Depending upon a patient’s health and the size and location of their tumor, will determine how their asbestos cancer will be treated. Treatments for asbestos cancer are sometimes combined for the improvement of a patient’s quality of life. There are various options for treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and photodynamic therapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy treatment is the use of cytotoxic medicines to kill and destroy the the cancer cells. Commonly called anticancer medicines, they will first be introduced by way of chemotherapy resistance testing. This is done so that the oncologist can figure out what combination of medicines will work best. These types of medicines can be given in either pill or injection.

Radiation

This type of therapy uses radiation to destroy cancer cells in a localized area. Since radiation therapy can be damaging to the body, it is important that the oncologist use image guidance to survey the tumors before, during, and after treatment. According to oncologists with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, image guidance is imperative so that the tumors can receive maximum radiation without having healthy tissues in the body recklessly damaged in the treatment.

Surgery

Depending on the location of the tumor in the lung, will determine the type of surgical treatment that can be done. An operation called segmental resection can be performed to remove a small part of the lung. A lobectomy is done when an entire lobe of the lung has to be removed, whereas a pneumonectomy is the removal of the whole lung. Per the American Cancer Society, after a proper period of recovery a patient whose lungs are accessed to be in in good condition upon a lobectomy or pneumonectomy, are allowed to return to normal activities.

Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy is an experimental treatment that uses light to kill cancer cells. A special chemical is intravenously introduced to the bloodstream and absorbed by the cancer cells. Once the cells have absorbed the chemical (cancer cells absorb this chemical at much higher levels than normal cells), a laser light will activate the chemical and destroy the cancer cells. The National Cancer Institute states that in January 1998, sodium porfimer was approved by the FDA as a photosynthesizing agent to be used in the treatment of early non small cell lung cancer patients who could not have other lung cancer treatments done.