Mesothelioma is a rare but deadly form of cancer. This disease is caused by exposure to asbestos dust or fibers in the workplace. Studies show that mesothelioma affects thousands of people each year, and will continue to affect thousands of people in the coming decades. In many cases, by the time it can be correctly diagnosed, mesothelioma will have progressed to such an advanced stage that medical options for treating it are limited – it can take decades for the disease to manifest itself. It may be of some comfort to victims of mesothelioma to know that the manufacturers of materials causing mesothelioma can be held liable, and substantial money awards can be awarded to victims and their families.
Asbestos was commonly used in building materials in the 1940s and earlier, through the 1970s. Plumbers, shipyard workers, electricians, boilermakers, shipbuilders, and demolition workers are the most likely to have been exposed to asbestos. But family members who washed workers’ clothes and people who have lived near asbestos factories may also have been exposed.
The early symptoms of mesothelioma are non-specific, and can easily be confused with pneumonia, leading to a delay in proper diagnosis. Some symptoms may include shortness of breath, persistent cough or chest pain. Pleural effusion, or fluid in the lungs, is common.
You may have heard about monetary awards juries have made to victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. However, each case like this involves a lengthy, stressful process that begins when the victim first consults an attorney, and ends when a jury makes its finding at the end of the trial. Between these two events are months or years of discovery – the fact finding process during which evidence is obtained, examined, analyzed and organized, and testimony is taken during depositions.
Aside from the stress and strain of litigation are monetary costs. These costs can be considerable. If a malignant mesothelioma victim is in the advanced stages of the disease, he may want to consider options resolving the claim, because his life-expectancy may be short. One possibility may be reaching a settlement with one or more defendants.
Sometimes the conduct or knowledge of defendant corporations or corporate officers is such that juries have found them guilty on charges of civil and even criminal fraud and conspiracy. In these cases, defendants are possibly subject to punitive damages, which could be very substantial – amounting to a significant percentage of a defendant’s net worth.
If you are a victim of mesothelioma or another a related disease, you are battling for your life. Litigation may be the last thing you want to tackle, but it may be important to try to obtain some kind of compensation to your family for their loss.
keskiviikko 15. joulukuuta 2010
Alternative Medicine in Management of Pleural Mesothelioma
Diagnosis of any cancer, especially malignant pleural mesothelioma in any family member can cause depression in whole family. As malignant pleural mesothelioma is not curable, it should be managed with holistic approach (use of all types of treatment modalities such as homeopathy, naturopathy, herbal or any alternative form of medicine if required) along with conventional therapy. A holistic approach in management of pleural mesothelioma can at least give some hope to the patient and family members, if it can not alter the course of the disease. Use of alternative medicine deserves at least a try for management of incurable diseases such as pleural mesothelioma.
An increasing number of doctors (oncologists) are using CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) for management of cancers including pleural mesothelioma. Use of holistic approach in management of cancer can be called “integrative oncology”, where not only conventional therapy, but also other alternative therapies used. Commonly used Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) include acupuncture, massage, and reflexology.
An increasing number of doctors (oncologists) are using CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) for management of cancers including pleural mesothelioma. Use of holistic approach in management of cancer can be called “integrative oncology”, where not only conventional therapy, but also other alternative therapies used. Commonly used Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) include acupuncture, massage, and reflexology.
How to Prevent Mesothelioma Cancer?
Mesothelioma is a form of dreaded cancer which occurs in the mesothelail lining of lungs, heart, peritoneum etc. The mesothelial cells produce fluid which lubricate these organs and protect them from damage due to friction.
The only major known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos and no other cause has yet been found or proved. The exposure to asbestos typically occurs at the place of work where exposure occurs for prolonged time. Although the exposure to asbestos generally occurs at the place of work, there are also reports (proven) that mesothelioma can also to occur bystander i.e. working near others using asbestos products as well as household exposures (for example exposure from family members and their work clothes in the home or exposure at home due to use of products made of asbestos). There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos as mesothelioma can occur at any level of exposure. Mesothelioma has been reported to occur even 30 years after last exposure to asbestos.
