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What Is Mesothelioma? Types and Treatment Options

By Harrold Creighton 

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer which affects the mesothelium. The mesothelium is a thin membrane which covers the heart, lungs and other internal organs. You normally get this disease from being exposed to asbestos fibers at some point in your life.
Types of mesothelioma
Pleural mesothelioma
Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form is pleural mesothelioma which develops within the mesothelium. Pleural mesothelioma will develop in the pleural membrane which is the lungs lining.
Breathing in asbestos fibers is the cause of pleural mesothelioma. Upon entering the lungs, the asbestos fibers will work their way into the lungs pleural membrane. Once in there, the body will find it almost impossible to get rid of them. Over a period of several decades, the asbestos fibers will cause the pleural cells to change. These changes may lead to the lungs becoming scarred and, eventually, tumors forming.
Once the cells of the pleural membrane turn cancerous, they will continuously divide, leading to a reduction in lung capacity and causing fluid to buildup between the layers of the pleural membrane.
Because pleural mesothelioma is usually not caught until the later stages of the disease, the prognosis for the patient is normally poor. But, if the disease is caught in the early stages, then the patient's prognosis as well as the life expectancy will be much improved.
Peritoneal mesothelioma
Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma - this is a very rare form of cancer which strikes the peritoneum (the cell walls surrounding the abdominal cavity. The peritoneum lubricates the abdominal cavity which allows the surrounding internal organs and body structures to expand and contract. Peritoneal mesothelioma is very rare with fewer than 500 people contracting this form of cancer each year.
Several decades after asbestos fibers are breathed in or ingested; cancer will develop in the patient's abdomen. Modern tests can diagnose whether or not a patient has peritoneal mesothelioma. Despite the fact that it is not usually diagnosed until it is in the later stages, there are still some treatment options.
Although some patients may qualify for surgery and other curative treatment options, other patients may simply choose palliative measures. Most patients with peritoneal mesothelioma survive for less than a year. However, with the proper treatment, life expectancy could increase. A mesothelioma specialist can help patients find the best treatment options for their cancer, which might improve the patient's prognosis.
According to some studies, the average life expectancy of a man diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma is 7 months, although a few men have survived for almost 100 months. Women usually survive for approximately 9 months after being diagnosed, with a few women surviving for a maximum of 49 months. Patients whose mesothelioma was caught early and with less severe symptoms naturally have a better prognosis.
Mesothelioma treatment options
When it comes to treating cancer, doctors focus on killing the malignant cells and saving the healthy ones. There are several ways to do this.
Doctors will utilize chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation or a combination of all three as the most effective way to treat mesothelioma. The treatment that will be recommended is dependent on several issues:
The type and location of the mesothelioma
How big are the tumors?
How much the cancer has metastasized?
What stage the cancer is in.
The patient's age
The patient's overall health
Several types of doctors will be involved in treating the cancer such as an oncologist or cancer specialist, a radiologist, and a pulmonologist or lung specialist. It can take time to figure out the precise location and variety of the cancer, but determining these factors will enable the oncologist to prescribe the most effective mesothelioma treatment.

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Lung Cancer and the Symptoms

By Ernesto Pramasetya

With 164,000 new cases in the United States and 20,600 new cases diagnosed in Canada every year, lung cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the North America. Although ranked below the prostate and breast cancer on the prevalence, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and Canada. In the United States, a five-year survival rate for lung cancer is relatively low at 14 percent, and the number rose only to 50 percent if the cancer is detected early.
The biggest risk factor for lung cancer is cigarette smoking, behavior that gives 85 to 90 percent of all cases. Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke also causes lung cancer. The main risk factors include exposure to workplace chemicals carcinogenic, especially asbestos and organic chemicals such as vinyl chloride. Exposure to radon gas and other air pollutants also increases the risk of lung cancer, especially among smokers.
Oxygen reaches the blood through a series of tubes and passages in the lungs. It is divided into so-called respiratory tract, which is divided into branches called bronchioles smaller. At the end of the bronchioles are tiny air sacs known as alveoli. Most lung cancer begins in the lining of the respiratory tract, but cancer can also start in the trachea, bronchioles, or alveoli. Approximately 20 percent of lung cancer patients had small cell carcinoma, a type of lung cancer that usually starts at around the respiratory tract. Squalors cell carcinoma also often comes near the bronchi. It contributes about 30 percent of all lung cancers.
Lung cancer frequently goes to be considered in the early stages. Patients can develop persistent cough or a finding that the worsening of chronic coughing. Other symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, hoarseness, coughing up blood from the respiratory tract fluids, and frequent bouts of bronchitis or pneumonia. Sometimes early symptoms of lung cancer are bone pain, headache, dizziness, or signs of other diseases that have metastasized.
People with early warning signs should consult their family doctor, who will evaluate the symptoms and can refer patients to doctors who specialize in cancer. A doctor will first take the patient's medical history to learn about current symptoms, past history of disease, and family members diagnosed with cancer. The procedures used in the physical examination depend on patient's clinical symptoms and may include a digital rectal examination, where doctors use a gloved finger to gently check the smoothness of rectal lining. Doctors can perform breast examinations on female patients, where the soft breast was investigated to feel a lump or mass that is not unusual.
During the exam your doctor may use a thin tube called an endoscope to look radiant tumor in the internal body cavity. Endoscopic procedures are used depending on the organ or body cavity inspection. In gastric endoscopy, the doctor feeds a specialized endoscope into the throat to examine the layers of the esophagus, stomach and first part of the small intestine. Colonoscopy uses a longer flexible instrument to view the entire length of the colon.
A number of laboratory tests may help narrow the diagnosis. In a Pap smear, cervical epithelial cells removed from plastic with a small brush. These cells are examined under a microscope for cell changes that are signs that the cancer can develop as well as signs of malignancy. If clinical signs suggest colorectal cancer patients, doctors may find blood in the stools with fecal occult blood tests. A small sample of stool is smeared on the patient card coated with a chemical called guaiacum, which reacts with blood. Cards were analyzed in the laboratory for occult (hidden) blood. Other tests for signs of tumors, the chemicals present in higher levels of certain cancers when present. For example, a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures the level of prostate-specific antigen in the blood.
These include computed tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. CT and MRI scans use a computer to form three-dimensional images of tumor and surrounding tissue. X-ray called a mammogram breast images help physicians detect and evaluate breast cancer. Ultrasound scan of high-frequency sound waves bounce of the tumor and surrounding tissue to create an image of the tumor. Multimodality display technique combining images from multiple imaging devices into a single image, giving the final three-dimensional images with much greater detail. Computer aided diagnosis using sophisticated computer technology programming called artificial intelligence to scan X-ray mammograms and to help search for signs of cancer and offers an automatic second opinion.
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