When malignant mesothelioma recurs (comes back), the treatment strategy often involves options that weren’t used in the initial treatment. If you haven’t received systemic therapy before, treatment may include:

• chemotherapy
• a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy ()
• immunotherapy alone

If you have received systemic therapy, treatment might include the following, given alone or in combination:

• chemotherapy
• immunotherapy

For certain people with locally recurrent cancer, surgery to remove the affected part of the chest wall may be an option.

Learn more about these treatments in the Treatment Option Overview.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.