Mesothelioma

Along with surgery and chemotherapy, radiation therapy is one of the most commonly recommended treatments for mesothelioma. Radiation has long been a standard treatment for many types of cancer and is often used in mesothelioma patients as a palliative measure (a form of therapy that helps reduce the pain of symptoms, but does not offer a cure for the disease).

What is Radiation Therapy?

Radiation therapy uses a form of radiation called "ionizing radiation" that is designed to kill and control the growth of cancer cells. Radiation therapy is used as a curative treatment as well as a palliative therapy to provide symptomatic relief.

Radiation therapy is often used in conjunction with other cancer treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy. For example, radiation therapy may be administered before surgery to shrink tumors, or in conjunction with chemotherapy to improve the success of both treatments.

There are three main types of radiation therapy: external beam radiotherapy, unsealed source radiation therapy, and brachytherapy.

Brachytherapy Treatments for Mesothelioma

Brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy that involves the implantation of tiny radioactive rods in or near tumors. It is most commonly used to treat cervical, breast and prostate cancers, as well as cancers of the head and neck, but has also been used to treat mesothelioma.

An advantage of brachytherapy is that the radioactive rods placed inside tumors (often referred to as "seeds") emit radiation across short distances of approximately one centimeter. This treatment allows for the delivery of a strong and highly-concentrated dose of radiation directly to tumor cells, but causes very little damage to surrounding healthy cells and tissue. Because of this, healthy tissue is spared and side effects are less severe.

Brachytherapy seeds are very small (about the size of a grain of rice) and insertion of the seeds is carried out under general anesthetic. This means that patients must be evaluated to ensure they are fit enough to undergo surgery. Additional tests are done to determine the size and location of tumors so that seeds can be placed for maximum effect.

The seeds may be implanted using one of two methods. Intracavitary treatment involves inserting radioactive seeds housed in small containers into body cavities. In interstitial treatment containers are not used, and instead the seeds are placed directly into cancer tumors. For this procedure, the seeds are inserted through the use of a thin needle.

Brachytherapy Types

There are two main types of brachytherapy treatment for mesothelioma: temporary and permanent.

When a patient undergoes temporary brachytherapy treatment, radioactive seeds are placed inside tumors for a short period of time and are then removed. If the therapy is to be permanent, the seeds are never removed. However, over time the remaining seeds produce less radiation, until eventually radiation emission ceases. Depending on the type of radioactive material used in the treatment, radiation emission will most likely end within three to 12 months.

High Dose and Low Dose Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy treatments for mesothelioma are separated into two further types according to the strength of the dose that is administered and the duration of the treatment.

High dose brachytherapy is administered via a catheter, with the seeds being delivered into tumors one by one at regular intervals. This treatment takes place over the course of a single session that typically takes only a few minutes to complete, and is carried out as an out-patient procedure. Patients typically receive up to 12 separate treatments over the course of two or more weeks.

Low dose brachytherapy administers continuous low-dose radiation over several hours or even days, but the patient is given only one treatment rather than several. This is carried out as an in-patient procedure and requires at least one overnight hospital stay.

Pros and Cons of Brachytherapy

The immediate side effects of brachytherapy treatment for mesothelioma are pain, swelling and sometimes bruising at the treatment site. These symptoms are typically mild and last for just a few days. However, there are few other side effects, and the side effects of brachytherapy are much less severe than with other types of radiation therapy.

Brachytherapy is a non-invasive procedure because of the delivery method used to administer treatment. Patients can typically resume normal levels of activity within just a few days. People who receive this treatment also benefit from a reduced risk of developing post-operative infections and other complications that may result from more invasive surgical procedures.

Despite the lack of side effects for patients, there are some other concerns surrounding brachytherapy. The amount of radiation emitted by patients who receive brachytherapy is very low, but patients are still advised by their physicians to avoid contact with young children and pregnant women, who are typically more vulnerable to the effects of the radiation.

In addition to chemotherapy and surgery, radiation therapy is one of the three most commonly used treatments for mesothelioma.

Radiation therapy makes use of a type of radiation called "ionizing radiation," which is used to kill existing cancer cells and control the growth of new cancer cells. Depending on the nature of the patient's condition and their type of asbestos cancer, radiation therapy may be used as a stand-alone treatment or may be used in conjunction with surgery or chemotherapy.

In addition, radiation may be used either as a curative treatment or as a palliative treatment. In the latter case, the purpose of radiation therapy is not to cure the patient, but simply to provide relief from pain and other symptoms of the cancer. This is often the case for mesothelioma patients that are prescribed radiation therapy.

There are three main types of radiation therapy: external beam radiotherapy, unsealed source radiation therapy, and brachytherapy. In most cases, only external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy are used to treat mesothelioma. The type of radiation treatment a patient receives depends on several factors, including the type of mesothelioma, the stage of the disease, and whether other treatment options are also viable.

External Beam Radiotherapy

External beam radiotherapy is the most common type of radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer. During this procedure, the patient sits or lies down to expose the area that requires treatment, and an external source of radiation is directed at the treatment area.

Over the course of a series of treatments, mesothelioma tumors are bombarded with radiation to kill cancer cells and limit the growth and spread of these cells. However, in most cases involving mesothelioma, radiation therapy is not able to completely eradicate all tumor cells. As such, this type of therapy is usually given to provide the patient with some relief from pain and other symptoms associated with mesothelioma, such as shortness of breath and coughing.

Due to the nature of the treatment, it is common for healthy tissue near the treatment area to be affected by radiation. This damage causes side effects such as skin irritation, pain near the treatment site, digestive problems, and difficulty swallowing.

External beam radiotherapy is rarely effective as a stand-alone treatment for mesothelioma and is most often used in conjunction with chemotherapy or surgery.

Mesothelioma Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy, also known as sealed source radiation therapy, is a procedure that involves the implantation of tiny radioactive rods in or near tumors of mesothelioma and other types of cancer such as breast, cervical, and prostate cancer. This treatment method allows the delivery of a highly-concentrated and closely targeted dose of radiation to mesothelioma tumors that might be resistant to other types of radiation therapy.

This type of radiation therapy is beneficial because it causes little damage to healthy cells surrounding the affected area and is less invasive than traditional radiation.

Patients with mesothelioma may receive either temporary or permanent brachytherapy treatment. For temporary treatment, radioactive seeds are placed within tumors for a short time and are then removed. In the case of permanent treatment, the seeds are not removed, but are simply left within tumors and eventually cease the emission of radiation.

Unsealed Source Radiation Therapy

Treatment with unsealed source radiation involves the administration of soluble forms of radioactive substances. This type of treatment is administered either orally or via injection, but is only used to treat very specific types of cancer. For example, patients with thyroid cancer are often treated with a solution of radioactive iodine.

One major disadvantage of unsealed source radiation therapy is that people who receive this treatment are considered to be radioactive for the duration of the treatment and for several weeks after - this means they can actually pose a health risk to other people. Note that this is not a treatment that is used for patients with mesothelioma.