Mesothelioma Photodynamic Therapy

    The potential success of photodynamic therapy runs off the principle that normal cells and cancer cells react differently to photosensitizing drugs. Photodynamic therapy uses light energy to destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells largely unaffected.

    During the photodynamic therapy treatment process a patient is given drugs called photosensitizers, which make cells sensitive to light. The treated cells are then exposed to light of a specific wavelength, and this causes them to produce a particular form of oxygen that is toxic and kills nearby cancer cells.

Photodynamic Therapy as a Treatment for Mesothelioma

    Photodynamic therapy begins with the injection of a photosensitizing drug. This drug is administered intravenously into the bloodstream and over a period of 24 to 72 hours the drug travels throughout the body and is absorbed by cells.

    In general, cancer cells absorb the photosensitizing drug quicker than healthy cells. In addition, the drug remains in cancer cells longer than healthy cells. For these reasons, by the time the patient proceeds to the next stage of treatment, the drug is predominately present in cancer cells with low concentrations remaining in some healthy cells.

    After the drug administration phase, the patient is treated with light of a specified wavelength that reacts to the photosensitizing drug present in cancer cells. A physician simply shines a beam of light on the affected area, which may last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. During treatment, cancer cells absorb the light, which causes them to produce a form of oxygen that is highly reactive. The oxygen eventually enters nearby cancer cells and damages them, resulting in death of the affected cells. In addition, photodynamic therapy can also destroy cancer cells by damaging blood vessels that are present in tumors, thus preventing cancer cells from absorbing nutrients.

    Photodynamic therapy is usually performed on an out-patient basis, and is often used in conjunction with other types of treatment, such as surgery and chemotherapy. Due to the nature of this mesothelioma treatment, it is not effective for the treatment of cancer that has spread extensively throughout the body. Photodynamic therapy is most effective in treating single, localized cancers.

Photodynamic Therapy Side Effects

    Some drugs used in photodynamic therapy can make the eyes and skin very sensitive to light for up to six weeks after treatment. If the skin and eyes are not protected, they can become burned or blistered after just a few minutes of exposure to sunlight or bright indoor lights. For this reason, those undergoing photodynamic therapy are advised to avoid bright indoor lights and direct sunlight for six weeks or longer after treatment.

    Damage to normal, healthy tissue is minimal when photodynamic therapy is used because the treatment is highly specific. In some cases, the treatment may cause burns, pain, scarring, and swelling in nearby healthy tissue, as well as side effects such as coughing, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, painful breathing, and stomach pain, depending on the location of treatment.

Photodynamic Therapy in the Future

    Because the type of light used in photodynamic therapy cannot penetrate deeply into skin and tissue it is most effective in cancers that affect the skin, or for cancers that are near the skin's surface (including some types of lung cancer). In addition, individuals with large tumors may not be suitable candidates for photodynamic therapy, as the light is unable to penetrate throughout the tumor.

    Medical research for photodynamic therapy seeks to increase the range of cancers for which the treatment can be used (including peritoneal mesothelioma) and to improve the efficacy of the therapy for treating larger tumors. Other research concentrates on the possibility of administering photodynamic therapy during surgery, or by means of optical fibers that are guided directly into tumors.

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Alternative Mesothelioma Treatments

    Traditional cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy may be more widely used to treat mesothelioma, but alternative therapies and treatments are on the rise

New Mesothelioma Treatment

    To date, few cases of mesothelioma have been cured, and it is this fact that motivates the trend toward unconventional forms of therapy. It is the hope of countless mesothelioma patients and medical professionals across the globe that other therapies will one day afford a cure for this rapacious disease.

    Alternative therapies such as gene therapy, immunotherapy, and photodynamic therapy are showing promising results and may one day be considered conventional forms of mesothelioma treatment.

Mesothelioma Gene Therapy

    Gene therapy aims to correct the issues caused by a defective gene by using special techniques to replace the defective copy of a gene with a copy that functions properly.

    The process is performed by genetically altering a virus to carry a normal copy of the gene. The patient is 'infected' with the virus, which enters target cells and causes them to produce normal proteins. Concerning mesothelioma treatment, this therapy uses genetic material to target cancer cells to make them susceptible to chemotherapy drugs.

Mesothelioma Immunotherapy

    Immunotherapy is another form of alternative therapy that involves the use and manipulation of an individual's immune system to assist in the fighting of disease. When applied to mesothelioma and other forms of cancer, immunotherapy fools the immune system into registering cancer cells as foreign. This directs the immune system to destroy cancer cells, while leaving normal and healthy cells undisturbed.

    Active immunotherapy treatments generally encourage the immune system to fight disease. Vaccines are considered an active type of immunotherapy. Conversely, passive immunotherapy treatments use components that are created outside the body. Non-specific immunotherapy treatments are different from active and passive in that they do not involve the use of cancer cells from the patient.

Mesothelioma Photodynamic Therapy

    Photodynamic therapy works off the principle that normal cells and cancer cells react differently to photosensitizing drugs. This form of therapy utilizes light energy to obliterate cancer cells with the aim of leaving healthy cells mostly unaffected.

    This process works by administering drugs called photosensitizers. These drugs cause cells to become sensitive to light. Upon receiving medication, treated cells are exposed to light of a particular wavelength. This causes the treated cells to produce a specific form of oxygen that is toxic to the cell, which results in the death of nearby cancer cells.