Mesothelioma and General Health

There are treatments for all patients with malignant mesothelioma. Uses three kinds of treatment:

* Surgery (taking out the cancer).
* Radiation therapy (using high doses of X-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells).
* Chemotherapy (using drugs to fight cancer).

Surgery is a common treatment for malignant mesothelioma. The doctor may remove part of the lining of the chest or abdomen and some of the tissue lying around. Depending on how far the cancer has spread, you can also remove a lung in an operation called a pneumonectomy. Sometimes it also removes some of the muscle beneath the lungs that helps breathing (the diaphragm).

Radiation therapy using high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy) or from putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) and applied to the area where cancer cells are found through thin plastic tubes (internal radiation therapy). Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment (more…)

Researchers at the University of Hawaii have identified a protein that induced by asbestos or asbestos action on cells, is responsible for an inflammatory reaction that promotes tumor growth. Experts say this discovery may be applied in the prevention and treatment of mesothelioma.

HMGB1 Protein

The study, published in the journal PNAS, clarifying the mechanism by which asbestos causes mesothelioma, pleural cancer, resistant to current therapies.

More than 20 million people in the U.S., and many more worldwide, have been exposed to asbestos and are at risk of developing mesothelioma. (more…)

Mesothelioma treatments can be divided into two categories: curative, and palliative treatments. The curative treatment is an attempt to eliminate all cancer cells and cure the disease. Palliative treatments are designed to relieve the pain and the patient is more comfortable.

Mesothelioma treatments include conventional treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and experimental procedures, including immunotherapy and gene therapy.

Generally, a patient with mesothelioma receiving various types of conventional treatments. For example, they may undergo surgery to remove the bulk of cancerous tissue, and then may receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells.

Experimental treatments are generally available only to patients who agree to enter clinical trials. In these cases, patients must have specific criteria to be eligible.

Mesothelioma is difficult to diagnose due to the fact that it can lie dormant in the body for up to five decades and is often undiagnosed until its later stages.

The most common symptoms of pleural mesothelioma is, shortness of breath, chest pain and persistent cough. However, some patients show no symptoms. A common sign is pleural effusion (water on the lungs).

Some symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss, abdominal pain and swelling and intestinal obstruction. If the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, some other common symptoms can include difficulty swallowing, swelling of face or neck, blood clotting problems, anemia and fever.

Also the diagnosis may be difficult due to the nonspecific nature of the symptoms of mesothelioma, symptoms that often seem far less serious diseases.

The diagnostic process usually begins with a compilation of a complete medical history and work history, including any exposure to asbestos. We performed a medical examination and if you suspect a problem call several diagnostic tests. These typically include medical imaging tests such as X rays, CT and MRI, and biopsy procedures that test samples of fluid and tissues by the presence of cancer cells. Diagnostic tests are also used to determine how far the cancer has spread, and if progress has been made elsewhere in the body.

There are five types of mesothelioma. Four of them are malignant cancers, and a condition is benign.

Pleural Mesothelioma: This type of mesothelioma develops in the tissue of the lungs, known as the pleura. It is the most common form of malignant mesothelioma, about 70 percent of cases are pleural in origin.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma: This form of mesothelioma develops in the tissue of the abdominal cavity, known as the peritoneal membrane. Approximately 25% of mesotheliomas are of this type.

Pericardial mesothelioma: This form of mesothelioma develops in the heart tissue, known as the pericardium. About 5 percent of all mesothelioma cases are pericardial.

Testicular Mesothelioma: This is the rarest type of malignant mesothelioma, to date, there have been fewer than 100 cases recorded. Testicular mesothelioma develops in the tunica vaginalis of the testes.

Benign Mesothelioma: The benign form of mesothelioma is commonly develops in the pleura. This is the only form of mesothelioma which healing and recovery is a likely outcome, although it may be a precursor of asbestos-related problems in the future.

Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the mesothelial cells lining various organs and body cavities. The mesotelium (composed of mesothelial cells) is the membrane that lines three body cavities, and depending on the cavity that is lined is assigned a specific name: the thoracic cavity (pleura), abdominal cavity (peritoneum), and bag the heart (pericardium).

The mesothelium that covers the internal organs is called visceral mesothelium, while the coating on the body wall is called the parietal mesothelium.

The mesotelium tissue also surrounds the male internal reproductive organs and covers the internal reproductive organs in women.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the mesothelium, in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide uncontrollably. They can invade and damage tissues and organs. Most cases of mesothelioma rises in the chest cavity (pleura) or the abdominal cavity (peritoneum)

Approximately 2000-3000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the United States, covering about 3 percent of all cancer diagnosis. This cancer occurs four times more common in men than in women. Any form of mesothelioma is fatal, with the exception of benign mesothelioma. The prognosis for mesothelioma is almost always poor and most studies report a median survival of less than a year, but the outlook really depends on how early the diagnosis is made and if it aggressively.

The doctor will first ask about the history and in particular whether in the past worked with asbestos. The occupations with the highest risk are workers in shipbuilding and in the heating industry. In the physical examination, a damping of the lung are found due to the moisture. About this area of damping is less breath sounds heard. Sometimes the tumor through the chest wall outward growth. (more…)

A (malignant) mesothelioma, also known as pleural cancer, is a specific lung cancer, caused by the inhalation of asbestos. Asbestos fibers are inhaled and lodge in the lung membranes. There they stimulate the lining cells and ensure they change such that these cells into malignant tumor cells change. (more…)

Stages of malignant mesothelioma Once malignant mesothelioma, will become more tests to determine if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. This procedure is known as staging. The doctor needs to know the stage where the cancer to plan treatment. For the classification of malignant mesothelioma following stages are used.

Localized malignant mesothelioma Stage I: Cancer is found in the lining of the chest cavity near the lung or heart, or in the diaphragm or lung.

Advanced Malignant Mesothelioma Stage II: Cancer has spread beyond the lining of the chest to lymph nodes in the area.

Stage III: Cancer has spread to the chest wall, the center of the chest, heart, through the diaphragm, or abdominal lining, and in some cases, nearby lymph nodes.

Stage IV: Cancer has spread to distant organs or tissues.

Recurrent Malignant Mesothelioma Recurrent disease means we mean that the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may come back in the lining of the chest or abdomen, or elsewhere in the body.

Malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer is a disease in which cells are cancerous (malignant) in the sac lining the chest (the pleura) or the lining of the abdomen (the peritoneum). Most people with malignant mesothelioma have worked in places where they breathed asbestos breathing.

You should see a doctor if you have shortness of breath, chest pain or pain or swelling in the abdomen. If you have symptoms, your doctor may send you to do an x-ray of the chest or abdomen.

The doctor may look inside the chest cavity with a special instrument called a thoracoscope. To do this, will make an opening through the chest wall and install the thoracoscope into the chest between two ribs. This test, called thoracoscopy, is usually performed in a hospital. Before the test, be given a local anesthetic (a drug that causes loss of feeling for a short period of time.) You may feel some pressure, but usually no pain.

The doctor may look inside the abdomen (peritoneoscopy) with a special tool called peritoneoscope, which is inserted into an opening in the abdomen. Usually, this test is also carried out in the hospital. You are given a local anesthetic before performing the test.

If abnormal tissue is found, the doctor will remove a small piece to be submitted to an analysis by microscope to determine the presence of cancer cells. This process is called a biopsy. Biopsies are usually done during the thoracoscopy or peritoneoscopy.

Your chances of recovery (prognosis) depends on the size of cancer, its location, how far it has spread, the appearance of cells under the microscope, how the cancer responds to treatment and patient age.