Can Mesothelioma Be Cured if Caught Early?

Yes, but that’s a very big “if.” Early mesothelioma is almost impossible. Environmental cancers, such as mesothelioma, usually have no lifestyle red flags, like smoking, or genetic red flags, like a family history of cancer. So, in many cases, doctors do not perform expensive mesothelioma tests. By the time physical illness symptoms appear, such as radical weight loss and trouble breathing, mesothelioma is often in Stage II or Stage III. At that point, treatment options are limited or nonexistent.

That environment may be changing, thanks largely to mesothelioma lawyers. If you worked or lived around asbestos, you may be at risk for mesothelioma. An attorney connects potential victims with doctors who perform appropriate tests. Usually, these doctors charge nothing upfront. Additionally, lawyers help spread the word about some exciting new developments in mesothelioma treatment which literally give hope to the hopeless.

As late as the 1990s, traditional cancer treatments were not really “treatments.” Instead, they were more like “going through the motions.” Today, things are much different.

• Radiation: The first phase of the traditional three-phase cancer treatment shrinks cancerous tumors. Today’s radiation treatments are much more focused than the ones of old. So, a doctor can turn up the dial without causing too much collateral damage to healthy organs.
• Surgery: Large tumors are almost impossible to surgically remove, regardless of a doctor’s skill. Stronger radiation means smaller tumors which are easier to remove. Furthermore, the number of oncologists who perform such procedures has increased almost exponentially since the 1990s.
• Chemotherapy: These drugs target and kill fast-dividing cells, including cancer cells. Similar to radiation, stronger chemotherapy drugs are available today. Modern chemotherapy medicines have fewer serious side effects. In fact, in many cases, modern chemotherapy drugs are more like preventative or maintenance drugs.

We mentioned mesothelioma tests above. A liquid biopsy test is the best mesothelioma test. If a doctor administers this test and it comes back positive, the traditional cancer treatment regimen usually begins, even if the victim has no outward physical cancer symptoms. So, there is already some hope.

Traditional cancer treatments are more effective, but the underlying weakness remains. Unless doctors catch mesothelioma early, it might as well be 1995 instead of 2025. The traditional approach will not work.

Some exciting new cancer treatments include PDT (photodynamic therapy) and its cousin, laser treatments, as well as CRISPR gene editing therapy.

Cancer light treatments combine light with photosensitizing agents to destroy cancer cells, or at least treat cancer symptoms. PDT activates surgically-implanted drugs with a specific wavelength of light, producing oxygen radicals that kill cancer cells. Laser therapy is a Star Wars-style treatment that uses an intense, narrow beam of light to remove or destroy cancer and abnormal cells that can become malignant.

Toxic particles, like asbestos, mutate cells and cause cancer. CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) therapy reverses this process. In Medspeak, each sequence within an individual prokaryotic cell is derived from a DNA fragment of a bacteriophage that had previously infected the prokaryote or one of its ancestors. These sequences are used to detect and destroy DNA from similar bacteriophages during subsequent infections.

In 2020, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry for their work in this area.

Mesothelioma victims need and deserve significant compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced nationwide mesothelioma lawyer, contact the Throneberry Law Group. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.