Description

Mesothelioma is a cancer that begins as a growth of the cells of the mesothelium. The mesothelium is a thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs.

Mesothelioma is pronounced me-zoe-thee-lee-O-muh. This happens most often in the tissue around the lungs. This is called pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can also occur in the tissues of the abdomen, around the heart and around the testicles.

Mesothelioma, which is sometimes called malignant mesothelioma, is a fast-growing and deadly form of cancer. There are mesothelioma treatments. But for many people with mesothelioma, there is no cure.

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of mesothelioma vary depending on where the cancer starts.

Pleural mesothelioma affects the tissue around the lungs. Symptoms may include:

  • Pain in the chest.
  • Painful cough.
  • Shortness of breath.
  • Lumps under the skin in the chest.
  • Fatigue.
  • The loss of weight without trying.

Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the tissue in the belly. Symptoms may include:

  • Belly pain.
  • The belly of the swelling.
  • Nausea.
  • Fatigue.
  • The loss of weight without trying.

Other types of mesothelioma are very rare. Not much is known about these other types.

Mesothelioma pericardial affects the tissue that surrounds the heart. It can cause difficulty breathing and chest pains.

Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis affects the tissues around the testicle. It may seem at first sight as swelling or a mass in the testicle.

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with a doctor or other health care professional if you have any symptoms that worry you.

Causes

It's not always clear what causes mesothelioma. Experts believe that being around asbestos causes many of the mesotheliomas. But not all people with mesothelioma has been around asbestos. Exactly what causes the cancer may not be known.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that begins as a growth of the cells of the mesothelium. The mesothelium is a thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs.

Mesothelioma occurs when cells of the mesothelium to develop changes in their DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell the cell what to do. In healthy cells, the DNA contains the instructions to grow and multiply at a set rate. The instructions that tell cells to die at a set time.

In cancer cells, changes in DNA gives other instructions. Changes in DNA tell the cancer cells to make the cells more quickly. Cancer cells can continue living when healthy cells would die. This makes too many cells.

The cancer cells may form a mass called a tumor. The tumor can grow to invade and destroy healthy body tissue. At the time, cancer cells can break off and spread to other parts of the body. When cancer spreads, it is called metastatic cancer.

Risk factors

Being around asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma. Asbestos is a natural mineral. Asbestos fibers are strong and resistant to heat. This makes them useful in many ways. Asbestos was used in insulation, brakes, shingles, flooring and many other products.

The mining of asbestos, or the removal of asbestos insulation breaks the ore. This may create dust. If people breathe in or swallow the dust, asbestos fibers settle in the lungs or in the stomach. This can lead to mesothelioma.

The experts don't know the exact way in which asbestos causes mesothelioma. It can take from 15 to 40 years or more for mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos.

Most of the people who have been around asbestos does not get mesothelioma. Thus, other factors may be involved. For example, you could run in families, or some other condition that may increase the risk.

Factors that may increase the risk of mesothelioma include:

  • Being around asbestos. If you have been directly exposed to asbestos fibers at work or at home, the risk of mesothelioma is higher.
  • Living with someone who works with asbestos. The people who work with asbestos may carry the fibers home on their skin and clothing. Over many years, these fibers can put others in the home at risk of mesothelioma.
  • A family history of mesothelioma. If your father, mother, brother or son has mesothelioma, you may have an increased risk of this disease.
  • Radiation therapy in the chest. If you received radiation therapy to the chest for cancer, may have a greater risk of mesothelioma.

Complications

As the pleural mesothelioma spreads to the chest, it puts pressure on the structures in the area. This can cause complications, such as:

  • Difficulty breathing.
  • Pain in the chest.
  • Difficulty swallowing.
  • The pain caused by pressure on the nerves and spinal cord.
  • Accumulation of fluid in the chest, called a pleural effusion. The liquid can press on the beach of the lungs and make breathing difficult.

Prevention

The reduction of their exposure to asbestos can reduce your risk of mesothelioma.

Find out if you work with asbestos

The majority of people with mesothelioma were around asbestos fibers on the job. Workers who may be around the fibers of asbestos are:

  • Asbestos miners.
  • Electricians.
  • Plumbers.
  • Installers.
  • Insulators.
  • The workers of the shipyard.
  • The demolition of workers.
  • The mechanical brake.
  • Selected military personnel.
  • Home remodelers.

Ask your employer if you have a risk of exposure to asbestos on the job.

Follow your employer's safety rules

Follow all the safety rules in your workplace. Use protective equipment. You may also need to change out of your work clothes and wash with soap and water before eating or go home. Talk with your health care professional about other ways that you can protect yourself from asbestos.

Be safe around asbestos in your home

Older homes and buildings may have asbestos. In many cases, it's best to leave asbestos in the place, instead of trying to remove. Breaking can release asbestos fibers into the air. Then you can inhale.

