Mesothelioma cancer is a disease that comes from excessive exposure to asbestos, and substances that are related to asbestos. The fibers contained in asbestos can enter the body through the skin or mouth and find its way to the blood stream or lungs. It is not simple to diagnose mesothelioma cancer as the symptoms don’t typically manifest until the patient reaches the later stages of the cancer.

Conventionally, mesothelioma cancer treatment involves chemotherapy or irradiation therapy. Chemotherapy makes use of drugs to shrink the tumors and destroy the cancerous cells in the body that are spreading the infection. Radiation therapy aims to do just that with the exception that it uses high-energy x-rays for this purpose. Mesothelioma cancer treatment in the advanced stages of this cancer can't cure the disease; only prolong the life of the patient.

While irradiation therapy and chemotherapy are the more conventional forms of mesothelioma cancer treatment there are some new ones that have come up that offer hope to patients. They are:

• Immunotherapy – the body’s own immune system attacks the cancerous cells and destroys them.
• Gene Therapy – In this mesothelioma cancer treatment a gene is injected into the tumour, which makes it doable for the antiviral drug glanciclovir to act against the cancerous cells.
• Photodynamic Therapy – This form of mesothelioma cancer treatment uses light to attack and destroy the cancerous cells in the body.

These experimental forms of mesothelioma cancer treatment, though still under research, offer cancer victims a shot at a longer and superior life. As research into mesothelioma cancer continues, more forms of treatment are sure to be discovered.