The NCCN, or National Comprehensive Cancer Network, is a not for profit coalition of more than twenty cancer centers dedicated to improving care for cancer patients. The NCCN maintains a research based outline for treating various types of cancer known as the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology, or the NCCN Guidelines™. This year at the NCCN 15th Annual Conference the NCCN Guidelines for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) were presented as a new addition to the NCCN Guidelines™. Dr Lee M Krug, MD of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a member of the NCCN Guidelines™ Panel discussed the new addition.
Mesothelioma is a rare and very aggressive form of cancer linked to asbestos exposure. When individuals are exposed to an environment which has been contaminated with asbestos or asbestos products, the microscopic, needle like fibers of the dangerous substance can be unconsciously inhaled or ingested. The asbestos fibers then pass through the body’s normal defense systems for handling foreign debris due to their tiny size and shape, and after slipping through the lung or intestinal walls become lodged in the mesothelium, a soft tissue which lines our body’s vital organs.
Once inside the mesothelium, asbestos fibers can cause the development and accumulation of scar tissues. After several years or even decades this scarring can develop into malignant tumors which then spread rapidly throughout the body’s organ systems. Mesothelioma is difficult to diagnose, incurable, and carries a dismal prognosis which gives patients no more than two years to live. While research into more effective treatments against mesothelioma continues every day and shows some promise, at present only palliative therapies are available to mesothelioma patients.
The new NCCN Guidelines for MPM call for different methods of mesothelioma treatment depending on a variety of factors such as what stage the cancer is in, where it is located and how far it has spread. Generally, however, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are described as the primary treatment options.
As mesothelioma becomes better understood more effective standard practices are developed and distributed to doctors around the world. While mesothelioma is still considered a rare disease, the attention that it has received in the past decade has gone a long way in promoting the welfare of its victims and encouraging doctors to better understand its diagnoses and treatment.The addition of the NCCN Guidelines for MPM to the NCCN Guidelines™ publication is indicative of yet another step towards winning the battle against mesothelioma.
