to a single area and there is no evidence of metastasis. A surgeon might remove the tumor as well as part of the lining of the lung (pleura) or part of the sac around the heart (pericardium) if the tumor encroaches upon either lining. If the tumor is more extensive and there is no evidence of spread, the surgeon might perform a full removal of the lung (pneumonectomy). Tumors within the abdomen are treated similarly with local removal of all involved tissue. In either situation a portion of the diaphragm can be removed as well if it is involved with the tumor.

CHEMOTHERAPY

There are a number of chemotherapeutic agents available, but only a couple apply to mestothelioma tumor. Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancerous cells with medication. The medication sometimes is taken orally and other times it is injected either into the vein or directly into a large muscle of the body. The drug then reaches the tumor via the bloodstream and goes to the tumor cells where it hopefully will kill the mesothelioma cells.

Your doctor might discuss any one of several medications that can be used including by not limited to cisplatin, premetrexed, aroplatin, or interferon. In some patients fluid will be drained from the space between the lung and the chest wall, and a chemotherapeutic agent will be injected directly into the area that was drained. This is called intrapleural chemotherapy.