Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the mesothelial cells lining the chest and abdomen. Mesothelioma is a rare, but it seems to be increasing. Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone. Symptoms for both types of mesothelioma are not specific only to this disease, and often unexplained or misdiagnosed for a considerable amount of time. Difficulty breathing, abdominal and chest pain, and fever can all be attributed to other causes, so that this cancer has time to go out quite reasonable for the analysis usually takes place. Because of difficulties in the diagnosis of mesothelioma is a survival analysis estimated about years.
There are two main types of mesothelioma. The first type, pleural mesothelioma, spreads in the chest cavity and sometimes involves the lung. This type of cancer or to assess the size of any organ of the body, including the brain.
Metastatic disease occurs more frequently than previously thought, and signal progression of the disease is. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma are persistent pain in the chest and severe difficulty in breathing due to
with pleural effusion, or fluid in the pleural lining cough, weight loss, and fever also common symptoms. Survival for this type of mesothelioma is better than the peritoneal mesothelioma. The median survival is 17 months, with ten percent of patients live for three years after diagnosis.
The type of mesothelioma is peritoneal mesothelioma. This cancer arises in the abdominal cavity, liver, spleen, and sometimes the intestine. Predominant symptoms are abdominal mesothelioma persistent pain in the area and swollen belly, both pleural and abdominal organs affected. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting and swollen legs, fever, and difficulty in moving bowels. The prognosis for abdominal mesothelioma is pleural mesothelioma, but worse, with a median time of only ten months of diagnosis.
Mesothelioma takes two rarer forms. Benign Mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a cancer of the peritoneum. The peritoneum is the lining of major organs in the chest and abdomen. It is difficult to distinguish, and appear more often in young women. Mesothelioma of the pericardium is a rare heart cancer. Mesothelioma can also occur in the ovaries and the scrotum. The prognosis for this rare type of mesothelioma, other than benign mesothelioma, is very poor.
Progression of mesothelioma is broken down into four stages. These points are the beginning wondering how far along the cancer has spread. Staging is based on x-rays, CT scans and MRI imaging. Treatment choices and prospects depend on the level of mesothelioma, as well as good, if mesothelioma. In the first stage, mesothelioma is present in the pleura, lung, pericardium, or diaphragm, and is localized to one side. Developed mesothelioma in the chest wall or esophagus, the second stage. In the second phase can also see cancer of the heart, both sides of the pleura, or lymph nodes in the chest. The third phase involves penetration through the diaphragm and the peritoneum and the cancer spread to distant lymph nodes. The fourth and final stage occurs when the tests may be indicative of metastases in distant organs. Within the fourth stage mesothelioma spreads through the bloodstream to these new sights.
Mesothelioma is usually caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was often used for insulation in homes or businesses. Schools, factories, and military buildings have also been found to contain asbestos. Radiation from Thorium dioxide can also cause mesothelioma. This material was once used for x-rays, was not much use for long. Zeolite, a silicate material related to asbestos, can also cause mesothelioma. Zeolite-induced mesothelioma cases in central Anatoli region of Turkey.
