|

Improving Life Quality for Mesothelioma Patients: Lessons from Non-Drug Treatments

Improving Life Quality for Mesothelioma Patients: Lessons from Non-Drug Treatments

Living with mesothelioma is hard and researchers are trying to find ways to make life better. A recent study looked into non-drug treatments to help people with mesothelioma. The results of this study bring hope and support to those dealing with mesothelioma.

Understanding the Study

Figuring out how mesothelioma affects daily life is tricky. Traditional studies have a hard time finding the best treatments. So, researchers used a special method called network meta-analysis to dig deeper into non-drug options.

This new study focused on 13 different non-drug treatments. Researchers looked through English databases until January 2019. They searched for terms related to these treatments. Researchers wanted to see how each treatment affected the quality of life for patients with advanced cancers.

Results showed that, overall, none of the 13 treatments made a big difference. But, two treatments stood out as more likely to have a positive impact. This included the CanWalk intervention and a structured multidisciplinary intervention.

What We Learned

The 13 treatments didn’t show big differences. But, the CanWalk intervention seems promising for improving outcomes for mesothelioma patients. This suggests a path that mesothelioma patients can explore for a better quality of life.

It’s important to know the study has limits, and we need more evidence to be sure about the conclusions. Yet, it seems clear that mesothelioma patients should think about moderate physical activity. This is a simple but effective non-drug treatment for patients with advanced cancer.

This study gives us useful insights into making life better for mesothelioma patients. As we learn more, researchers hope to give better advice and support to those facing the unique challenges of mesothelioma. Exploring treatments like the CanWalk intervention might lead to better well-being and a more positive outlook for people dealing with this tough condition.

Source:

Tang, Ying, YuYang Wang, JinHui Tian, and ShuRong Zhou. “Thirteen Nonpharmacological Interventions for Increasing the Quality of Life in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Network Meta-Analysis.” CANCER NURSING 47, no. 1 (February 2024): 20–30. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000001155.

 

Similar Posts

  • |

    Chemical in Wine May Improve Mesothelioma Treatment

    There’s new evidence that a compound found in red wine may help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Last year, a team of Korean researchers released the world’s first study on the mesothelioma-fighting power of resveratrol, a natural phenol derived from the skin of red grapes and found in red wine and grape juice. Now, the same team says resveratrol also appears to enhance the chemosensitivity of malignant mesothelioma cells. Study author Yoon-Jin Lee and colleagues discovered  a synergistic cancer-fighting effect in mesothelioma cells treated with both resveratrol and clofarabine, a prescription drug often used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Together, resveratrol and clofarabine “induced a strong cytotoxic effect” by influencing levels of the tumor suppressor,…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Symptoms May Benefit from Tuberculosis Drugs

    Pleural effusion is the one of most uncomfortable and life-limiting symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. The buildup of fluid in the pleural space around the lungs, which can happen in late stage mesothelioma as well as several other types of cancer, limits breathing and can be painful. Effusion is often one of the primary reasons that mesothelioma patients in the late stages of the disease have trouble taking a full breath and complain of chest pain and fatigue. While pleural fluid can be drained off through thoracentesis or chemically absorbed through pleurodesis, these treatments are painful, risky, and not always effective. Now, a team of researchers in China say they may have discovered a non-invasive method for dealing with pleural effusion caused…

  • |

    Green Tea, Vitamin C, Chemo Fight Mesothelioma ‘Synergistically’

    Another study has found that the beneficial compounds in green tea may be powerful mesothelioma fighters – especially when combined with other drugs and nutrients. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant polyphenol in green tea and is a potent antioxidant. A number of studies have suggested that it may help the body combat various types of cancer, including mesothelioma. Recently, a group of Italian mesothelioma researchers combined EGCG with Vitamin C and a chemotherapy drug called gemcitabine to create a treatment combination called AND (Active Nutrients/Drug). To test the mixture, they administered AND to various mesothelioma cell lines in the laboratory. The result was a “synergistic cytotoxic mechanism”, meaning the ingredients in AND seemed to increase each other’s cancer-fighting properties…

  • |

    Green Tea Component Fights Mesothelioma

    Another study appears to confirm the idea that a compound found in green tea may be a powerful tool for combatting malignant pleural mesothelioma. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a potent antioxidant found in abundance in green (though, not black) tea. It has long been thought to help fight cancer and other diseases by reducing the so-called free radicals produced during oxidative stress. Now, a new study conducted in Japan and published in Cancer Cell International finds that EGCG triggered cell death in five different human mesothelioma cell lines by doing just the opposite. “We found that EGCG induced apoptosis (cell death) in all five mesothelioma cell lines in a dose-dependent manner,” write the authors in a summary of their findings. “We further…

  • |

    Medicinal Plant for Mesothelioma?

    A new study suggests that a plant used for centuries in Indian Ayurvedic medicine may be a powerful weapon in the fight against deadly malignant mesothelioma. The bioactive compound Withaferin A (WA) is isolated from the root of Withania somnifera, a plant in the nightshade family also known as Indian ginseng.  A number of previous scientific studies have found evidence to suggest that WA has anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-cancer properties. In the latest study, published online in the open-access peer-reviewed journal PLos One, researchers at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit tested the compound in live mice (in vivo) as well as in mesothelioma cells taken from human patients (in vitro). Their objective was to determine whether WA would have…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Patients May Be Low in Antioxidants

    New research suggests that the antioxidant vitamins found in abundance in fruits and vegetable may have a protective effect against malignant pleural mesothelioma. The news comes from a University in Turkey, where environmentally-induced mesothelioma is alarmingly common due to high erionite content in some small towns. Erionite is a naturally-occurring mineral that is structurally similar to asbestos, the primary cause of mesothelioma around the world. Erionite not only exists in the soil in these Turkish towns, but is also incorporated into hundreds of homes built from erionite-laden rocks. In an effort to evaluate whether or not certain key antioxidant vitamins might protect people against the deadly cancer, Turkish researchers enrolled 160 subjects, 42 of whom had been diagnosed with malignant pleural…