Malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases
are preventable, but the companies that mined, manufactured and sold asbestos
products put profits before the health of their own employee and customers. Our
legal system ensures these companies are held accountable for their negligence.
It is not possible for a doctor to predict the exact course of a disease, as it
will depend on each person’s individual circumstances. However, your doctor may
give you a prognosis, the likely outcome of the disease, based on the type of
mesothelioma you have, the test results, the rate of tumour growth, as well as
your age, fitness and medical history.
Additionally, many survivors credit less traditional alternative treatments for
helping them live longer. Care in pursuit of these alternative approaches is
recommended, because evidence to support claims of benefit may be lacking, and
some practitioners may only be preying on fear and desperation to take
advantage of patients.
In addition, because the aggressive asbestos cancer is so rare and symptoms are
similar to other diseases, doctors may not recognize it right away. This means
many cases of malignant mesothelioma are not diagnosed until the cancer has
progressed to a stage that is much more difficult to treat.
More than 80% of mesothelioma cases are caused by exposure to asbestos. The
greater the exposure the greater the risk. As of 2013 about 125 million people
have been exposed to asbestos at work. High rates of disease occur in people
who mine asbestos, produce products from asbestos, work with asbestos products,
live with asbestos workers, or work in buildings containing asbestos. Asbestos
exposure and the onset of cancer are generally separated by about 40 years.
Washing the clothing of someone who worked with asbestos also increases the
risk. Other risk factors include genetics and infection with the simian virus
40. The diagnosis may be suspected based on chest X-ray and CT scan findings,
and is confirmed by either examining fluid produced by the cancer or by a
tissue biopsy of the cancer.
All of the standard approaches to treating solid tumors—radiation,
chemotherapy, and surgery—have been investigated in patients with malignant
pleural mesothelioma. Although surgery, by itself, is not very effective,
surgery combined with adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation (trimodality therapy)
has produced significant survival extension (3–14 years) among patients with
favorable prognostic factors. However, other large series of examining
multimodality treatment have only demonstrated modest improvement in survival
(median survival 14.5 months and only 29.6% surviving 2 years). Reducing the
bulk of the tumor with cytoreductive surgery is key to extending survival. Two
surgeries have been developed: extrapleural pneumonectomy and
pleurectomy/decortication. The indications for performing these operations are
unique. The choice of operation namely depends on the size of the patient's
tumor. This is an important consideration because tumor volume has been
identified as a prognostic factor in mesothelioma. Pleurectomy/decortication
spares the underlying lung and is performed in patients with early stage
disease when the intention is to remove all gross visible tumor (macroscopic
complete resection), not simply palliation. Extrapleural pneumonectomy is a
more extensive operation that involves resection of the parietal and visceral
pleurae, underlying lung, ipsilateral (same side) diaphragm, and ipsilateral
pericardium. This operation is indicated for a subset of patients with more
advanced tumors, who can tolerate a pneumonectomy.
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare, asbestos-related cancer that forms on the
protective tissues covering the lungs, abdomen and heart. Symptoms include
coughing, chest pain and shortness of breath. Treatments combining surgery,
radiation and chemotherapy are improving survival and life expectancy.
Learn about new, innovative treatment options, how to pay for treatment, and
what you can do to extend your life expectancy - all at your own pace. From
Diagnosis and Treatment to Help, we are here to assist you in finding the answers
to your questions and in helping you get the needed support to improve your
prognosis.
Although there is currently no cure for mesothelioma, active treatment is
recommended for some people. This can include chemotherapy, radiotherapy or
surgery, or a combination of these treatments. It can help some people to
achieve a longer period of control over the disease.
Mesothelioma: Causes, symptoms, and outlook Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly
cancer that results from exposure to asbestos. It can appear years after a
person has worked or lived in a place where asbestos is present. Symptoms
include coughing and shortness of breath. By the time they appear, it may be
too late for effective treatment. Find out more.
Pleural MesotheliomaThe most common type of the cancer is malignant pleural
mesothelioma, which affects the pleura — the mesothelial membrane lining the
lungs and chest wall.Mesothelioma that begins in the pleura typically results
from asbestos fibers being inhaled. Tumors that develop in the pleura may
spread to the nearby diaphragm, heart, and blood vessels of the chest. Early
symptoms of malignant pleural mesothelioma can include shortness of breath,
pleural effusion (pleural fluid build-up), chest pain, cough, and a lack of
energy.Although the cancer can spread (“metastasize”) from the pleura into the
lung, the origin site is the actual pleural tissue surrounding the lung – not
the lung itself. (There are many differences between mesothelioma and lung
cancer.)
Mesothelioma development in rats has been demonstrated following intra-pleural
inoculation of phosphorylated chrysotile fibers. It has been suggested that in
humans, transport of fibers to the pleura is critical to the pathogenesis of
mesothelioma. This is supported by the observed recruitment of significant
numbers of macrophages and other cells of the immune system to localized
lesions of accumulated asbestos fibers in the pleural and peritoneal cavities
of rats. These lesions continued to attract and accumulate macrophages as the
disease progressed, and cellular changes within the lesion culminated in a
morphologically malignant tumor.
Karen Selby joined Asbestos.com in 2009. She is a registered nurse with a
background in oncology and thoracic surgery and was the director of a tissue bank
before becoming a Patient Advocate at The Mesothelioma Center. Karen has
assisted surgeons with thoracic surgeries such as lung resections, lung
transplants, pneumonectomies, pleurectomies and wedge resections. She is also a
member of the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators.
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