Zeroing in on Mesothelioma

It’s a misconception that smoking leads to mesothelioma, but the fact is that smoking complicates the condition. Mesothelioma itself is a disease dreaded for its long latency period, and smoking on top of it gives oncologists a real challenge to zero in on the disease.

Smokers exposed to asbestos are ten times more vulnerable than the normal folks to develop mesothelioma and lung related problems. The high percentage of negative prognosis is mostly due to the patient’s incapability to detect the symptoms. By the time it’s detected the chances of successful treatment is very low. And when the person is a smoker he would have contracted other lung diseases which complicates the situation and makes the diagnosis extremely difficult.

The main similarity between lung cancer and mesothelioma is the long latency periods though the former is tobacco induced majorly while the later is asbestos induced. After diagnosis with mesothelioma it is extremely important the patient quits smoking for the treatment to give the desired results. Also the tally between how long the person is exposed to asbestos and how long was using tobacco leads to a totally new range of risks as the combination is really lethal for the lungs.

Prognosis is a methodology to come with the outcome of a particular disease. Prognosis of mesothelioma is often not positive because the latency period it ranges from twenty to fifty years in from the time of asbestos exposure. So generally it’s very rare that a mesothelioma patient is in stage 1 or stage 2 after diagnosis. There are a number of key factors impacting the prognosis

The type of mesothelioma could be either epithelial or sarcomotoid or biphasic, amongst which epithelial is results in the least negative prognosis.

The location of the tumor also plays a key role in the prognosis. It might be pleural mesothelioma which occurs in the lungs or peritoneal mesothelioma which occurs in the abdomen. The occurrence of pleural mesothelioma is high in men than in women. There could also be the occurrences of pericardial mesothelioma in the heart lining or a testicular tumor. IN all these cases if the metastases has started then the prognosis is very negative else a surgical removal could be considered.

Also if the staging results in stage 3 or stage 4 the chances of a successful surgical treatment procedure is very low, thus resulting in a very negative prognosis.

Zeroing in on mesothelioma is difficult generally because the diagnosis is very complicated. The conditions are very similar to a number of other diseases, which brings in the difficulty. The diagnosis comprises of

• a complete physical examination,
• a clear chest x ray in various angles till the oncologist gets the clear picture
• abdomen X-ray is also required to confirm any abnormalities in the mesothelium there
• the patient also goes through a series of lung functionality tests
• A CT Scan or MRI scan actually helps in closing in on the mesothelioma diagnosis

After these basic tests what confirms mesothelioma is the biopsy. In this case a tissue strand is removed from the patient for a detailed analysis by the pathologist. The type of biopsy depends on the area of abnormality. In case of malignant tissues near the chest we have a thoracoscopy done with a thoracoscope which is inserted through a small slit created in between the ribs to obtain the tissue sample.

In case of cancerous growth near the abdomen a peritoneoscopy is done with the help of a peritoneoscope.

After confirming the diagnosis the doctor has to stage the cancer which involves another set of tests.

As we know asbestos is the most useful naturally occurring mineral group in the form of fiber and which is commercially deployed to a very high level in industries due to its high durability. It is mostly comprises of silicate compounds. The major hazard posed by asbestos is that its disintegration property into minute fiber strands. This fiber when accumulated in the respiratory system or any other organ for that matter might pose serious health problems.

Asbestos is a very potential and proven carcinogen. People who have been exposed to asbestos mostly tend to develop this rare form of killer cancer called Mesothelioma, which is the uncontrolled division of the mesothelial cells. This is caused when there is an extended exposure to asbestos and also could lead to asbestosis.  This condition is prevalent in miners. The symptoms of mesothelioma and asbestosis are similar and are like short breaths, a sick feeling and coughing. Mostly these are mistaken to be common respiratory problems, thus making the diagnosis complicated. Asbestos induced mesothelioma has a very long latency period and hence the patients are mostly in their late forties or fifties.

Mesothelium is the membranous sac around possibly every body organ and the main purpose of mesothelium is giving the lubrication, reducing the friction between body organs during movement. Mesothelium is basically bi layered and has a secretion that is contained between these layers which actually makes the gliding of organs possible when they get in contact with adjacent structures.

Mesothelium, though not a complete organ or a structure is actually omnipresent in our body. This makes it extremely vital. When the mesothelial cells divide abnormally the condition is mesothelioma, a rare but very adverse type of cancer.

The ratio of mesothelioma cases reported is very less compared to the total cancer cases, making it rare. But it is highly risky as the latency period is very long, which actually delays the diagnosis. Also the there is a high chance that mesothelioma cells metastasize. Metastasize is the phenomenon where the cancer cells spread along the blood stream to other parts of the body.  Mesothelioma appears to occur relatively high in men than in women.  Another major problem is that the symptoms are similar to other medical problems as well, so the diagnosis is a very detailed process.