Good Nutrition for Mesothelioma Patients

Good nutrition can play a big part in making you feel better and in keeping up your energy, although there is no definitive proof that eating well improves survival rates for mesothelioma cancer patients. Some limited studies suggest that eating fruit and vegetables lowers the risk of developing mesothelioma. Researchers theorize that anitoxidents such as beta–carotene and carotenorids and other vitamins contained in these foods may have a protective effect.
Experiments with antioxidant supplements rather than whole foods have produced mixed results.

American Cancer Society recommends that cancer patients eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, whole grains rather than processed grains and sugars, and limit the consumption of fatty red meats. It stresses that cancer patients need enough protein and suggests a diet that includes lean meat, fish, and low–fat dairy products, which are all good protein sources. It also suggests avoiding salt–cured, pickled, and smoked food. Unfortunately, a mesothelioma cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and even the disease itself may affect your appetite and ability to tolerate certain foods. Temporary nausea or loss of appetite is not uncommon. You may have to eat smaller meals, include liquid supplements, or adjust your diet in other ways in order to cope and get the best nutrition.

We recommend consulting with both your doctor and dietitian to find the best food plan for you. Your doctor may also suggest vitamin supplements and minerals depending upon your particular mesothelioma treatment. For example, patients who were given the enzyme inhibitor pemetrexed or Alimta were able to reduce their nausea from this treatment by taking B vitamins.
Resource : Complementary Therapies

Mesothelioma Treatment and Nutrition

Most mesothelioma treatment plans are designed to destroy cancer cells, but may also destroy healthy cells in the process. A major side effect of this is malnutrition due to fatigue, appetite loss, and pain. Mouth sores, vomiting, and improper bowl function are other factors that may affect ones food intake and nutrition. Along with developing a treatment program, it is often necessary to enlist a nutritionist to develop a nutritional plan as well, especially when undergoing more aggressive treatments. It is important to be prepared for both the good days, when one can consume more food, and the bad days when one may not feel like eating as much. Supplements or foods that may be tolerable should be on hand for days one may have issues with their appetite. Staying informed and being prepared can help one maintain a more positive attitude and decrease anxiety.

Healthy Food Groups

Nutritious diet is important in the prevention and cure of various diseases.
Since no single food group can nourish the body with all the vital ingredients it requires, it is important that we consume a variety of healthy foods to derive the nutrition our body needs. There are five main food groups, they are:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Cereals and Pulses
• Dairy
• Poultry, Fish and Meat products

A healthy balanced diet of these five food groups ensures essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. The food group serving size will depend upon various factors like age, activity level, body size and gender. It is also important that one eat a variety of foods from within and across the food groups. As some foods from within a food group provide more nutrients than others.

Bok choy – Commonly known as Chinese celery is a rich source of iron, calcium and manganese. It helps to improve the bone health and makes them stronger. Bok choy is also a good source of vitamin C which helps in wound healing, boosts the immune system and fight against infections. Potassium in bok choy also helps to maintain a normal blood pressure and prevent heart diseases.

Broccoli – Broccoli is loaded with vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin E, vitamin C and fiber. It has a protective effect against bladder, prostate and colon cancer, heart diseases, cataracts and hip fractures. All these antioxidants work synergistically in the body to reduce the oxidative stress and oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

Blueberries - Blueberry has a rich flavor and is the powerhouse for antioxidants packed with phytonutrients called anthocyanidins that scavenges the free radicals that can cause damage to cells and tissues causing cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, varicose veins, peptic ulcers, hemorrhoids, cancer and heart diseases.

Blackberries – Epicatechin and catechins the natural compounds in blackberries help to scavenge the free radicals which can cause cancerous cells.

Brown rice – To maintain a healthy body weight it is very important to focus on whole grains like brown rice and decrease the consumption of refined grains like white rice as far as possible.
( Diet Health Club)

Read More.....

