Chemotherapy is one of the major forms of treatment for mesothelioma and most chemotherapy agents for the treatment of mesothelioma are administered intravenously, typically once a week or once every three or four weeks (length of time is determined by the patient’s physician). There are several common chemotherapeutic medications that may be used to treat mesothelioma, including Alimta, Cisplatin, and Carboplatin.

There is however a new form of chemo that is being tested in clinical trials of treatment of mesothelioma patients. This treatment, known as heated chemotherapy, is showing some promise for the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma, a form of mesothelioma that attacks the protective lining around the abdomen. (Due to the nature of the treatment, it has been deemed inappropriate for pleural and pericardial mesothelioma.

Heated chemotherapy for peritoneal mesothelioma, which is also known as heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy, is administered in a totally different method from the usual ways of giving chemotherapy.

During the heated chemotherapy procedure, a patient is treated with chemotherapeutic medications in liquid form that are administered directly into the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity). Before this can take place,the mass of the abdominal tumor is reduced by surgery.

Once the surgical procedure has been completed, chemotherapy can begin. During this part of the treatment, the patient’s peritoneum is permeated with heated chemotherapeutic medications to expose all organs and tissues within the peritoneum in a uniform fashion (this ensures all affected organs receive treatment).

The chemotherapeutic drugs used in the procedure are heated to a temperature between 44 – 46

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