The only major known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos and no other cause has yet been found or proved. The exposure to asbestos typically occurs at the place of work where exposure occurs for prolonged time. Although the exposure to asbestos generally occurs at the place of work, there are also reports (proven) that mesothelioma can also to occur bystander i.e. working near others using asbestos products as well as household exposures (for example exposure from family members and their work clothes in the home or exposure at home due to use of products made of asbestos). There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos as mesothelioma can occur at any level of exposure. Mesothelioma has been reported to occur even 30 years after last exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma Pain Management
Communicating With Your Health Care Provider
Since pain is subjective, it is essential to communicate with your mesothelioma doctor or mesothelioma nurse in order to receive adequate relief. Because of the chronic nature of pain associated with mesothelioma, you should consult with your doctor or nurse as quickly as possible. Also, left untreated, mesothelioma pain often becomes more severe, making it more difficult to control.
You definitely should not let worries of being perceived as a "complainer" prevent you from seeking relief. You are your best advocate for appropriate pain control. Pain is a real experience for the majority of people with mesothelioma cancer, and it is your right to obtain the best relief available.
a)General guidelines when talking to your doctor about mesthelioma pain
If possible, keep written notes or a journal about your pain, and questions you would like answered. These notes should be comprehensive and accurate.
Ask questions. As with other aspects of your treatment, it is very important that you fully understand the basis of your pain and your relief options.
During discussions with your health care provider, have a loved one take notes for you. For most people, it is difficult to talk about your pain, ask questions, and take notes at the same time. This will allow you to focus your concentration on your discussion. (The same can be said for discussing mesothelioma treatment options.)
Make sure you express your views. Do not hesitate to offer an opinion about what may be causing or contributing to your pain. No one knows your body as well as you, and your insights are very valuable to your health care providers.
b) What your mesothelioma doctor should know
How the pain feels (use descriptive words such as dull, aching, throbbing, stabbing, piercing, pinching, sharp, aching, burning, tingling).
The intensity of your pain, when it is worst, and how the intensity changes through the day and night.
The frequency of the pain; when you have the pain (all the time or occasionally).
How quickly the pain comes on (suddenly or intermittently), how long it lasts (a few minutes or several hours), and how often it occurs.
What makes the pain worse. Describe conditions when the pain becomes more intense, such as moving, walking, talking, coughing, laying down, eating, going to the bathroom.
What eases the pain. Talk about anything that has helped you, including medications you have been using and the amounts you are taking.
Medications you are taking. Tell them about your pain medications, including any over-the-counter pain relievers, any alternative medications like herbs, and any medications you may be taking for other health conditions not related to cancer.
How the pain is affecting your life and what activities you no longer are able to perform, such as effects on your appetite and your ability to sleep.
c) Questions to ask your doctor about available medications for mesothelioma pain
What types of medications are available?
What are the side effects of these medicines?
How often and how long will I take it?
Are there harmful reactions with other drugs I am taking?
Can you suggest any non-drug methods to relieve my pain?
Medical professionals, however, are not the best source of knowledge on non-drug or alternate therapies for pain control. Therefore, we have included a section on alternative/complementary methods of pain control based on the literature (both printed and electronic) and anecdotal reports from patients about what has worked for them. Click on to the alternative therapy section to learn more about these approaches.
Since pain is subjective, it is essential to communicate with your mesothelioma doctor or mesothelioma nurse in order to receive adequate relief. Because of the chronic nature of pain associated with mesothelioma, you should consult with your doctor or nurse as quickly as possible. Also, left untreated, mesothelioma pain often becomes more severe, making it more difficult to control.
You definitely should not let worries of being perceived as a "complainer" prevent you from seeking relief. You are your best advocate for appropriate pain control. Pain is a real experience for the majority of people with mesothelioma cancer, and it is your right to obtain the best relief available.
a)General guidelines when talking to your doctor about mesthelioma pain
If possible, keep written notes or a journal about your pain, and questions you would like answered. These notes should be comprehensive and accurate.
Ask questions. As with other aspects of your treatment, it is very important that you fully understand the basis of your pain and your relief options.
During discussions with your health care provider, have a loved one take notes for you. For most people, it is difficult to talk about your pain, ask questions, and take notes at the same time. This will allow you to focus your concentration on your discussion. (The same can be said for discussing mesothelioma treatment options.)
