Treatments

Treatments we offer

At UCLA Health, we use treatment approaches that have been pioneered by our experts and that are tailored for each individual patient. This personalized approach is designed to give people the best chance for a positive outcome. Our mesothelioma care plans involve a series of consecutive treatments that often include:

Surgery

Pleurectomy and decortication is our frontline surgical treatment for mesothelioma. During this procedure, our thoracic surgeons remove the lining of the chest cavity (pleura) where the tumor is located, without removing the lung. This is a major operation that has a goal to have no visible tumor within the chest. 

Radiation therapy

UCLA Health offers highly specialized whole pleura targeted radiation using tomotherapy machines. This advanced technique, most often delivered once a patient recovers from surgery, allows us to deliver radiation specifically to the area that was affected by the tumor while minimizing harm to normal tissues such as the lung. 

Chemotherapy

Some people may have chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab, a blood vessel inhibitor. This treatment has been FDA-approved since 2004. The combination of medications has been shown to be effective, particularly in epithelioid mesothelioma tumors.

Immunotherapy (Including maintenance interferon-alpha therapy)

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that can be difficult to remove completely, even with surgery and radiation therapy. Immunotherapy helps the immune system find and destroy any remaining cancer cells.

A common treatment includes ipilimumab and nivolumab, two medications that boost the body's natural defenses against cancer. This approach has been especially effective for certain types of mesothelioma. At UCLA Health, our experts pioneered maintenance interferon-alpha therapy, a specialized immunotherapy that keeps the immune system active against mesothelioma. By using the lowest effective dose, we help patients stay on immunotherapy as long as possible while maintaining their quality of life.

Chemoimmunotherapy

This is a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy for mesothelioma.

Cryoablation

In some people, individual cancerous nodules (growths) develop in the chest cavity after treatment. Our interventional radiologists often use a freezing technique called cryoablation to destroy these nodules during a straightforward outpatient needle procedure.

Tumor treating fields (TTF)

The Optune Lua device uses electrical fields to prevent tumor cells from dividing and growing. TTF is delivered through ceramic discs arrays that we apply to the outside of your chest to disrupt tumor growth. This treatment is most effective when used alongside with chemotherapy.