If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, treatments are a key way to helping you live longer. Mesothelioma treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation can ease symptoms and improve survival. It’s possible to live for decades in some cases with treatment. You can get top treatments from VA or civilian doctors around the country.
Video Summary: Registered Nurse Amy Fair explains what mesothelioma is, the causes, and the symptoms.
View Transcript
What is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma attacks the tissues that line most major organs, called the mesothelium. It is known mainly to attack the mesothelium of the lung, pericardial sack, peritoneal cavity in the abdomen, and also known to attack the lining of the testicles.
One of the first symptoms for developing mesothelioma is shortness of breath. A lot of times folks will have the shortness of breath with the pleuritic chest pain. This is also followed sometimes by substantial weight loss.
Many times after being diagnosed with mesothelioma your physician may ask you if you have been exposed to asbestos. Asbestos is a causative factor for mesothelioma. Some of the imaging studies may show underlying pleural plaques which are indicated that they have been around asbestos and may have underlying asbestosis.
The risk factors for developing mesothelioma are working around asbestos-related products, or being indirectly around those products such as secondhand exposures that are seen with wives that launder their loved ones' clothes that have asbestos dust on them. So direct asbestos exposure, as well as indirect asbestos exposure, can be causative factors for mesothelioma.
If you have symptoms of mesothelioma of any asbestos-related disease, it’s important that you inform your doctor of your asbestos exposure so that appropriate testing can be done.
Medically reviewed by:Todd Gersten, MDDouble Board-Certified Oncologist and Hematologist
How Is Mesothelioma Treated?
Having mesothelioma can be scary, but treatments are available to help kill the cancer and increase your chances of long-term survival. Typical malignant mesothelioma treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy.
Each treatment works in different ways. You ultimately decide which mesothelioma treatments you receive with your doctor’s help. Doctors look at factors like cancer stage and your overall health to recommend the best treatments for your case.
If you or a loved one is a U.S. veteran with mesothelioma, our on-staff nurses may be able to help you find and afford top treatments and doctors.
Mesothelioma Surgery
Mesothelioma surgery is often considered the best treatment option. Doctors can remove cancer tumors from the body with several types of surgery.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy drugs shrink tumors. Commonly used chemotherapy drugs for mesothelioma include pemetrexed and cisplatin.
Radiation Therapy
Mesothelioma radiation uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. Radiation also causes the tumors to shrink, making them easier to remove with surgery.
Mesothelioma Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a newer type of mesothelioma treatment. It helps the body find and destroy mesothelioma cells.
Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields)
TTFields slow the growth of cancer tumors by using electrically charged pads that stick to the skin. The electricity doesn’t harm the patient.
Multimodal Treatment for Mesothelioma
Multimodal treatment combines therapies. For example, doctors may remove tumors with surgery and then use radiation or chemotherapy to kill leftover cancer cells.
Your doctors may recommend mesothelioma surgery if your cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, meaning it hasn’t spread through the body. There are three main types of mesothelioma surgeries that could be recommended to remove cancer tumors.
Mesothelioma surgeries include:
Cytoreduction with HIPEC: This may be used if you have malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, which forms in the lining of your abdomen. Doctors remove all the cancer they can see and then apply warm chemotherapy to kill unseen cancer cells. Patients live for 4.5 years on average with this treatment.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP): You could receive this surgery if you have malignant pleural mesothelioma, which forms in the lining of the lungs. The lung closest to the cancer, the lung lining (pleura), and all visible cancer tumors are taken out. Patients live for around 3 years on average.
Pleurectomy with decortication (P/D): This is surgery that could be used for pleural mesothelioma. Doctors take out the lung lining and cancer tumors but do not remove a lung, making it less involved than an EPP. However, it’s still very effective, with patients living an average of 3 years.
Your doctor will likely recommend other treatments like chemotherapy in addition to surgery to make sure that as much of the cancer as possible is destroyed. Some patients have gone on to live for 20 years or more thanks to surgery and other mesothelioma treatments.
“I think there's a misconception that surgery is this big morbid procedure. And what I would say to that is it depends in whose hands the surgery is performed. The big thing is that you've got to make sure it's done by someone who's experienced in doing mesothelioma surgeries routinely.”
— Dr. Raja Flores, mesothelioma specialist
Mesothelioma Chemotherapy
Mesothelioma chemotherapy is medication that shrinks cancer tumors and kills cells. It’s likely that you’ll receive one or more chemotherapy medications as part of your mesothelioma treatment plan.
Chemotherapy drugs for mesothelioma include:
Alimta® (pemetrexed)
Avastin® (bevacizumab)
Carboplatin
Cisplatin
Gemzar® (Gemcitabine)
Navelbine® (Vinorelbine)
The most common chemotherapy drugs for mesothelioma are cisplatin and pemetrexed. While chemotherapy may cause side effects like nausea and hair loss, it has helped many mesothelioma patients have more time with their loved ones.
