|

Encouragement for Mesothelioma Patients with Indwelling Pleural Catheters (IPCs)

ByHolly Zink

Encouragement for Mesothelioma Patients with Indwelling Pleural Catheters (IPCs)Mesothelioma patients with an (IPC) for pleural effusion are encouraged. The device is now recommended and widely used as a first-line treatment. In fact, IPCs may even eventually facilitate new kinds of mesothelioma treatments.

In a study on how IPCs compare with other treatment options, researchers examined the benefits and drawbacks of IPCs. The study included patients with a broad range of cancer, including malignant mesothelioma. The rest had either breast cancer or lung cancer.

IPCs for Pleural Effusion

The buildup of excess lung fluid is known as pleural effusion. It is one of the most life-limiting and bothersome side effects of mesothelioma.

As mesothelioma tumors grow, the body often reacts by filling the pleural space around the lungs with fluid. If not drained out, this fluid can put pressure on the lungs making it difficult and even painful to breathe.

In the past, mesothelioma patients suffering from pleural effusion had to visit the hospital frequently to have the fluid taken out with a needle. Surgical methods to close or even remove the pleural space can also be used.

IPCs are small tubes that stay in place and allow patients to drain their own lung fluid at home. In recent years, IPCs have become more popular.

Mesothelioma Patients and Their IPCs

A new study gives good data on the options available for both diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural effusion. This contains good news for mesothelioma patients who are benefitting from IPC devices.

The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, included a practical review of the current knowledge of IPCs. It also summarized other treatment options for pleural malignancies.

IPCs are relatively new. This study helps clinicians reduce hospital length of stay. And it also helps to avoid unnecessary pleural intervention in mesothelioma patients. It also stresses the importance of patient choice in clinical decision-making.

“Good-quality data have led to a paradigm shift in the management options of pleural malignancies, and the indwelling pleural catheter is now recommended and widely used as a first-line intervention,” writes study author Julien Guinde MD, of North University Hospital in France.

Sources

Guinde, Julien, Hervé Dutau, and Philippe Astoul. “Management of Malignant Pleural Effusion: Where Are We Now?.” In Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 2022. https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0042-1748185#info

Similar Posts

  • | |

    Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

    ByAlex Strauss

    A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

  • | |

    Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?

    ByAlex Strauss

    A new study says there is not enough evidence to support the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of pain associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland reviewed a range of past studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy by searching databases that date back as far as 1974. To be eligible to be included in their review, the study had to focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma and radiotherapy given “with the intent of improving pain”. The study also had to report doses and fractionation of the radiotherapy and how the pain responded. In all, the researchers found eight studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy that met the criteria. Two of the studies were prospective…

  • | |

    Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited

    ByAlex Strauss

    A form of highly-targeted radiation therapy for mesothelioma is better than it used to be, but is still risky. That is the message of a recent article on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Author Kenneth E. Rosenzweig, MD, a Radiation Oncologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reviewed recent studies on IMRT and mesothelioma. He concludes that, while the “troubling toxicity” associated with IMRT when it was first introduced has not been entirely eliminated, the fact that clinicians now have more experience with it is making a positive difference for mesothelioma patients. Before targeted therapies like IMRT were available, high-dose radiation was not usually a feasible option for mesothelioma since the irregular shape…

  • | |

    A Second-Line Option for Mesothelioma?

    ByAlex Strauss

    Although survival was not significantly extended, the chemotherapy drug vinorelbine might be a treatment option for mesothelioma patients whose cancer has returned after first-line chemotherapy with pemetrexed. A new study on vinorelbine as a second-line treatment finds that the drug is “moderately active” in mesothelioma patients who were initially treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Pemetrexed (Alimta), along with a platinum-based drug like cisplatin, is the primary first-line drug therapy for mesothelioma. But vinorelbine is gaining attention as a possible option for mesothelioma, in part because it is available in a less expensive generic form. In “Vinorelbine in pemetrexed-pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma”, the Italian authors detail the results of their study on 59 patients with unresectable pleural mesothelioma.  These patients…

  • | |

    Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades

    ByAlex Strauss

    New research in Spain suggests that mesothelioma deaths will continue in the country until the “last surviving member” of the group of people exposed to occupational asbestos succumbs to the disease. Like many countries, Spain used asbestos heavily in the first half of the 20th century, especially in construction, where the mineral was prized for its durability, low cost, and resistance to fire and corrosion.  Asbestos was banned in Spain in 2002. Observing that more than 2.5 million metric tons of asbestos were imported into Spain from 1906 to 2002, researchers say deaths from mesothelioma have risen steadily. Between 1976 and 1980, a total of 491 Spanish people died of mesothelioma. By the 5-year period from 2006 to 2010, that…