Talk with trained experts to find asbestos in the home. These experts can test the air in your home to see if the asbestos is a risk to your health. Do not attempt to remove the asbestos from your home. Hire an expert.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of mesothelioma can start with a physical exam. A health care professional can check for lumps or other signs.

You may have imaging tests to look for mesothelioma. These may include a chest radiograph and a computed tomography scan of the chest or abdomen.

Based on the results, you may have more tests to see if the mesothelioma or another disease is causing your symptoms.

Biopsy

A biopsy is a procedure to remove a sample of tissue for testing in a lab. The biopsy is the only way to confirm or rule out mesothelioma. The type of biopsy depends on what area of your body, the mesothelioma affects.

Biopsy procedures include:

  • Putting a needle through the skin. A health professional can remove fluid or a piece of tissue with a thin needle through the skin of the chest or the belly.
  • Take a sample of tissue during surgery. A surgeon can remove fluid or a sample of tissue during surgery. The surgeon may make a small incision and the insertion of a tube with a video camera to see inside of your chest or belly. The surgeon can pass tools through the tube to obtain a tissue sample.

The tissue sample will be going to a laboratory for analysis. The results can show whether the tissue is of mesothelioma.

To find the extent of the cancer

Once your health care professional confirms mesothelioma, you may have other tests to determine if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or to other areas of your body.

Tests may include:

  • CT of the chest and abdomen.
  • The magnetic resonance imaging.
  • The positron emission tomography scan, also called a PET.

Your healthcare provider uses the results of these tests to give your cancer a stage. The stage helps your health professional to choose the most suitable treatments for you.

Mesothelioma stages

The stages of pleural mesothelioma range from 1 to 4. A lower number means the cancer is more likely that it is only in the area around the lungs. As the cancer grows and spreads to nearby lymph nodes, the numbers get higher. Stage 4 mesothelioma has spread to other areas of the body.

Other types of mesothelioma, non-formal stages.

Treatment

Treatment for mesothelioma depends on your health and certain aspects of your cancer, such as its stage, and where it is.

Mesothelioma often spreads quickly. For most people, there is no cure. The health care professionals most often diagnose mesothelioma past the point where surgery can remove it. Instead, your health care team can work to manage his cancer to increase your comfort.

Talk about your treatment goals with your medical care team. Some people want to do everything possible to treat your cancer. That means putting the side effects of treatment to a very small possibility of getting better. Other treatments that help them to live their remaining time with as few symptoms as possible.

Surgery

Surgeons work to remove the mesothelioma when it is diagnosed at an early stage. Sometimes this can cure cancer.

Most of the times, the surgeons can't remove all the cancer. Then the surgery can help reduce the symptoms caused by the spread of mesothelioma in the body.

The surgery can include:

  • The surgery to reduce the accumulation of fluids.Pleural mesothelioma can cause accumulation of fluid in the chest. This can make it hard to breathe. The surgeons put a tube in the chest to drain the fluid. Health professionals can also put the medicine on the chest to keep the fluid back. This is called pleurodesis.
  • The surgery to remove the tissue that surrounds the lungs. You can remove the tissue that lines the ribs and the lungs. This is called pleurectomy. This procedure is not a cure for mesothelioma. But you can relieve the symptoms.
  • Surgery to remove a lung and the tissue surrounding it. Removal of the affected lung and the tissue surrounding it can relieve the symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. If you have radiation therapy to the breast after the surgery, this procedure also allows for a greater dose of radiation. That is because there is no need to protect the lungs from radiation.
  • Surgery for peritoneal mesothelioma. Surgery for peritoneal mesothelioma can remove as much of the cancer as possible. You may have chemotherapy before or after surgery.

The surgery to reduce the accumulation of fluids. Pleural mesothelioma can cause accumulation of fluid in the chest. This can make it hard to breathe. The surgeons put a tube in the chest to drain the fluid.

Health professionals can also put the medicine on the chest to keep the fluid back. This is called pleurodesis.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy treats the cancer with strong medications. The professionals of the health, chemotherapy may be used before surgery. It can also help to treat mesothelioma that enlarges, or extends to other parts of the body.

Chemotherapy drugs can also be heated and introduced into the abdominal cavity. This is called chemotherapy intraperitoneal hyperthermic, also known as HIPEC. HIPEC can help to treat peritoneal mesothelioma.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy treats cancer with powerful rays of energy. The energy can come from X-rays, protons or other sources.

Radiation can kill cancer cells that remain after surgery. It may also be given before surgery to reduce the size of the cancer. And can help relieve the symptoms of cancer that surgery may not treat.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy for cancer is a treatment with a medication that helps the body's immune system destroys the cancer cells. The immune system fights diseases by attacking the germs and other cells that should not be in the body. Cancer cells survive by hiding from the immune system.