Immunotherapy Treatment for Mesothelioma
Doctors are using immunotherapy more and more to treat mesothelioma. Your body’s immune system naturally wants to fight threats like cancer. But, mesothelioma cells can hide from it. Immunotherapy stops this and allows your body to destroy mesothelioma.
Immunotherapy medications for mesothelioma include:
Opdivo® (nivolumab)
Yervoy® (ipilimumab)
Keytruda® (pembrolizumab)
Pleural mesothelioma patients treated with immunotherapy lived for nearly 2 years on average in a recent study. You may be able to get immunotherapy with other mesothelioma treatments to live as long as possible.
Radiation Treatment for Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma radiation shrinks tumors and eases symptoms. It’s often used as a follow-up treatment to kill cancer cells left behind after surgery. You could also receive radiation as a palliative or pain-relieving treatment.
“A radiation oncologist delivers a beam of radiation that's very targeted to areas of mesothelioma, of the actual cancer itself, for the goal of disease control locally. But radiation does not have an effect throughout the rest of the body, only where it is directed.”
— Dr. Logan Roof, mesothelioma specialist
Mesothelioma patients treated with radiation lived for over 1 year on average, according to the National Cancer Database (NCDB). It may be possible for you to live even longer if you get radiation along with other mesothelioma treatments.
Call (877) 450-8973 now to connect with nurses who can help you find top mesothelioma treatments, doctors, and cancer centers.
Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields)
Tumor treating fields (TTFields) use electrical pads that stop mesothelioma cells from growing. These pads stick to your chest, and the electricity doesn’t hurt you.
Currently, you can only get TTFields treatment if you have pleural mesothelioma. This treatment is also known by its brand name, OptuneLua®. Mesothelioma patients who received TTFields and chemotherapy lived for 1.5 years in a recent study.
Multimodal Treatment
Multimodal treatment combines more than one therapy together to destroy as much of the cancer as possible. Using several mesothelioma treatments will likely be more effective than just one specific therapy.
Many patients have seen encouraging results through multimodal therapy. U.S. Army veteran Ernie Conry lived for nearly a decade after his mesothelioma diagnosis thanks to a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
“Don’t let the cancer bog you down. Some day it might bog you down, but if you are still moving, by God, keep moving.”
– Ernie Conry, U.S. Army veteran with mesothelioma
Mesothelioma New Treatments and Clinical Trials
There are many new mesothelioma treatments being studied to see how they can help patients. You may be able to get a newer treatment by joining a mesothelioma clinical trial, where emerging therapies are safely tested and compared to established ones.
Immunotherapy and TTFields became widely accepted mesothelioma treatments after showing they could help more patients live longer in clinical trials.
New mesothelioma treatments that you could access through trials include:
Brachytherapy: Using a capsule with radioactive material to treat mesothelioma
Cryotherapy: Applying extremely cold liquid or spray that shrinks cancer tumors
Gene therapy: Adding genes to cancer cells to destroy them more easily
Photodynamic therapy: Using light to kill cancer cells with a light-sensitive medicine
Each trial has requirements you must meet to join. You can ask your mesothelioma doctor if there are any clinical trials available that may be able to help you possibly live longer.
Palliative Mesothelioma Treatments
Mesothelioma treatments aren’t just for improving your survival. Many can also help manage symptoms and make you feel better. Palliative mesothelioma treatments are available to specifically improve your quality of life.
You can get palliative care at any point after a mesothelioma diagnosis. Don’t be afraid to ask for it. In many cases, you’ll be able to get palliative mesothelioma treatments alongside more involved therapies meant to help you live longer.
Palliative care options for mesothelioma include:
PleurX catheter: This tool helps you to drain pleural effusions, or fluid buildup in the lung lining, at home instead of going to the hospital.
Pleurodesis: Doctors seal the lung lining to prevent effusions, easing symptoms like shortness of breath.
Thoracentesis or paracentesis: Doctors remove fluid from the lining of the lung or abdomen using a thin needle.
Surgeries: Minor surgeries can reduce the size of tumors and relieve symptoms.
If you decide that major mesothelioma treatments aren’t right for you, you may benefit from hospice care. This allows you to get around-the-clock palliative treatment. Going into hospice does not mean you are giving up in your cancer fight — it helps you have a good quality of life in the face of a serious diagnosis.
Get our Free Veterans Packet for help finding mesothelioma treatments that may help you live longer and ease any discomfort related to cancer.
After your mesothelioma diagnosis, you may hear about things like acupuncture and yoga for cancer. These are known as alternative mesothelioma treatments.