Make sure you express your views. Do not hesitate to offer an opinion about what may be causing or contributing to your pain. No one knows your body as well as you, and your insights are very valuable to your health care providers.
b) What your mesothelioma doctor should know
How the pain feels (use descriptive words such as dull, aching, throbbing, stabbing, piercing, pinching, sharp, aching, burning, tingling).
The intensity of your pain, when it is worst, and how the intensity changes through the day and night.
The frequency of the pain; when you have the pain (all the time or occasionally).
How quickly the pain comes on (suddenly or intermittently), how long it lasts (a few minutes or several hours), and how often it occurs.
What makes the pain worse. Describe conditions when the pain becomes more intense, such as moving, walking, talking, coughing, laying down, eating, going to the bathroom.
What eases the pain. Talk about anything that has helped you, including medications you have been using and the amounts you are taking.
Medications you are taking. Tell them about your pain medications, including any over-the-counter pain relievers, any alternative medications like herbs, and any medications you may be taking for other health conditions not related to cancer.
How the pain is affecting your life and what activities you no longer are able to perform, such as effects on your appetite and your ability to sleep.
c) Questions to ask your doctor about available medications for mesothelioma pain
What types of medications are available?
What are the side effects of these medicines?
How often and how long will I take it?
Are there harmful reactions with other drugs I am taking?
Can you suggest any non-drug methods to relieve my pain?
Medical professionals, however, are not the best source of knowledge on non-drug or alternate therapies for pain control. Therefore, we have included a section on alternative/complementary methods of pain control based on the literature (both printed and electronic) and anecdotal reports from patients about what has worked for them. Click on to the alternative therapy section to learn more about these approaches.
The Four Stages of Mesothelioma
After confirming a mesothelioma diagnosis, the next step is called staging. Staging is the process used to find out how far the cancer has spread. Imaging studies, such as CT scans and MRI's, help a doctor to determine the mesothelioma stage. This is important because it affects the treatment and prognosis of mesothelioma.
The most common system used for measuring mesothelioma staging is the Butchart Staging System. This staging procedure is only used for pleural mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs) because it is by far the most common type of mesothelioma.
A. Stage 1 - Localized Malignant Mesothelioma
Stage I mesothelioma is the initial stage of mesothelioma. Here, the cancerous tumor is found in the pleura (the lung lining), and may also involvesome tumors in the lung, pericardium (the lining of the heart), or the diaphragm.
B. Stage 2 Mesothelioma
In Stage II mesothelioma, in addition to the presence of mesothelioma in the pleura, mesothelioma has spread to the chest wall, esophagus, or heart. Also, mesotheliomamay have spread to the lymph nodes in the chest.
C. Stage 3 Mesothelioma
In Stage III, mesothelioma has invaded the diaphragm into the peritoneum (the lining of the heart), and may involve lymph nodes outside of the chest.
D. Stage 4 Mesothelioma
In Stage IV, mesothelioma has metastasized, spreading through the bloodstream to other organs of the body.
The most common system used for measuring mesothelioma staging is the Butchart Staging System. This staging procedure is only used for pleural mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs) because it is by far the most common type of mesothelioma.
A. Stage 1 - Localized Malignant Mesothelioma
Stage I mesothelioma is the initial stage of mesothelioma. Here, the cancerous tumor is found in the pleura (the lung lining), and may also involvesome tumors in the lung, pericardium (the lining of the heart), or the diaphragm.
B. Stage 2 Mesothelioma
In Stage II mesothelioma, in addition to the presence of mesothelioma in the pleura, mesothelioma has spread to the chest wall, esophagus, or heart. Also, mesotheliomamay have spread to the lymph nodes in the chest.
C. Stage 3 Mesothelioma
In Stage III, mesothelioma has invaded the diaphragm into the peritoneum (the lining of the heart), and may involve lymph nodes outside of the chest.
D. Stage 4 Mesothelioma
In Stage IV, mesothelioma has metastasized, spreading through the bloodstream to other organs of the body.
Treatment Options For Patients
Mesothelioma treatment depends on several factors, including the stage of mesothelioma, the location of the tumor, and the age and overall health of the patient.
