Mesothelioma Help Directory

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Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways.

It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases the risk of other asbestos-induced cancers. 

Mesothelioma is a malignant cancer which can be treated by chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery and in severe cases a combination of all the three. In case of people affected with pleural mesothelioma, the entire lung or a portion of the sac or the whole sac surrounding the organ is removed, depending upon the severity.

Radiation therapy uses high energy X- rays to kill all the cancer affected cells. There are two types of radiation therapy performed depending on the amount of cancerous cells present in the affected area, be it the lungs or the abdominal cavity or the heart. A machine emits radiation light at a certain target area of the body when it comes to the case of external radiation therapy. Internal radiation therapy uses needles or catheters to assist in placing the radioactive substance on or near the cancer. Chemotherapy is another medical treatment given to people suffering from mesothelioma. Chemotherapy is a medical procedure in which drugs that prevent cancer in humans are used to prevent the cells from dividing and hence chemotherapy prevents it from growing further.