You shouldn’t replace standard treatments like chemotherapy with alternatives. However, alternative options could help to naturally relieve some of your symptoms and make you feel better.
Mesothelioma natural treatment options include:
Acupuncture
Dietary changes
Exercise
Herbal therapies
Meditation and breathing techniques
Yoga
U.S. veteran Art Putt has lived for over 5 years with mesothelioma through chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and a major upheaval to his diet, eating a blend of cancer-fighting foods. “I can't explain it other than that I just started feeling better,” he says.
Mesothelioma Treatment and Prognosis
Your health outlook after a mesothelioma diagnosis is called prognosis. Getting mesothelioma treatment is the main way you can live longer and improve your prognosis, since the cancer can be shrunk, destroyed, or removed.
Here’s how mesothelioma treatments can improve prognosis:
Pleural mesothelioma patients live for 2-3 years on average with treatments like surgery.
Peritoneal mesothelioma patients typically live for 4.5 years after surgery and chemotherapy.
Some patients become long-term mesothelioma survivors, living for over 20 years after treatment.
Without any form of treatment, mesothelioma patients typically live for 1 year or less. This is because mesothelioma can spread quickly if nothing is done.
Your prognosis is unique. It depends on things like where you cancer started, how far it has spread, your general health, the treatments you receive, and more. You can get a better idea about your prognosis and available treatments by speaking with your doctor.
U.S. Veterans Who Lived Longer With Mesothelioma Treatments
Many U.S. veterans with mesothelioma received treatment to live longer with this cancer and make more memories with their families. See which treatment approaches helped veterans below.
Given 1 year or less to live after his 2018 diagnosis, Art used well-established treatments and natural remedies to survive. He’s living happily with his wife today.
After his mesothelioma diagnosis, Walt chose to get palliative care rather than major treatments. He ultimately lived for 2 and a half years.
Doctors Who Treat Mesothelioma
If you or a loved one has mesothelioma, it’s important to see a specialist who has experience treating your type of cancer. Skilled mesothelioma doctors can determine which types of treatments may work best for you.
Dr. Wiener treats pleural mesothelioma at the Boston VA Healthcare System in Massachusetts.
All of the doctors above are within the VA health care network. This means if you’re a veteran with mesothelioma, you can use your VA benefits to see these doctors for free or at a lower cost.
Use our free doctor search tool to find mesothelioma specialists near you. We have a network of over 150 doctors and can connect you with them now.
Find Mesothelioma Specialists in Your State
Mesothelioma Specialists in
Speak with our trusted advocates to learn more about mesothelioma specialists in your state.
Cancer centers across the country specialize in mesothelioma treatment. Many are a part of the VA’s health care network and focus on diagnosing and treating veterans affected by this cancer.
It’s important to go to a hospital that can specifically treat mesothelioma since the cancer is so rare. General cancer centers may not be able to provide the proper care.
Affording Mesothelioma Treatment Costs
While treatments are key to living longer with mesothelioma, they are often very expensive. The average mesothelioma treatment costs can exceed $400,000. Even with insurance, affording cancer care can be hard for many families.
Other expenses, like travel costs for treatment and lost wages if you or a loved one must stop working after a diagnosis, can also quickly add up. Thankfully, you may qualify for mesothelioma compensation from different sources.
Here are key ways to afford mesothelioma expenses:
VA benefits: Married veterans with mesothelioma can get $4,158.17 per month from VA benefits. Veterans with VA health care can also access free or low-cost cancer treatments.
Asbestos trust fund claims: These trusts contain over $30 billion today. You may start to get money from trusts in under 90 days.
Mesothelioma lawsuits: These lawsuits award over $1 million on average. They don’t involve the U.S. military or government, but rather the companies that hid the dangers of asbestos.
If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, it’s likely that you deserve compensation. We may be able to help you or a loved one seek money to cover your cancer treatments. Get a Free Case Review now to find out more.
While having mesothelioma can be scary, it’s important to know that many treatments are available to help you feel better and give you more time with your loved ones.
If you or a veteran you love is now facing mesothelioma, work with the Mesothelioma Veterans Center to find the best treatments for your case.
Our registered nurses and veterans advocates can help you:
Yes, there are several treatment options for mesothelioma cancer. You can access different treatments to possibly live longer after a diagnosis and have a better quality of life.
The most notable treatments are:
Chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Radiation
Surgery
You may be able to receive several of these mesothelioma treatments to shrink, remove, and destroy as much of the cancer as possible. Work with experienced mesothelioma doctors to find out which treatments will be best in your case.
“You definitely want patients to go to places with experience, who have seen this disease before, and who know how best to approach it,” says Dr. Deepa Magge, mesothelioma specialist.
What is the best treatment for mesothelioma?