1. Surgery - Removal of Malignant Mesothelioma
Surgical removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue may be used depending on how far the mesothelioma has spread (the stage). The more advanced the stage, the less likely that surgery will be effective in treating mesothelioma.
Surgery for malignant mesothelioma can be used for long-term control or to cure the disease (aggressive surgery) or can be used to relieve pain (palliative).
a) Aggressive surgery
Aggressive mesothelioma surgery involves removal of the pleura, lung, diaphragm, or pericardim. (The type involving removal of the pleura is called extrapleural pheumonectomy.) The goal is to remove as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible. This type of surgery, also called extraplueral pneumonectomy, typically is performed on younger patients in Stage 1 of mesothelioma.
Because of the complexity and the high risks involved with this type of surgery, some mesothelioma hospitals do not perform the procedure. Also, different mesothelioma treatment centers may have different criteria for accepting patients for surgery. Therefore, it is important to check with a mesothelioma hospital to see if you meet its criteria.
b) Palliative Surgery
Palliative surgery is typically used in the more advanced stages of mesothelioma. The goal is to relieve or control symptoms caused by fluid collection or by the tumor compressing the lung or other organs. It is not intended to cure mesothelioma.
Pleurectomy/decortization is usually a palliative operation. It is used in situations where the entire tumor cannot be removed. It is effective in controlling the accumulation of fluid in the lungs (effusion), and the pain caused by mesothelioma.
Thoracentesis is also used to treat effusion in pleural mesothelioma. This treatment involves inserting a needle into the chest in order to drain the fluid. Thoracentesis does not involve surgical removal of the mesothelial cells.
2. Radiation
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill mesothelioma cancer cells and to shrink tumors. There are two types of radiation therapy.
External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body that beams x-rays to the location of the mesothelioma.
Brachytherapy involves putting chemicals that produce radiation directly into the site of the mesothelioma cancer. This is done by inserting a thin plastic tube into the chest or abdomen.
Because of the location of malignant mesothelioma, it is very difficult to deliver high-enough doses of radiation to kill the tumor without damaging surrounding organs. As a result, it is unclear whether radiation therapy is a successful method of treating mesothelioma. It has, however, been effective in killing remaining tumor cells after surgery has been performed.
Radiation therapy is also used as a palliative therapy to relieve symptoms of mesothelioma, such as shortness of breath, chest pain, and internal bleeding.
Radiation therapy has several side effects, such as fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Although these side effects are sometimes temporary, you should let your doctor know, since they often can be controlled.
3. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to treat mesothelioma cancer. It is administered either orally (through pills) or by injecting the drugs directly into the veins (intravenously), the muscles, the chest cavity (intrapleurally), or the abdominal cavity (intraperitoneally). The goal of mesothelioma chemotherapy is for the drug to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body in order to destroy the cancer cells.
Several drugs have been used, either individually or in combination with others, to treat mesothelioma. Some of the single-agent drugs include:
Adriamycin (doxorubicin), which is the most studied and, currently, the most effective single agent;
epirubicin
carboplatin
detorubicin
pirarubucin
mitomucin
cisplatin.
Single-agent therapy has been only modestly successful in treating mesothelioma, with studies showing a response rate in the 10 to 20% range.
Because of the relatively low response rate of single-agent therapy in treating mesothelioma, combinations of these drugs have been used to increase their effectiveness. Although some researchers have reported high response rates to these therapies, these rates have not been consistent, and more research is necessary.
Chemotherapy drugs are generally very toxic. Therefore, a doctor must be very careful in monitoring the condition of a patient during therapy. Some of the more common side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss or appetite, hair loss, and fatigue. Chemotherapy can also result in low blood cell counts, which increases the risk of infection and bleeding or bruising.
Side effects vary depending on the treatment, and generally disappear after treatment is completed.
1. Surgery - Removal of Malignant Mesothelioma
Surgical removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue may be used depending on how far the mesothelioma has spread (the stage). The more advanced the stage, the less likely that surgery will be effective in treating mesothelioma.
