Mesothelioma is a devastating type of cancer and the people diagnosed with this disease are often told that the expected survival rate is only eight to twelve months. However, with the increase in technology, there has been tremendous improvement in the treatment program. Hence, the specialists in treating mesothelioma at the leading cancer centers often have better statistics. The treatment program depends on many factors like stage of the cancer, how far it has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope and the patient's age and desires.

Basically there are three traditional kinds of treatment for patients with malignant mesothelioma such as Surgery (taking out the cancer), Chemotherapy (using drugs to fight the cancer) and Radiation therapy (using high dose x-rays or other high energy rays to kill cancer). Many a times two or more of these are combined in the course of treatment.

Mesomark Blood Test was approved in the year 2007 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to help monitor response to treatment in malignant mesothelioma patients. Mesothelioma cancer cells release a specific protein or biomarker called Soluble Mesothelin Related Peptide (SMRP). Measuring the amount of SMRP in a blood sample will help the doctors to monitor a patient's progress. It is essential for the physicians to follow certain procedures to qualify their patients for testing. Informal brochures will be sent to be distributed to each applicable patient once the physician is certified. Patients have to provide one or more samples of blood which will be sent to a national reference laboratory for testing. However, the costs associated with the Mesomark blood test may not be covered under health insurance.

Some times diagnostic surgery becomes indispensable in confirming mesothelioma. Thoracoscopy helps a physician to evaluate the pleural cavity and to conduct multiple tissue biopsies under direct vision. In most of the cases, a definitive diagnosis can be obtained. VATS or video assisted thoracic surgery comes as an alternative to thoracocospy. Here small incisions will be made and the physician can see the pleural space with the help of a camera. Mediastinoscopy and Laproscopy are more advanced in this regard.

Palliative procedures are those which treat a symptom of mesothelioma without actively treating the disease. Curative procedures aim at the removal of all gross disease, with the knowledge that microscopic disease will most likely remain. Adjuvant therapy is aimed at eliminating the residual disease.

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using chemical substances. Abnormal cells continue to divide in an uncontrolled manner when cancer occurs. Chemotherapy drugs work to destroy cancer cells by preventing them from multiplying. It may have different goals depending on the stage of the cancer at the time of diagnosis and the age and health of the patient.

In Radiation therapy penetrating beams of high energy or streams of particles called radiation is used to treat cancer. It may be used aggressively along with surgery, or palliatively to control the symptoms.