What Is Mesothelioma, Its Symptoms and Treatments?

Mesothelioma is a malignant tumor involving mesothelial tissue. Mesothelioma is essentially a cancer of the mesothelium whereby the cells of mesothelium change their behavior in uncontrolled fashion. When this activity occurs, the abnormal cells can affect organs or other tissue. The cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body. Mesothelium is a membrane forming linings of body cavities:

1) The pleura cavity is the space located in the lungs between the two pleural layers called the visceral (covers the lungs) and parietal (attached to chest wall). This location accounts for the large percentage of the cases of mesothelioma.

2) The peritoneum relates to the abdominal cavity. The peritoneum helps form the lining covering a lot of the intra-abdominal organs and is also made of a mesothelium layer; it acts as a liason, so to speak, blood vessels and nerves.

3) The pericardium also known as the heart sac houses the heart and the major blood vessels.

Typically, the majority of victims to mesothelioma had long-term exposure to asbestos. Sometimes even after breathing in the particles of asbestos, it can take years before the negative effects appear. Although asbestos is allegedly the primary cause of mesothelioma, it's been stated that chemotherapy and radiation therapy might cause this type of cancer in people who were not exposed previously to asbestos. (Source: http://www.mesothelioma-causes.co/).

The good news is that while the survival rate is low, there are survivors and it is unknown how their longevity is so positively affected.

Some common symptoms include problems with breathing and/or pain in the chest. It's also possible to be diagnosed with mesothelioma and yet not have symptoms. Other symptoms can include losing weight, having a fever, coughing and just not feeling like one's normal self, but these symptoms are not as common as the difficulty with breathing or having pain in your chest. These symptoms are particular to the pleural mesothelioma.

The symptoms involving the abdominal cavity could involve pain or swelling because of fluid accumulation in the cavity. Other symptoms could involve losing weight or a presence of a mass in the abdomen area. Also, a person might become anemic and have a fever or experience a bowel obstruction. No matter how you look at these symptoms, they are uncomfortable to read about.

The challenge involved in being diagnosed with mesothelioma rests in the fact that the symptoms are close to the symptoms of lung cancer. When a patient sees a doctor and a complete examination is performed, one of the questions posed will relate to whether there is any recall of being exposed to asbestos at any time. Some of the images of the lungs will be performed such as a CT scan, chest x-ray or even an MRI scan. The computer x-rays will provide more details. The results of an MRI scan can assist a physician to make a distinction between other types of tumors in the lungs including the location and the measurement of the tumor. An option to diagnose a tumor appropriately will include a biopsy of the tissue or fluid can be drawn from the area to confirm a diagnosis. The tissue samples can be viewed under a microscope for analysis to determine what type of cancer, if any, may be present.

Upon reaching a conclusion that a patient has a clear diagnosis of mesothelioma from an experienced and well-qualified physician, both treatment options and plan of treatment will be thoroughly discussed. Popular conventional methods of treatment involve the following:

Surgery: Different methods of surgery are available. Some are therapeutic (healing) and some help to relieve a debilitating symptom.

Radiation: There is an internal radiation method that can be used, but the oldest method is the external radiation beam which is basically a machine that goes around the body without coming into contact with the body. This machine can focus on a certain area containing a tumor and destroy it or slow down its progression.

Chemotherapy: This form of treatment is another conventional method of treatment provided intravenously or in pill form and is sometimes used in conjunction with radiation.