Surgery for malignant mesothelioma can be used for long-term control or to cure the disease (aggressive surgery) or can be used to relieve pain (palliative).
a) Aggressive surgery
Aggressive mesothelioma surgery involves removal of the pleura, lung, diaphragm, or pericardim. (The type involving removal of the pleura is called extrapleural pheumonectomy.) The goal is to remove as much of the mesothelioma tumor as possible. This type of surgery, also called extraplueral pneumonectomy, typically is performed on younger patients in Stage 1 of mesothelioma.
Because of the complexity and the high risks involved with this type of surgery, some mesothelioma hospitals do not perform the procedure. Also, different mesothelioma treatment centers may have different criteria for accepting patients for surgery. Therefore, it is important to check with a mesothelioma hospital to see if you meet its criteria.
b) Palliative Surgery
Palliative surgery is typically used in the more advanced stages of mesothelioma. The goal is to relieve or control symptoms caused by fluid collection or by the tumor compressing the lung or other organs. It is not intended to cure mesothelioma.
Pleurectomy/decortization is usually a palliative operation. It is used in situations where the entire tumor cannot be removed. It is effective in controlling the accumulation of fluid in the lungs (effusion), and the pain caused by mesothelioma.
Thoracentesis is also used to treat effusion in pleural mesothelioma. This treatment involves inserting a needle into the chest in order to drain the fluid. Thoracentesis does not involve surgical removal of the mesothelial cells.
2. Radiation
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill mesothelioma cancer cells and to shrink tumors. There are two types of radiation therapy.
External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body that beams x-rays to the location of the mesothelioma.
Brachytherapy involves putting chemicals that produce radiation directly into the site of the mesothelioma cancer. This is done by inserting a thin plastic tube into the chest or abdomen.
Because of the location of malignant mesothelioma, it is very difficult to deliver high-enough doses of radiation to kill the tumor without damaging surrounding organs. As a result, it is unclear whether radiation therapy is a successful method of treating mesothelioma. It has, however, been effective in killing remaining tumor cells after surgery has been performed.
Radiation therapy is also used as a palliative therapy to relieve symptoms of mesothelioma, such as shortness of breath, chest pain, and internal bleeding.
Radiation therapy has several side effects, such as fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Although these side effects are sometimes temporary, you should let your doctor know, since they often can be controlled.
3. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to treat mesothelioma cancer. It is administered either orally (through pills) or by injecting the drugs directly into the veins (intravenously), the muscles, the chest cavity (intrapleurally), or the abdominal cavity (intraperitoneally). The goal of mesothelioma chemotherapy is for the drug to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body in order to destroy the cancer cells.
Several drugs have been used, either individually or in combination with others, to treat mesothelioma. Some of the single-agent drugs include:
Adriamycin (doxorubicin), which is the most studied and, currently, the most effective single agent;
epirubicin
carboplatin
detorubicin
pirarubucin
mitomucin
cisplatin.
Single-agent therapy has been only modestly successful in treating mesothelioma, with studies showing a response rate in the 10 to 20% range.
Because of the relatively low response rate of single-agent therapy in treating mesothelioma, combinations of these drugs have been used to increase their effectiveness. Although some researchers have reported high response rates to these therapies, these rates have not been consistent, and more research is necessary.
Chemotherapy drugs are generally very toxic. Therefore, a doctor must be very careful in monitoring the condition of a patient during therapy. Some of the more common side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss or appetite, hair loss, and fatigue. Chemotherapy can also result in low blood cell counts, which increases the risk of infection and bleeding or bruising.
Side effects vary depending on the treatment, and generally disappear after treatment is completed.
Understanding Mesothelioma
Dealing with mesothelioma is a very difficult process. It will require a lot of physical and emotional endurance, a strong family and social network, and expert medical and professional advice and assistance. The best way to approach dealing with mesothelioma is to first learn everything that you can about the disease. This should include the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of mesothelioma.
Understanding all of the aspects of mesothelioma will help the patient and their family and caregivers feel less helpless during treatment and give them the hope they need to recover successfully from this terrible disease. There are many sources of information available to help with understanding mesothelioma. They include doctors, nurses and community health care workers. They also include cancer information centers and university teaching hospitals that specialize in mesothelioma.
