Dad diagnosed with meso & immunotherapy

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Hi

My dad is 83 and has just been diagnosed with mesothelioma. He had VATS surgery at Guys and has a permanent chest drain. He’s still having a lot of fluid drained and is very breathless. It’s the first time he’s ever been ill and he’s really struggling with it. He’s also the main carer for my mum who has Alzheimer’s, amongst other things. It’s all been a big shock and he’s declined rapidly. 

We saw the oncologist at Guys yesterday and they advised that his mesothelioma is biphasic and contains both sacomatoid and epithioid cells. We learned yesterday that the treatment with the highest response rate is immunotherapy as chemotherapy is not effective against sacomatoid cells.

We also learned that funding for this is no longer available on the NHS.  I wondered if anyone else had heard this as it seems from this group that a lot of people are having immunotherapy. 

We are keen to secure the treatment that would give my father the best chance of managing this condition for as long as possible.

I’d be very grateful for anyone’s tips in trying to get this treatment as my dad isn’t keen on chemo as it sounds like a lot of side effects and he would only have a year with it.  

Trying to stay as positive as I can for my dad so thank you in advance. 

  • Hi,

    Sorry to hear this. My dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma, he was a plasterer. He received immunotherapy privately, it was quite a long process but we got a solicitor involved who put in a insurance claim against his previous employers who paid for his treatment. 
    hope this helps 

  • Thank you. My dad was a builder but was his own company. We have contacted Hasag and are looking at a possible claim against the insurance company at the time. Good thought that if successful it could be used to pay for immunotherapy. Thank you. 

    • You are welcome, my dad was also self employed for most of his life although aged 18 he started out working for a company and that is who the solicitor put the claim in against as they cannot prove at what point somebody was exposed to asbestos.