Mesothelioma- Definition

Most of us don’t know what is mesothelioma? Mesothelioma is one form of cancer which is caused mostly due to the exposure of asbestos and ofcourse smoking. Most of our internal organs are protected by a thin layer called as mesothelium. Mesothelium is commonly known as pleura, which covers the lungs. In mesothelioma conditions, malignant cells are formed over the mesothelium

Mesothelioma-Risk factors

Some of the possible risk factors of mesothelioma are

Exposure to asbestos:

Experiments found that the risk of getting mesothelioma is high when someone is exposed to asbestos. This may be either at home or at work. Not all the people who are exposed to asbestos are infected by mesothelioma. Reports say that some people who are exposed to asbestos for a longer period never acquired mesothelioma, where as some people who were exposed for a short period are diseased.

Smoking:

The risk factor of mesothelioma is severe in people who are having smoking habit and also exposed to asbestos

Genetic factor:
Some scientists suggest that the mesothelioma risk may also depend on family history

Radiation:
Few decades back, when thorium oxide was used in x-rays it was found that it lead to mesothelioma

Mesothelioma-Symptoms

The symptoms of this disease may not be revealed to the outside world for more than 20 to 50 years of the asbestos exposure.

The major symptoms of the disease in early stage is due to accumulating of fluid in pleural are • Shortness of breath or quick breathing
• Pain in the chest region
• Coughing

Some of the adverse effects of this mesothelioma are
1. Walls of the chest will be aching
2. Tiredness, loss of energy or anemia
3 wheezing
4. The blood in the sputum coughs up.
5. Weight loss

Mesothelioma : Test and diagnosis

Patients who are suspected of mesothelioma are first advised to take CT scan and a chest x-ray. Mesothelioma is a very rare disease. Mesothelioma doesn’t have any particular signs or symptoms. So there are many possibilities of misdiagnosing mesothelioma

Biopsy

Biopsy is a procedure in which a particular portion of tissue is taken for experimental examination. There are many different biopsy procedures. They are
• Fine needle aspiration: In this biopsy procedure a small portion of tissue is taken from the chest by means of a needle
• Thoracoscopy : In this procedure, few incisions are made between the patients ribs. Some instruments are used to cut the tissues and a camera is used by doctors to view inside of the chest cavity
• Thoracotomy: In this procedure the chest is opened between the ribs and a small portion of tissue is taken for test
• Laparoscopy: This is same as thoracotomy but the difference is that this procedure is done in abdomen


Staging :

The stages of mesothelioma are,
• In stage 1 mesothelioma is considered as localized , it is limited to a portion of lining
• In stage 2 mesothelioma spreads beyond the lining of chest
• In stage 3 mesothelioma spreads to other parts
• In stage 3 mesothelioma is severe and spreads all over

Mesothelioma – treatment

Mesothelioma – treatment

Mesothelioma is very aggressive disease. In most cases cure is not possible. The possible treatments are

Surgery

In this process some or all the tissues of the infected area is tried to remove. Surgery helps in decreasing the symptoms and severeness of the disease. Surgery helps in
• Reducing fluid build up
• Removing tissue around lungs
• Debulking ( reducing cancer tissues)
• Relief from signs


Mesothelioma –Chemotherapy

Some chemicals are used to kill cancer cells in chemotherapy procedure. It helps in stopping the growth of mesothelioma. It helps in reducing the chance of growing mesothelioma after surgery. Sometimes chemotherapy is applied before surgery to make the surgery easy.
Some times these drugs are heated and directly applied to the chest or abdomen depending upon the type of cancer. Chemotherapy doesn’t injure the healthy cells. Hence higher dose of these drugs can also be administered.

Mesothelioma-radiation therapy

In this procedure high beams are focused on the diseased points. Radiation therapy helps in reducing the symptoms of mesothelioma. Mostly radiation is aimed at the entire part of the chest just to gain best results. Some doctors use combination therapy, a therapy where surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are all applied together.