methods

Advanced new radiotherapy techniques may be more effective – and less toxic – for hard-to-treat mesothelioma patients. Caused by exposure to asbestos, malignant pleural mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer that spreads across the membrane that encases the lungs. Radiotherapy is often used as part of a multi-modality approach to keep mesothelioma from spreading. But because of the size and irregular shape of mesothelioma tumors, as well as their proximity to the lungs and heart, there is a high risk of damaging vital organs with conventional external beam radiotherapy. Now, a study out of Australia demonstrates that new, more precise methods of radiotherapy delivery may be the best hope of controlling the growth of mesothelioma tumors. A team of radiologists at the University…