Types

• Mesothelioma can affect many different areas of the body. Three forms of the disease are pleural mesothelioma (which affects the lungs), peritoneal mesothelioma (which affects the abdominal cavity) and pericardial mesothelioma (that which has targeted the lining of the heart).
  
  

Prescription Drug Treatment

• The pleural form of this cancer can be treated with the prescription drug Alimta. Another drug that may help is called Avastin. New drugs are studied in clinical trials every year.
  
  

Surgical Options

• Surgery to combat mesothelioma may include draining fluid from the lungs or abdominal cavity, or even the removal of the part of a lung taken over by a tumor.
  
  

Chemotherapy and Radiation

• Traditional chemotherapy is still a viable option, as is radiation therapy, where high doses of radiation are precisely targeted toward the areas of the body where the cancer has a foothold in order to kill the tumors.
  
  

Next Generation Treatments

• In addition to traditional cancer treatments, cutting-edge treatments for mesothelioma patients include gene therapy and immunotherapy.