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Treatment

Your choice of treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma will depend on a number of factors. These include:

• The stage of your cancer
• Any other medical conditions you may have
• Your general fitness

Treatment of Peritoneal Cancer:

1. Surgery. Surgery is not possible for everyone with peritoneal mesothelioma. If surgery is possible, the operation is called a peritonectomy. This means removing the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen) where the mesothelioma has started growing. In recent years some doctors have been developing a technique known as cytoreductive surgery for peritoneal mesothelioma. Cytoreductive surgery involves the surgeon carrying out up to 6 different peritonectomy procedures, to remove as much of the cancer as possible. At the same time, or shortly after, chemotherapy may be given straight into the peritoneal cavity.
2. Medical Management. In addition to the symptoms of abdominal pain, distension and ascites peritoneal mesothelioma can be associated with hypoalbuminemia, night sweats, inguinal and umbilical hernia, and hypercoagulability. A new drug combination such as cisplatin plus pemetrexed that have shown promise in pleural mesothelioma may also be effective in peritoneal mesothelioma. Immunotherapeutic agents such as interferon and various cytokines may have a role in treating this disease especially when the amount of disease is minimal.
   
3. Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs, which are usually injected into a vein. For mesothelioma, chemotherapy may be given directly into the abdomen. Depending on the type of chemotherapy drugs used, this treatment can be given weekly or every two to three weeks. It can be given at the same time as cytoreductive surgery, or soon after. The doctor has to make a small cut in the wall of your abdomen. Then the doctor puts a tube called a catheter through the opening and into your tummy (abdomen). The chemotherapy is given into your abdominal cavity through the catheter. Some studies have suggested that this can work better if it is heated to a few degrees above body temperature first. This is called hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIIC).
4. Radiation Therapy. Radiation may be targeted directly at cancer cells or can be used for palliative reasons such as to reduce pain or shortness of breath or to control the spread of the tumor. This internal radiation therapy has a number of advantages, including the ability for doctors to treat a small area with a higher dose of radiation in a shorter amount of time. Brachytherapy may be either temporary or permanent.
5. Supportive care (Palliative care)
   Unfortunately peritoneal mesothelioma is often diagnosed when it is quite advanced. Some people may be too ill to cope with intensive chemotherapy. But you can still have treatment to try to relieve symptoms such as pain, weight loss and other symptoms such as fluid in the abdomen.
   With more advanced peritoneal mesothelioma, fluid may collect inside your abdomen. If too much fluid collects, it makes your abdomen swell. This can be uncomfortable and heavy.
   
   
   
   You can have the fluid drained off. This is called abdominal paracentesis. It is sometimes called an ascitic tap.
   
   Your care will be managed by a palliative care team. This is a team of doctors and nurses who are expert in controlling the symptoms of advanced cancer. The team may also include a physiotherapist and a dietician. By: Cancer Help
6. Clinical Trial.

• Promoting new drug.
• Perfused Heated Cisplatin. This study will test the effectiveness of an experimental treatment for peritoneal cancer involving surgical removal of the tumor, perfusion of the abdomen during surgery with a heated solution of the drug cisplatin, and post-surgery combination chemotherapy in the abdomen with fluorouracil (5-FU) and paclitaxel.

Read More.....

Pericardial Mesothelioma Treatment

Pericardial mesothelioma is usually related to long term asbestos exposure. It generally appears fifteen to forty years after the exposure occurred and its early symptoms are subtle.
Pericardial Mesothelioma is almost always detected at a late stage, treatment options are palliative rather than curative. Any procedures or treatments suggested by doctors are usually to help reduce pain or relieve the symptoms of the disease.

Palliative treatment options may include:

1. Radiation Therapy. Used to draining fluid from the pericardium, as a means of relieving pressure on proximal structures, can be used to alleviate symptoms and as a way to obtain a tissue sample for biopsy. This procedure can be used to help prolong life while other treatment modalities are administered.
2. Chemotherapy. Used to attempt to reduce cancer cells. This aggressive form of therapy should be carefully considered as it will most likely detract from the patient’s quality of life but offer no cure.
3. Radiation Therapy. Used to kill the cancer cells and shrink tumors, but this approach carries with it the risk of damaging the heart and lungs. As well as the more familiar practice of external exposure to radioactive materials, treatment might involve delivering radioactive materials directly to the cancer site through plastic tubing (internal therapy).
4. Surgery. Used to attempt to reduce cancer cells. This aggressive form of therapy should be carefully considered as it will most likely detract from the patient’s quality of life but offer no cure.
5. Clinical Trial.
   

Read More.....

