How do you know you have developed mesothelioma? The likelihood is there’s a good chance you won’t; only a doctor can diagnose mesothelioma. Even so, symptoms of mesothelioma may vary depending on severity of the illness and location of the disease and are often confused with signs of other illnesses. Many people find that understanding how mesothelioma works can be helpful.

There are often considered to be three types of mesothelioma: pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and benign mesothelioma. Each type has its own characteristics. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of this potentially deadly disease. Up to 75 percent of mesothelioma cases are instances of pleural mesothelioma. This type affects the pleura or lining of the lungs. Symptoms can be confused with the flu, lung cancer and even broken ribs.

Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the peritoneum, the abdominal lining that helps contain your digestive organs. Symptoms can include increased abdominal size, abdominal pain, digestive problems, weight loss, fever or fatigue. Because these symptoms are often associated with other illnesses, symptoms can be misleading here as well.

Benign mesothelioma is non-cancerous. The symptoms of benign mesothelioma, although generally considered less dangerous, can also be life threatening, especially if left untreated. The presence of benign mesothelioma may be an indicator for other serious problems. It also signifies likely exposure to asbestos, which could lead to the presence of mesothelioma in other areas of your body. You can find out more about asbestos and mesothelioma in our mesothelioma articles and our mesothelioma blog.

The cellular structure of malignant mesothelioma also has three possible classifications: epitheliod, sarcomatoid and mixed/biphasic. Epitheliod is the most common of the three and occurs in the outer layer of the organs and tissues in the body. Sarcomatoid mesothelioma, less common and more serious, occurs at a deeper tissue level and can affect bone, muscle, cartilage and fat.

If you have been exposed to asbestos or think you may have mesothelioma, you may want to schedule an appointment with your doctor. He or she may take any of several courses of action if mesothelioma is suspected. These could include a physical exam, fluid collection or scans. Methods of diagnosis vary from doctor to doctor. You may decide to get a second opinion or ask your doctor about other tests available. Being inquisitive about the method and accuracy of diagnosis can be life saving and help bring you peace of mind.

If you would like more information about mesothelioma diagnosis and mesothelioma treatments, call 1-888-370-0121.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer affecting the membrane that covers and protects various internal organs of the body (mesothelium). The mesothelium comprises two layers of particular cells known as mesothelial cells. One layer directly surrounds an organ forming a protective sac, while the other lines body cavities, providing oil like lubrication within the body. The most common type of mesothelioma cancer affects the membrane, or sac, lining the lungs (pleura). Other, less common areas include the membrane of the stomach (peritoneum) and the membrane lining the heart (pericardium).

A pneumonectomy is a surgical removal of an entire lung and is used as a cancer treatment. Pneumonectomy may fall into one of two categories: traditional pneumonectomy, resulting in the removal of the diseased lung and extrapleural pneumonectomy, involving removal of the diseased lung as well as areas of the diaphragm and other tissues.

Extrapleural pneumonectomy is typically determined as a surgery of last resort with a goal of eradicating a majority of the cancer cells. Surgeons usually only perform this type of surgery on patients who are in the early stages of mesothelioma cancer, before the cancer has a chance to metastasize, spreading to lymph nodes or invading surrounding tissues and organs. Extrapleural pneumonectomy surgery candidates typically need to be in relatively good health — with good lung and heart function — because removal of an entire lung will increase strain on the heart and remaining lung. They also usually need to be strong and healthy enough to withstand the demands of major surgery and the healing it will require.

In some cases, diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer does not occur until a patient reaches a critical Stage 3 or 4, reducing the chances for this type of treatment. For those who are eligible, extrapleural pneumonectomy may slow or halt the progression of the disease, help ease breathing and improve quality of life. Extrapleural pneumonectomy patients treated with a combination of extrapleural pneumonectomy, radiation and chemotherapy may experience increased life spans of months or, in some cases, years.

We here at the Mesothelioma & Asbestos Information Exchange have a useful Mesothelioma and Asbestos FAQ.  It can be a useful resource for those looking to learn more about this formerly widely used mineral and the devastating disease that is linked to it.  We’ll go through some of the more salient points of the FAQ here.

First, we’ll discuss what asbestos actually is.  Asbestos is a mineral found naturally in a fiber-like form.  This fibrous form that is assumes lends some important (and practical) properties to it.  These are its extremely low density and its poor conduction ability.  These properties are due to the numerous air pockets that are found in between the feathery fibers of asbestos, and they make it an excellent fire-retardant and insulation material.  An additional industrial application of asbestos is using it to improve the tensile strength of concrete by mixing it in with the construction material.

Asbestos is found all over the world as a metamorphic mineral.  For years, Canada was the leading producer of asbestos; in recent years, Canada has seen competition rise from mines located in South Africa, China, Australia, and Russia.

Asbestos has a proven and dangerous link with a rare but deadly form of cancer known as mesothelioma.  We’ve chronicled the link on our mesothelioma blog before, but we’ll run through it again here.  Since asbestos is so lightweight, when it becomes disturbed, it easily breaks into microscopically small particles that can be readily inhaled or ingested.  Alternately, these particles can settle on clothing or into water, where they can be subsequently inhaled or ingested by someone else not even directly involved with handling the mineral.

Once asbestos becomes inhaled, it can embed itself in the pleural lining of the lungs.  At this pint, there’s a latency period lasting anywhere from 10 to 50 years, during which no symptoms of mesothelioma manifest themselves.  However, once those symptoms do show up, the disease moves rapidly.  Victims suffering from mesothelioma often have life expectancies measured in months.

