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Pleural Mesothelioma Causes, Symptoms, Treatments

While Pleural Mesothelioma is the most common form of Malignant Mesothelioma, there still is no cure and survival is usually less than 24 months after diagnosis. This asbestos caused lung cancer is particularly dangerous because symptoms often don't show in a patient until the cancer is in a more advanced stage which makes it that much more important to contact a lawyer or law firm soon if you plan on filing a lawsuit. Symptoms are also usually non-specific and similar to other types of lung diseases or cancers, so it can take longer to diagnose Pleural Mesothelioma, especially if the patient's doctors are not aware of previous asbestos exposure. Symptoms may include: difficulty breathing, facial swelling, coughing up blood, fever, weight loss, rasping or persistent coughing, and shortness of breath or difficulty swallowing.

Traditional or conventional treatments are the same as for other types of cancers including surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. These treatments may prolong survival, but they are not cures for Pleural Mesothelioma. There are several experimental and alternative treatments currently being researched for Malignant Mesothelioma. They have had mixed results, none have shown to be a cure, but some have shown to relieve symptoms and prolong survival, though not significantly. Immunotherapy, gene therapy, multimodality therapy, photodynamic therapy and a drug called Alimta are all in experimental or clinical trials for treatment of Mesothelioma. While the Alimta, Immunotherapy, and multimodality therapy have all shown encouraging results in increasing the survival length or shrinking the cancer tumor, this is still a fatal disease. The multimodality therapy may appeal to many patients because it could combine conventional and experimental treatments in hope of better results than a single treatment can offer alone.

Pleural Mesothelioma Resource Information Page

Pleural Mesothelioma Frequently Asked Questions

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