Pleural Mesothelioma Treatment

We recommend consulting both your family physician and a pulmonary (lung) specialist who has deal with pleural mesothelioma patients and is familiar with the problems of asbestos exposure.
Your choice of treatment for pleural mesothelioma will depend on a number of factors. These include:

• The stage of your cancer
• Any other medical conditions you may have
• Your general fitness

The Pleural Mesothelioma treatment options :

1. Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs, which are usually injected into a vein. Depending on the type of chemotherapy drugs used, you may have treatment weekly, or every 2 to 3 weeks. Chemotherapy for mesothelioma is given to slow down the cancer and to control symptoms. If you have had surgery, you may be given chemotherapy afterwards. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy. It is given to delay the return of the cancer as much as possible.
2. Radiotherapy (Radiation). Radiation Therapy (or “radiotherapy”) involves the localized use of high–dose radiation on pleural mesothelioma cancer cells. It works by destroying the mesothelioma cancer cells in the treated area. Radiotherapy given after surgery is sometimes called adjuvant radiotherapy. The length of your treatment will depend on the type and size of your cancer and on why you are being treated. Radiotherapy is sometimes given after fluid has been drained from around your lung. This is to try to stop new growths of mesothelioma developing on your chest wall.
3. Surgery. Surgery can be used to remove localised mesothelioma, or to take out as much as possible so that other treatments have a better chance of working. This is sometimes called de-bulking. There are 2 major operations that can be done:
   

• Pleurectomy. This means removing the pleura. The lung is left behind. The pleural space around it is sealed so that no further fluid can collect there. If you have stage 1 mesothelioma, it may be done to remove the cancer. If you have a more advanced stage, it will not cure you but can delay the progress of the disease, and help to relieve symptoms such as pain and fluid collection around the lung (pleural effusion).
• Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP). This operation has the best record for removing the maximum number of pleural mesothelioma tumor cells. It removes portions of the lung, the “parietal pleura” (the lining of the lung), the pericardium (the lining of the heart) and the diaphragm.
• Supportive care (Palliative surgery)
  Palliative surgery is typically done in cases where the tumor has already spread beyond the mesothelium and is difficult to remove completely, or in cases where the patient is too ill to tolerate a more extensive mesothelioma treatment. Your care will be managed by a palliative care team. This is a team of doctors and nurses who are expert in controlling symptoms of advanced cancer. The team may also include a physiotherapist and a dietician.
  
  If you are having trouble with fluid collecting around your lungs, you may be offered treatment to try to stop this from happening. Pleurectomy is one option. Another is thoracocentesis. This is often called a pleural tap.
  The fluid that has collected in the pleural space is drained off. Often sterile talc or an antibiotic is put in to seal the space and stop the fluid collecting again. This is called pleurodesis.

The new experimental stages of mesothelioma therapy:

1. Photodynamic Therapy. Photodynamic therapy or PDT uses laser light to kill cancer cells. the patient receives a photosensitizing agent that collects in the cancerous cells but not in healthy cells. A photosensitizer is a drug that makes the cancer cells vulnerable and sensitive to light of specific wavelength. After the cancer cells have been sensitized, fiber–optic cables are placed in the body (usually through open–chest surgery) in order to focus light of just the right frequency on the tumor. This causes the photosensitizer to react with oxygen to produce a toxic molecule that kills the cancer cell.
2. Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy (or biological therapy) attempts to build up your immune system to fight cancer cells. It includes :
   

• Gene Therapy. Gene therapy means inserting specific genes into cells to change or restore their functions. The procedure may be used to block abnormal genes in cancer cells, or to repair or replace the abnormal genes. Monoclonal antibodies are made in the laboratory; they derive from a single, cloned antibody–producing cell.
• Monoclonal Antibody Teraphy (Passive Immunotherapy). Antibodies are proteins made by B cells, which are types of lymphocytes or white blood cells that fight disease.
• Cytokine Proteins such as interferons (IFN) and interleukins (IL). Cytokines are proteins that occur naturally in the human body, and that are similar to hormones. They may act as messengers in the immune system, triggering the bone marrow to make more blood cells. Interleukin is capable of stimulating the growth of immune system cells called “T–cells. Interferons are other cytokine proteins that inhibit the growth of cancer cells, as well as enhance the immune system.

Read More.....