"This outstanding mesothelioma resource written by Dr. Kaplan in easy
to understand terms will greatly benefit patients and their families."
- Zach Modis
"I wish I had this book when my dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
It explains so much. "
- Sundi
"Well written, informative, helpful…"
- Julia Baker
An Overview of Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma causes the protective lining or mesothelium that covers all the major
body organs, to function abnormally and invade into the nearby main body organs
like the heart, lungs or abdomen and damage them. There are mainly three types of
mesothelioma - pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma.
Of the three types, pleural mesothelioma is the most common type that affects the
lining of the lungs and is found to occur in human beings. The rarest malignant
cancer is the pericardial mesothelioma which affects the lining around the heart.
The peritoneal mesothelioma is found to affect the lining of the abdominal cavity.
Symptoms
Mesothelioma would have taken most of its toll on the human body before the symptoms
occur. The average survival period of the people diagnosed to suffer from malignant
mesothelioma would be about one year. The symptoms of mesothelioma are similar to
other common diseases like fever, nausea, sudden weight loss, chest pain, breathlessness
and hence it is difficult to diagnose the cause of the above diseases.
More information on the symptoms Mesothelioma.
Causes
The main cause for mesothelioma is the inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers
or dusts. These asbestos fibers enter our body while we breathe and reach the lining
of the lung and may sometimes cause scarring of the lungs. This is called asbestosis,
but is benign or non cancerous. The tumor growth in case of people inhaling these
asbestos fibers will only show symptoms after about 30 years. The longer or more
intense the exposure of the asbestos is felt on a person, the greater are the chances
of him suffering from mesothelioma. Even people who have worked in asbestos factories
for just a few months have been affected by mesothelioma after many years. The families
of the people working in asbestos factories are also at high risk of getting mesothelioma
as they are exposed to the workers' clothing, skin or hair follicles.
More information on the causes of Mesothelioma
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of mesothelioma is a bit difficult process. The symptoms of mesothelioma
are common to some other diseases as well; so there are good chances of misdiagnosis.
Pathology tests are the most accurate way of diagnosing mesothelioma. When a person
suspecting mesothelioma approaches a doctor, he will recommend taking imaging tests
like X-ray, CAT/CT scan of the chest or abdomen. If needed, the doctor will ask
for further tests like biopsy. Biopsy is checking the parts of the organs or body
which are susceptible to mesothelioma under a powerful microscope to identify the
presence of cancer cells. Thoracoscopy is a procedure to check lungs, thoracic cavity
and peritoneoscopy for checking inside the abdominal cavity. Final diagnosis is
based on the report of the pathologist.
More information on diagnosing Mesothelioma.
Treatments
Mesothelioma is a malignant cancer which can be treated by chemotherapy, radiotherapy
or surgery and in severe cases a combination of all the three. In case of people
affected with pleural mesothelioma, the entire lung or a portion of the sac or the
whole sac surrounding the organ is removed, depending upon the severity.
Radiation therapy uses high energy X- rays to kill all the cancer affected cells.
There are two types of radiation therapy performed depending on the amount of cancerous
cells present in the affected area, be it the lungs or the abdominal cavity or the
heart. A machine emits radiation light at a certain target area of the body when
it comes to the case of external radiation therapy. Internal radiation therapy uses
needles or catheters to assist in placing the radioactive substance on or near the
cancer. Chemotherapy is another medical treatment given to people suffering from
mesothelioma. Chemotherapy is a medical procedure in which drugs that prevent cancer
in humans are used to prevent the cells from dividing and hence chemotherapy prevents
it from growing further.
These are the normal treatments that are administered to patients suffering from
mesothelioma.