Some of the best treatments for mesothelioma are surgeries and chemotherapy. Doctors can remove cancer tumors with surgery. Chemotherapy to shrink cancer is the next best treatment if surgery can't be used, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
You may be able to receive both surgery and chemotherapy depending on the specifics of your diagnosis. Many other patients have lived for several years with these treatments, and some have become long-term survivors.
Call (877) 450-8973 now for help finding the best mesothelioma treatment options for your case.
What is the treatment for mesothelioma in the lungs?
Mesothelioma in the lungs (pleural mesothelioma) can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation.
If you have pleural mesothelioma that hasn’t spread very far, your doctors will likely recommend surgery. Pleural mesothelioma patients who get surgery live 3 years on average. The other treatments can potentially improve your survival time, too.
What are stage 4 mesothelioma treatment options?
Doctors often use systemic treatments like chemotherapy to help stage 4 mesothelioma patients live longer, as well as supportive care to ease symptoms. Surgery is typically not possible in stage 4 due to cancer spread.
Stage 4 mesothelioma without treatment has a poor outlook. But, some patients can live a long time with the right treatment plan. John Stahl has lived for over 6 years with stage 4 mesothelioma through chemotherapy. “I’m pretty well back to normal,” he says today.
Has anyone ever recovered from mesothelioma?
Yes, some patients have recovered from mesothelioma. U.S. Army & Air Force veteran Art Putt is still living today after his diagnosis in 2018. He was originally given a year or less to live.
Sissy Hoffman also recovered from mesothelioma and lived for almost 30 years. Diagnosed in 1996 and given just 6 months to live, she received surgery and other treatments. She passed away from other causes in 2025 without the cancer returning, making her one of the longest-lived mesothelioma survivors.
Will mesothelioma ever be curable?
While there is not yet a cure, treatments may help you live for many years after a mesothelioma cancer diagnosis. Some patients have survived for 20 years or more with treatment.
“The right approach is to say: ‘I'm going to live with this disease. I'm going to make the most of my life as I live with this disease,’” says mesothelioma specialist Dr. Jacques Fontaine. “Then that's how you get hope.”
Additionally, doctors continue to study new and potentially better treatments in clinical trials with the hope of one day finding a cure.
Get a Free Veterans Packet to find mesothelioma treatments that could help you outlive your current prognosis.
Why is mesothelioma so hard to treat?
Mesothelioma is hard to treat because it spreads quickly and is usually diagnosed only after it has spread. These issues can limit your available treatment options.
You’ll want to make sure that you’re getting treated by a mesothelioma specialist. This will mean you’re in the best possible hands throughout treatment. Even though mesothelioma can be difficult to treat, you still could live a long time with the right medical care.
How can veterans access mesothelioma treatments?
If you’re a U.S. veteran, you can get mesothelioma treatments from both VA doctors and civilian ones. You may have lower health care co-pays or qualify for free treatments if you go through the VA health system.
Contact us now for help accessing mesothelioma treatments. Our veterans advocates and nurses can connect you with top doctors and explain key treatment options.
Disclaimer
The Mesothelioma Veterans Center has no affiliation with and is not endorsed or sponsored by Dr. Robert Cameron. The contact information above is listed for informational purposes only. You have the right to contact Dr. Cameron directly.
Double Board-Certified Oncologist and Hematologist
Fact-Checked
Editor
Todd Gersten, MD, is a double board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist specializing in general adult oncology and hematologic disease. He is a physician partner with the Florida Cancer Specialists and practices in Wellington, Florida.
Dr. Todd Gersten is an independently paid medical reviewer.
Christopher Dryfoos is a journalist and member of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). As the grandson of the U.S. Navy’s first forensic pathologist, he aims to help veterans with mesothelioma access needed care.
Bou-Samra, P., et al. (2023, April 16). Epidemiological, therapeutic, and survival trends in malignant pleural mesothelioma: A review of the National Cancer Database. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cam4.5915.
Branch, K., et al. (2023, February 28). Some like it hot: the potential role of hyperthermic intrathoracic chemotherapy in the multimodality treatment of pleural mesothelioma. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9989819/.
Ceresoli, G., et al. (n.d.). Tumour Treating Fields in combination with pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin as first-line treatment for unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (STELLAR): a multicentre, single-arm phase 2 trial. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(19)30532-7/fulltext.
Enomoto, L., et al. (n.d.). Cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal mesothelioma: patient selection and special considerations. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6511620/.
Klotz, L., et al. (November 2024). Multimodal therapy of epithelioid pleural mesothelioma: improved survival by changing the surgical treatment approach. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9742626/.
Valenzuela, C., et al. (2023, February 08). Long-Term Survival in Patients Treated with Cytoreduction and Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Peritoneal Mesothelioma at a Single High-Volume Center. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1245/s10434-022-13061-3.
