Alternative treatments

Because mesothelioma cancer may not always respond to traditional treatments, your doctor may recommend that you investigate alternative treatments to supplement treatments such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. When choosing your care team look for doctors who appreciate how alternative treatments may help you have a better quality of life while living with mesothelioma.

Photodynamic therapy
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one of the alternative treatments researchers hope will provide relief for mesothelioma and other cancer patients. It is a lung cancer treatment that uses a special kind of light in combination with a specific drug to target and kill cancer cells. Results so far show that in combination with other therapies, it may increase survival times for patients with early stage mesothelioma.

The first step in how it works is injecting a photosensitizing agent into your blood. While cells throughout your body absorb the agent, cancer cells hold onto it longer. Up to 3 days later, the cancer cells still contain some of the agent. Doctors then shine a special light on the tumor to create a reaction that kills cancer cells around the area.

Doctors believe that photodynamic therapy shrinks or destroys tumors by damaging blood vessels in the tumor, thus starving the cells of necessary substances. They also believe it may encourage the patient’s own immune system to fight the cancer.

Some PDT uses laser light sent through thin fibers to deliver the light. It is not considered major surgery and may be done on an outpatient basis. It is a procedure that can be done more than once and used with either traditional or non-traditional treatments.

Lung cancer treatment
Patients with either pleural mesothelioma or peritoneal mesothelioma may benefit from the same types of alternative treatments used in lung cancer treatment generally. Be sure to express your wishes and request that your medical care team offer you information and advice on all the options that may work for your specific situation.

Ask them to consider prescribing acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, therapeutic massage, and diet therapies. You may decide that you want to use alternative treatments alone to relieve some mesothelioma symptoms, or you may choose to use them in combination with traditional treatments like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Many alternative treatments, unlike most traditional Western medicine, tend to treat you as a whole person—your mind, body and spirit as one. This type of holistic approach may make  coping with the symptoms of mesothelioma and the side effects of treatment more tolerable.

But be sure to ask your doctor questions about your treatment and what alternatives are available. Sometimes they may recommend conventional care and only consider other alternative treatments as secondary, or they may embrace both approaches. And be sure you tell your doctor of any medicines or supplements you want to take that he or she has not prescribed—some may not be approved by FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or may interfere with some of your traditional medications.

Mesothelioma lawyer
Be sure to consult a mesothelioma lawyer if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. At HendlerLaw we keep abreast of new alternative treatments and therapies being developed as well as clinical trials your doctors may not yet be aware of. You may be able to receive compensation for your pain and suffering that can offset many of the costs associated with your treatment and care. Call us at 800.443.6353 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions.