Asbestos And Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is the term used for a cancerous tumor, which involves the mesothelioma cells of lungs, heart or abdominal organs. Medical specialists in mesothelioma provide treatment to the patients after assessing the stage of the mesothelioma in their specific case. They analyze the location of the cancer, the level to which it is spread and the patient?s age and general health condition.

Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which the malignant cells are found in the sac that lines the chest or abdomen. There are four stages of malignant mesothelioma. The first stage is localized mesothelioma and the remaining three are considered advanced stages of mesothelioma. Localized mesothelioma is the phase wherein the cancer is discovered in the lung, diaphragm or in the lining of the chest cavity. The patients in their first stage of mesothelioma get their cancer surgically removed by pleurectomy or decortication or extrapleural pneumonectomy.

In the second stage, the cancer is detected to have spread beyond the lining of the chest cavity. In the third stage, the tumor growth spreads into several areas that include chest wall, center of the chest, heart, and throughout the diaphragm. The treatment in the second, third and fourth stages of mesothelium are done in tandem with supportive care. The treatment for these advanced stages focuses on providing a patient with relief from symptoms, as total cure is generally not achieved. The treatment methodology includes thoracentesis that removes fluid accumulation in the chest cavity, operations to remove the tumor and radiation therapy or chemotherapy aimed at easing symptoms.

In the fourth stage, the cancer is in the process of distant metastasis, which implies that it has spread to other organs and tissues far from its site of origin in the pleural, peritoneal, or pericardial mesothelium. Patients suffering from the fourth stage should enroll themselves in clinical trials that evaluate the newest treatment possibilities in large medical centers. Pain management is an essential aspect of the care of such patients. It is important for patients to know that medications are available to effectively treat pain due to mesothelioma. They should request pain medications or discuss pain control problems with their cancer care team.

Majority of mesothelioma (cancerous tumor affecting mesothelial cells of organs) cases come under the classification ‘pleural mesothelioma’. This is a cancer that originates in the pleura, the delicate membrane covering the lungs. Out of these, seventy five percent are diffuse malignant pleural mesethelioma. The balance is localized or benign.

Diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma is, in most cases, caused by unprotected exposure to asbestos. The symptoms include shortness of breath and/or chest pain, loss of weight, cough, fatigue, swelling on the face, neck and arms, reduced appetite, and coughing up blood. There would be collection of fluid in the thoracic cavity. It may take from twenty to forty years or more after contact with asbestos for the symptoms to emerge. Because of the time lag, diagnosing is often difficult. Moreover, many doctors are not familiar with the disease.

Diagnostic procedure consists mostly of imaging with Computed Tomography (CT scan), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Position Emission Tomography (PET), and laboratory tests and analysis. Thoractomy, which means making an incision through the chest wall to look into the pleura (the membrane lining the lungs and the thoracic cavity) and pleural biopsy provide conclusive evidence.

Diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma tumor is very aggressive and spreads fast. There are several methods to gauge the stage of the cancer. The most common is known as TNM. T is for the size of the tumor, N for the number of lymph nodules involved, and M for metastasis (spread of the cancer). There are basically four different stages. Correct grading helps the doctors to decide on the course of treatment. If the affliction is detected at an early stage, the chances of longer survival are better.

But generally the prognosis (response to treatment) is not good in diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma cases. Surgery during Stage I may help. If detected during the later phases of the cancer the survival rate is four months to twelve months. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy do not seem to improve the survival rate. The reality is that currently there is no effective curative treatment. Research is on to find new management methods and more effectual medicines.

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare type of mesothelioma which attacks the lining of abdomen also known as peritoneum. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) is a universally fatal disease affecting 20% to 30% of the mesothelioma cases. It’s was first described by Miller and Wynn in the year 1908. According to the statistics, in the past two decades, the incidence of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma cancer has increased.

Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining of the abdomen also known as peritoneum. The location of malignant cell is human’s abdominal lining and because of that, MPM can sometimes known as abdominal mesothelioma. However, most common term used to describe this type of cancer is peritoneal mesothelioma.

The main cause of MPM in humans is asbestos. Asbestos typically is the one of most commonly roofing materials since it is not only cheaper but is easy to fix on a roof. Asbestos exposure contributed to almost 70 to 80 percent of mesothelioma lung cancer. Humans come into contact with asbestos when they swallow or inhale the fibers. Asbestos inhalation may increase risk to develop asbestos related diseases, most importantly mesothelioma.

Asbestos was completely banned in UK since it was recognized to be a serious health hazard, and it is now responsible for about 4000 deaths each year and many cases of serious disease. The people at increase risk of developing health asbestos related disease are those whose work brings them into direct contact with asbestos such as builders, heating engineers, roofers and demolition workers. In addition to mesothelioma, asbestos exposure will increase the risk of other health problems such as lung cancer, asbestosis (chronic lung ailment) and other type of cancer such as larynx and kidney cancer.

Symptoms of Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma

It can takes such a long time for cancer to develop the symptoms and sometimes may take up to 30 years, between exposure to asbestos and the start of the disease. Most common symptoms of the disease are abdominal pain, abdominal swelling, abnormal weight loss, anemia, easy fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Abdominal pain and swelling result from fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity. Other than that, people can easily get fever when the disease starts to shows its symptoms. Among the symptoms stated above, abdominal pain is the most common reported initial symptoms of MPM.

Unexplained night sweats and blood coagulation problems are less frequent symptoms occurring when the cancer develops. If the cancer cells spread to the other part of the body, the symptoms may lead to trouble swallowing or swelling of the neck and face.

Diagnosis of Abdominal Mesothelioma

It is very difficult to diagnose peritoneal mesothelioma since there is no defined system so far that can differentiate the stages of the development of cancerous tumor cells. If required, TNM staging system normally used to detect the cancer in stages. Other than that, Serum mesothelin-related protein (SMRP) may be a potentially useful serum marker used to diagnose and to follow-up the cancer progression. Computer tomography (CT) findings may be a useful tool in detection and characterization of peritoneal mass.

Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma is a deadly neoplasm. MPM’s diagnosis is difficult to perform since the symptoms will take a long time to show up. Early detection is the key in peritoneal mesothelioma treatment since the cancer cell normally spread very fast.