Mesothelioma is a devastating disease that targets the linings of the lungs and the stomach.  It is fatal, and though there are treatment options available, there is no cure.  What’s more, mesothelioma advances rapidly, which means sufferers of this rare, malignant cancer often have life expectancies measured in months.  Mesothelioma is a very rare disease, afflicting somewhere between seven and 40 people per million in the United States.  And yet it’s precisely this relative rarity that makes it difficult to conduct effective studies and undergo major treatment testing.

However, despite the often dire facts surrounding this disease, there are advances made along the treatment front all the time.  Recently, treatments for peritoneal mesothelioma, the form of this disease that attacks the peritoneum in the abdomen, have shown promise.  (Peritoneal mesothelioma, for the record, contrasts with pleural mesothelioma, the form this disease takes when it attacks the pleural lining.)

According to an article about peritoneal mesothelioma treatment on Asbestos.com, what is referred to as a “multimodal” approach to treatment seems to have benefits.  This multimodal approach has parallels in the treatment of other cancers.  Its name fairly self-explanatory, as it refers to the employment of multiple treatments undergone at the same time.  Treatments that are often bundled together include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.  Though this approach might result in increased treatment efficacy, it nevertheless cannot be used for a majority of mesothelioma patients, because it only has value to those who have a chance to beat the disease.

When this multimodal approach is used, it can manifest itself in several ways.  One way is referred to as HIPEC, or heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy.  In this method, a heated chemotherapy solution is circulated in the abdominal cavity after surgery.  It has been found that heating the solution an increased benefit.

Though doctors are still a long way off from providing concrete solutions for mesothelioma, there certainly is hope on the horizon.

There’s more good news for mesothelioma treatment on the horizon.  According to an article posted on the always-helpful Asbestos.com, a promising treatment for this disease might lie in immuno-gene therapy.  This cutting-edge treatment method involves boosting the immune system through a variety of methods.  One involves the introduction of a virus whose genetic material has been altered to include a normal, human gene into the area where the mesothelioma is.  When this virus enters cancer cells, it triggers those cells to begin producing normal proteins, not defective ones.  Another method involves the introduction of coated DNA into the system.

Though immuno-gene therapy is a potentially fertile region for discovery, there are some hang-ups regarding this treatment.  First, there are concerns that the body’s own immune system, despite being comprised, might reject the infectious cells rapidly.  From a legal perspective, since the FDA has yet to approve immuno-gene therapy, the treatment is only available to those patients who qualify for clinical trials.  Still, it could be a step in the right direction.

About Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is an insidious and startlingly effective killer.  It is caused by asbestos, a fibrous mineral formerly prized in many industries, and particularly in ship-building and construction, for its excellent flame-retardant and insulation properties.  Unfortunately, for all its utility, asbestos fibers, when inhaled, can utterly ravage the lungs.  One way it does this is by fibers getting embedded in the pleural lining of the lungs.  This can happen without noticeable adverse affects for up to 50 years; however, once the mesothelioma’s onset occurs, patients rapidly deteriorate.  For all the forward advancements the medical field offers on a regular basis, the life expectancy of those diagnosed with this devastating, rare disease is often measured in months, not not years.

Nevertheless, we here at the Mesothelioma Help Network eagerly hope that science will one day catch up to this brutal cancer, rendering it a curable disease.  Who knows?  One of these experimental treatments on the horizon just might point the way to such a future.

Mesothelioma is a deadly disease that develops very quickly.  Sadly, and all too often, the life expectancy of a mesothelioma patient can be measured in months, not years or decades.  Strangely, however, this rapid advancement can occur after a lengthy latency period of up to 50 years wherein asbestos fibers can lay in the lining of the lungs without ill effects.  Because of its rapid onset and lethality, it’s essential to diagnose mesothelioma as early as possible in order to maintain a relatively high quality of life.

A typical mesothelioma diagnosis could begin with a patient noticing symptoms including chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and wheezing.  The patient might pay a visit to her general practitioner.  At this point, the general practitioner could decide to refer the patient to a specialist, who might run a series of tests to determine the source of the symptoms.

Mesothelioma Tests

Though this is not the only way a diagnosis is performed, some typical procedures follow.  One such procedure might be a chest X-ray.  This simple X-ray is often capable of detecting any major abnormalities in the patient’s lungs, such as a thickening of the pleura, the membrane that surrounds the lungs.  Pleura thickening is a sign of mesothelioma, but it could also mean something else, so further tests are often needed.  One such test is the CT scan, which provides a 3-D image of the scanned area.  Its goal is to detect the position of any tumor or pleural thickening.  Two other procedures which require samples are pleural aspirations and biopsies.  The pleural aspiration uses a syringe to take a sample of any fluid found in the pleura, which can then be checked for mesoethelioma cells.  A biopsy involves passing a specially designed needle through the skin and into the tumor or thickened pleura with the intent of searching for traces of the cancer.

Get Your Mesothelioma Tests Quickly, and Take Action

Being subjected to these tests can be stressful, and waiting for results can be an anxious time, but it can be a better tactic to undergo them as soon as possible.  An early warning, combined with aggressive treatment, can mean the difference between measuring the rest of your life in years as opposed to mere months.  Your quality of life might also be improved, as well.