Radiation Treatment After Mesothelioma Surgery: Is it Worth It?
Radiotherapy after lung-removing mesothelioma surgery is not likely to improve mesothelioma survival or quality of life. European researchers reached that conclusion after the first Phase II randomized trial of postoperative hemithoracic (one-sided) radiotherapy in mesothelioma treatment. Multimodal Mesothelioma Treatment Because mesothelioma is both aggressive and highly resistant to conventional cancer therapies, most patients undergo several different types of treatment. Radiotherapy can be used before mesothelioma surgery, after it, or instead of other treatments as a way to relieve symptoms. In the case of the new study conducted at hospitals in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, 113 enrolled mesothelioma patients first underwent chemotherapy to shrink their tumors, followed by extrapleural pneumonectomy (lung-removing mesothelioma surgery). Mesothelioma patients who had good surgical results were then…
