Health Watch: Battling Mesothelioma

Ben Swann-KFOX Morning News Anchor/Reporter

Mesothelioma is a rare, but devastating cancer diagnosed in approximately 3,000 people each year in the U.S., mostly in men. Researchers now have encouraging news that a combination of surgery and radiation treatment is extending some patient's lives.

Countless U.S. workers were exposed to asbestos before it was banned in the early 1980s. Two years ago, when his doctors suspected he developed Mesothelioma as a result of being exposed to asbestos, John Ross and his wife Dorothy weren't given many treatment options.

Dorothy Ross-Wife of Cancer Patient: "So few people know about Mesothelioma, really. And it's a deadly disease. It is deadly."

That's when Mr. Ross enrolled in a clinical trial at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston treating Mesothelioma patients with a combination of surgery followed by intensity modulated radiation therapy or IMRT.

Dr. Craig Stevens-M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: "What we've done here at M. D. Anderson has actually been to develop some treatments that would probably work quite well in early stage disease."

Mesothelioma develops in the lining between the lungs and the chest wall. It can invade the lungs, abdomen and lining of the heart. Surgeons remove the affected lung and nearby tissue and implant titanium clips along the chest wall to mark where tumors were found. The clips are used to create computer-generated images and give doctors more exact targets for radiation therapy. Using IMRT, targeted doses of radiation are delivered only to the areas where the disease is found, sparing nearby organs, such as the lung and heart. In the clinical trial, Dr. Stevens says IMRT following surgery has greatly reduced the number of recurrences.

Dr. Craig Stevens-M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: "This is in contrast with historical series that used surgery alone that has as high as 80% recurrence right in the area where the tumor was originally."

Dr. Stevens reports a 55% three-year survival rate. Typically patients diagnosed with Mesothelioma are only given months to live. Dr. Stevens and his colleagues are continuing their research by now giving patients chemotherapy before surgery to prevent the disease from spreading to other organs.

Now that treatment options are lengthening and improving quality of life for people with Mesothelioma, researchers urge those with previous asbestos exposure to talk with their doctor about screening options.