Mesothelioma Chemotherapy

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, chemotherapy may be suggested for either part or all of your treatment. Chemotherapy enters the bloodstream and travels throughout the body to destroy cancer cells or to stop the cells from dividing.

Chemotherapy can be in pill form or it can be injected into a vein or muscle. These drugs may also be injected directly into the chest or directly into the abdomen when treating mesothelioma. Chemotherapy may be given as your main treatment or it may be given as an additional treatment after surgery. The combination of surgery with mesothelioma chemotherapy or radiation has become the preferred approach, according to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF).

Mesothelioma chemotherapy treatment kills cancer cells, but may also damage some normal cells. It can harm the blood-producing cells in the bone marrow and cause you to have low blood cell counts. This can lead to an increased risk of infection, bleeding or bruising, or fatigue and shortness of breath. Other temporary mesothelioma chemotherapy side effects may include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of hair
• Mouth sores

Doctors may use a combination of several different mesothelioma chemotherapy drugs. You can read more about the drugs used to treat this type of cancer in the Mesothelioma Drugs section. For information on coping with mesothelioma and for other resources, visit our Mesothelioma Diagnosis Support Center.