Mesothelioma Radiation Therapy

Radiotherapy (radiation therapy) involves the destruction of cancer cells by exposing the tumor to therapeutic subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves. Unlike chemotherapy, radiation therapy treats mesothethelioma locally; it only affects the tumor and the area close to it. Radiation therapy is used to treat almost all types of cancer. In the treatment mesothelioma, it is often associated with other therapies such as  surgical therapy and/or chemotherapy.

Your oncologist will recommend radiotherapy depending on the location and stage of the tumor. Your age and health status can also play a role in the measurement and calculation of dose for the treatment (dosimetry). However, regardless the dosage indicated, radiation therapy is less apt to complications and development of side effects than chemotherapy and surgeries (e xtra pleural pneumonectomy and pleurectomy-decortication  ). Because the sessions are short, the majority of radiation therapy is performed without hospitalization. You can receive the treatment in a clinic, hospital, regional hospital, university or in a radiotherapy center.

Although does not lead to cure, radiation therapy can provide good results in the fight against mesothelioma. However, advanced or metastatic mesotheliomas do not respond well to radiotherapy.

In mesothelioma treatment, radiation therapy is a palliative treatment; it does not cure or reverse progression of the cancer, but provide relief by reducing the severity of the symptoms. The goal of palliative radiotherapy is to improve quality of life of a patient who is facing a serious or terminal cancer.

Radiation therapy does not often cause serious side effects; however, it can damage the skin of some patients. And, even if symptoms occur, they disappear completely 2 to 4 weeks after treatment. The most common skin disorders due to radiation therapy include:

• wetness   
• redness  
• itching   
• scaling   
• dryness  
• Sensitivity.