For mesothelioma, the immunotherapy may be used after surgery or when surgery is not an option.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy for cancer is a treatment that uses drugs that attack specific chemicals in cancer cells. By blocking these chemicals, specific treatments can cause cancer cells to die.

For mesothelioma, targeted therapies can be combined with chemotherapy. Targeted therapies may be used if other treatments have not helped.

Clinical trials

Clinical trials are studies of new methods of treatment. People with mesothelioma may choose a clinical trial to test new types of treatment. But a cure is not guaranteed. Think about your treatment options and talk to your health professional about the clinical trials that are open to you. To be in a clinical trial may help experts to better understand how to treat mesothelioma in the future.

The treatment for other types of mesothelioma

Pericardial mesothelioma and mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis are very rare. You can remove the cancer of small size that have not spread beyond where they started. But health professionals have not yet found the best way to treat cancers that have spread. Your health care team can suggest some treatments to improve your quality of life.

Alternative medicine

There is No alternative medicine treatments have been shown to be useful in the treatment of mesothelioma. But complementary and alternative treatments can help manage the symptoms of mesothelioma. Talk with your health care team if you want to try these treatments.

Mesothelioma can cause pressure in the chest that can make you feel as if you are always short of breath. Your health care team may suggest the use of supplemental oxygen, or taking drugs to make you feel more comfortable. But often this is not enough.

The treatments that the health professionals suggests complementary and alternative approaches may help you feel better.

Alternative treatments that have shown some promise for helping people deal with breathing problems include:

Acupuncture

Acupuncture uses fine needles that are put on the skin at precise points.

Breath training

A nurse or physical therapist can teach you ways of breathing to use when you feel out of breath. Sometimes you may feel out of breath and start to panic. The use of these forms of breathing can help you feel like you're managing your breathing better.

Relaxation exercises

Slowly the tension and relaxation of the muscle groups can help you feel more comfortable and breathe better. Your health care team may send you to a therapist who can teach you relaxation exercises for you to do on your own.

Sitting near a fan

Put a fan toward your face can help to alleviate the feeling of being breathless.

Coping and support

A diagnosis of mesothelioma can be devastating not only to you but also to your family and friends. To regain a sense of control, try the following:

Learn enough about mesothelioma to make decisions about your care

Write questions to ask their health professional. Ask your health care team for information to help you better understand your disease. Good places to start to look for more information include the united states National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.

Surround yourself with a support network

Close friends or family can help with daily tasks, such as getting to appointments or treatment. If you have difficulty to ask for help, learn to be honest with yourself and accept help when you need it.

Find other people with cancer

Ask your health care team about cancer support groups in your community and online. Sometimes there are questions that can only be answered by other people with cancer. Support groups offer an opportunity to ask these questions and receive support from people who understand your situation.

Plan ahead

Ask your health care team about advance directives. Advance directives give your family of orientation about your health care wishes in the event you cannot speak for yourself.

Preparing for your appointment

Start by making an appointment with a doctor or other health care professional if you have symptoms that concern you. Your healthcare provider may send you to a specialist. The specialist you see will depend on your symptoms. For the pulmonary symptoms, you can see a doctor that specializes in diseases of the lungs, called a pulmonologist. For the symptoms in the belly, you can see a doctor who specializes in conditions that affect the digestive system, called a gastroenterologist.

Here's some information to help you prepare for your appointment.

What you can do

  • Be aware of what you need to do before your appointment. When you make the appointment, ask if, for example, you need to restrict your diet before a test.
  • Write down your symptoms and when they began. Include any that doesn't seem linked to the reason why you made the appointment.
  • Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
  • Make a list of all medications, vitamins or supplements you are taking or have recently taken. Include the dose.
  • The thought of taking a family member or friend. Someone who goes with you to the appointment may remember something that you missed or forgot.
  • Bring medical records that relate to your condition. This could include recent chest X-ray.
  • Write questions to ask their health professional.

For mesothelioma, some basic questions to ask include:

  • What is likely causing my symptoms or condition?
  • What are other possible causes for my symptoms or condition?
  • What tests do I need?
  • Is my condition likely to go away or to the last?
  • What is the best course of action?
  • I have other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
  • Are there brochures or other printed material I can have? What websites do you suggest?

Be sure to ask all the questions that you have.

What to expect from your doctor

Your health care professional may ask you questions, such as:

  • Do you always have your symptoms or come and go?
  • How bad are the symptoms?
  • What, if anything, seems to improve your symptoms?
  • What, if anything, appears to worsen your symptoms?
  • Hurts to take a deep breath?
  • Do your symptoms prevent you from working or doing daily activities?
  • Have you ever worked with asbestos?

What you can do in the meantime

Try not to do something that makes their symptoms worse. For example, if you're short of breath, try to take it slow until you can meet with your health care professional. If you feel too much out of breath, seek medical attention immediately.

Symptoms and treatment of Mesothelioma