By Bello Kamorudeen
Paul Kraus is one of the long-term survivors of malignant
mesothelioma, there are many others and one thing they all have
in common to all of them is the fact that they all focused most
of their treatment on steps to improve or enhance their immune
system. Some used alternative or complimentary therapies (with
guidance from licensed clinicians) while others participated in
clinical trials of immune therapy.
So does the immune system play a significant role in the
control malignant mesothelioma? The experience of Paul Kraus and
other long-term malignant mesothelioma survivors gives a lot of
credit to the fact that the immune system is indeed very
important in the management of malignant mesothelioma.
In quite a number of people with pleural mesothelioma that
survived the cancer for a long time, their medical histories
have shown that their immune system may have played a major role
in their extremely long survival.
In 1986, an article appeared in a medical journal that
discussed this very issue of malignant mesothelioma and
immunity.(1) This research focused on the immune responses of
118 healthy people compared to 20 patients with malignant
mesothelioma and 375 long-term asbestos workers who were
cancer-free.
The researchers wanted to know if there were any measurable
differences in the immune responses of the mesothelioma
patients. Their findings demonstrated a relationship between the
immune system and malignant mesothelioma. For example:
• The number of total T (T11+) and T-helper (T4+) cells were
normal in asbestos workers with cancer, but were significantly
reduced in patients with mesothelioma. T cells orchestrate,
regulate and coordinate the overall immune response.
• Most patients with mesothelioma had a profound deficiency
in Natural Killer cell (NK) activity which is suggestive of the
role the immune system plays in the control of malignant
mesothelioma. NK cells are a type of lethal lymphocyte that
target tumor cells and protect against a wide variety of
infectious microbes.
In the discussion section of the report, the researchers
stated:
“These findings led us to speculate that biological phenomena
generally categorized as chronic immunosuppression associated
with the presence of asbestos fibers in the exposed workers may
have caused the eventual breakdown of the host’s surveillance
system and the onset of neoplasm [malignant mesothelioma].”
In other words, the researchers are suggesting that malignant
mesothelioma may result from immune suppression. If this is true
it would provide the biological basis for the role that the
immune system and immune boosting approaches may play in the
management of malignant mesothelioma.
Another example of a long time survivor of mesothelioma is
James O’Connor.In October 2001, sixty-one year old James Rhio
O'Connor ("Rhio") was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma caused
by his exposure to asbestos when he was younger. His was given
less than a year to live.
His tumor was not operable because the tumor was too close to
his spinal cord chemo was also not an option because at the
stage of his tumor chemo would not have been of any major help
to him, it could not give any significant elongation to his life
span. He was basically told to prepare for imminent death in a
polite manner.
To soften this message, the doctor also recommended that Rhio
take his wife on a cruise and then start hospice care upon his
return. Rhio rejected the idea. He was determined to survive
this cancer. Working with professional clinicians, he formulated
a regimen of over 100 supplements a day, changed his diet,
practiced mind-body medicine, most of these treatments were
aimed at boosting the immune system, and he relied on his own
discipline to see him through the difficult times ahead.
Rhio survived for 7 ½ more years through his determination,
knowledge, inexorable spirit, belief in something greater than
himself, and the ability to make tough choices -qualities that
spell success in any endeavor. Rhio passed away on July 11,
2009. He was 69 years old.
Rhio was often asked how he was able to manage his mesothelioma
or "Mr. Meso" as he called it.
To answer these questions and help and inspire others, Rhio
wrote a book called "They Said Months, I Chose Years: A
Mesothelioma Survivor's Story." In this book Rhio discusses what
he did to live his life with "Mr. Meso" and much of the science
behind his decisions. In his book he cites nearly one hundred
medical articles that support the concept of using nutrition to
help manage a chronic disease like cancer. Rhio's inspirational
life and book reminds us that there may be other ways to manage
cancer and extend life beyond the conventional methods of
surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
About the Author: Bello Kamorudeen.For more information about
Mesothelioma prognosis go to
http://www.mesotheliomacorner.blopgspot.com
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link:
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=423736&ca=Cancer+Survival
