Mesothelioma is a deadly ailment that affects the lining that covers the majority of our organs, the mesothelium. It is brought about by the inhalation of asbestos dust, a compound that was used in the construction industry several years ago. Mesothelioma tends to manifest itself more than 30 years after an individual has been exposed to asbestos. That is why we tend to see a large number of people getting diagnosed with mesothelioma now, in the 21st century. Several more will discover they have mesothelioma in the years to come. Asbestos was used up until the 1970's. This deadly cancer has also been associated with irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide, and the inhalation of other fibrous silicates .

Being that mesothelioma is a cancer, the same methods used to treat any other cancer are also used to treat mesothelioma. Depending on the stage of the cancer itself, as well as the medical history of the patient, doctors can decide on the appropriate treatment for the patient. One can expect either one, or a combination of the following; surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation . Due to the intricacies of mesothelioma , the prognosis after treatment tends not to be very good. The majority of patients treated for mesothelioma tend not to have a very promising prognosis, with an average increase of 1 year to one's life .

In an attempt to extend one's survival rate doctors these days tend to employ all three known treatment methods. This is known as trimodality therapy. This has proven to increase one's survival time by at least 5 years. Without this it is a year at most.

With trimodality therapy chemotherapy is the first treatment to be administered . The drugs used in chemotherapy are given either orally or intravenously. The main objective of this is to greatly slow down the growth of malignant mesothelioma. After chemotherapy comes surgery , where any tumor mass is removed. We can break down the surgery into four distinct parts;

wide local excision
pleurectomy and decortication
extrapleural pneumonectomy
pleurodesis
postoperative radiation therapy

The last treatment is radiation where high-energy x-rays are used to kill off any remaining cancer cells.

Scientists are currently researching new treatment methods in hopes of obtaining better results . These include intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), immunotherapy, gene therapy, and (PDT) photo-dynamic therapy.