Mesothelioma is cancer that affects the membranes surrounding some of the body’s most essential organs, such as the lungs, abdomen, and heart. The most common type of disease is pleural mesothelioma affecting the lungs. The next most common type is peritoneal mesothelioma in the gut.
Treatments for mesothelioma include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. Patients who have an earlier diagnosis may be eligible for one or more surgeries to eliminate the visible signs of tumors.
These surgeries can be effective, but there are high risks involved. As you and your physician consider your mesothelioma treatment plan, you probably will discuss mesothelioma surgery survival rates and recovery.
Below is information about survivability that may help you decide if surgery for your mesothelioma is the right choice for you.
Overall, mesothelioma survival rates tend to improve after surgeons perform surgery. Successful curative surgery can remove most of the mesothelioma tumors, which can slow its spread to other parts of the body (metastasis).
According to clinical studies, the survival rate for patients who had any mesothelioma surgery doubled from an average of one year to just under two years. A 2018 study of 888 cases found an overall survival rate of 15 months for both pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. (NIH.gov)
Below are survival rates for specific mesothelioma surgeries:
There are many factors that affect your mesothelioma surgery survival rate:
Cancer Cell Type
The cell type of asbestos cancer plays a key role in mesothelioma survival rates. Mesothelioma tumors have one of three cell types:
Survival rates are best with patients who have epithelioid mesothelioma. Those with sarcomatoid mesothelioma have the worst survival rates.
The reason is that epithelioid mesothelioma responds better to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. This has to do with the behavior and shape of the cells, which tend to clump together in tissue. Sarcomatoid cells spread faster and are harder to treat. Biphasic cells contain both types. Patients with more epithelioid cells have better survival rates.
When treated with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, the two-year survival rate for epithelioid mesothelioma patients is 65%, and the five-year survival rate is 27%. Patients with the sarcomatoid type have a two-year survival rate of only 20%.
Cancer Location
Survival rates also vary by location of the tumors. The median survival time for patients with pleural mesothelioma (lung) is one year. But patients who had EPP or P/D surgery may live up to 24 months.
Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma in the abdomen have greatly improved survival rates due to HIPEC surgery. Survival rates have risen from six months to more than five years. A few patients may live for over seven years.
A 2015 study done by Translational Oncology looked at 20 years of data. The study found the five-year survival rate for peritoneal mesothelioma patients was five times higher than that of pleural patients: (Sciencedirect.com)
Pericardial mesothelioma is extremely rare, so there is little data on surgery survival rates. One study reported a patient who had a pericardiectomy lived for 16 months.
Cancer Stage
Stage refers to how far the asbestos cancer has spread or metastasized. The more cancer has spread, the harder it is to treat. Higher surgery survival rates are associated with an earlier diagnosis:
Age
The five-year survival rates for mesothelioma patients under 45 at diagnosis is 40%. Patients who are diagnosed with the disease over age 65 have a five-year survival rate of only 5%.
But the general health of the patient can have a major effect on the survival rate for any patient.
Gender
Women are twice as likely to live five years with mesothelioma as men. Only 6% of men survive five years, compared with 14% of women. The major reason for this seems to be that men tend to work the most in occupations with the most asbestos exposure.
Speak to your physician about your mesothelioma diagnosis and treatment options They will be able to provide the most accurate information about your prognosis.
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