There are also many books written about the subject of mesothelioma, including ones written by mesothelioma patients, survivors and their families. Some books written by specialists in the field also provide helpful tips for patients and families who are beginning their mesothelioma treatments on what to expect and how to maximize pain management tools and techniques. The Internet has a wide range of websites that promote education and information about mesothelioma and offer suggestions on where to find specialists and other resources.
The relationship between the doctor and patient should be the primary source of understanding mesothelioma for the patient. The doctor has made the preliminary diagnosis and has the experience of dealing with similar situations in the past. To make the most of this important relationship the patient should prepare a list of questions in advance of any meeting or session with the doctor so as to minimize the time required and to get the most accurate information and answers to their questions.
Other people who have been through mesothelioma treatments can also provide helpful suggestions from their own experience on not just what to expect but how to best assist in one's own recovery. These suggestions will probably include tips on pain management but will also likely help the mesothelioma patient to physically and psychologically prepare for possible surgery and the recovery period that will follow.
Mesothelioma patients will require a lot of other support if they are going to successfully navigate the path to recovery. Some time and consideration will need to be given to financial concerns that will arise during the period of treatment and recovery from mesothelioma. This may include meetings and advice from a range of financial and insurance advisors in order to ensure that medical costs are covered and regular bills are paid during this difficult time.
It is certainly not easy to deal with all of the medical, physical, emotional, and financial issues that may be raised when dealing with a serious disease like mesothelioma, but it always better to be prepared.
Understanding all of the aspects of mesothelioma will help the patient and their family and caregivers feel less helpless during treatment and give them the hope they need to recover successfully from this terrible disease. There are many sources of information available to help with understanding mesothelioma. They include doctors, nurses and community health care workers. They also include cancer information centers and university teaching hospitals that specialize in mesothelioma.
There are also many books written about the subject of mesothelioma, including ones written by mesothelioma patients, survivors and their families. Some books written by specialists in the field also provide helpful tips for patients and families who are beginning their mesothelioma treatments on what to expect and how to maximize pain management tools and techniques. The Internet has a wide range of websites that promote education and information about mesothelioma and offer suggestions on where to find specialists and other resources.
The relationship between the doctor and patient should be the primary source of understanding mesothelioma for the patient. The doctor has made the preliminary diagnosis and has the experience of dealing with similar situations in the past. To make the most of this important relationship the patient should prepare a list of questions in advance of any meeting or session with the doctor so as to minimize the time required and to get the most accurate information and answers to their questions.
Other people who have been through mesothelioma treatments can also provide helpful suggestions from their own experience on not just what to expect but how to best assist in one's own recovery. These suggestions will probably include tips on pain management but will also likely help the mesothelioma patient to physically and psychologically prepare for possible surgery and the recovery period that will follow.
Mesothelioma patients will require a lot of other support if they are going to successfully navigate the path to recovery. Some time and consideration will need to be given to financial concerns that will arise during the period of treatment and recovery from mesothelioma. This may include meetings and advice from a range of financial and insurance advisors in order to ensure that medical costs are covered and regular bills are paid during this difficult time.
It is certainly not easy to deal with all of the medical, physical, emotional, and financial issues that may be raised when dealing with a serious disease like mesothelioma, but it always better to be prepared.
maanantai 13. joulukuuta 2010
Mesothelioma Facts
Mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer that takes place in the mesothelium. The mesothelium is made up of visceral and parietal membranes which surround organs and body cavities, such as the lungs or abdomen. The visceral membrane immediately surrounds the organ, and the parietal membrane is a sac covering the visceral membrane. There is a lubricating fluid between these membranes that make up the mesothelium. This fluid helps organs move easily between surrounding structures. In the case of the lung, it helps reduce friction between the lung and chest wall during normal breathing as the lung expands.
Here are more facts about mesothelioma:
There are different types of mesothelioma
In the abdomen, it is called peritoneal mesothelioma; on the lungs, it is called pleural mesothelioma; and if it develops on the heart, pericardial mesothelioma.
It develops mostly on the lungs:
The most common location for mesothelioma to develop is on the lungs. About two-thirds of all mesothelioma cases develop in the pleural mesothelium. This mesothelioma on the lungs is called malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The remaining cases develop in the peritoneal mesothelium in the abdomen. A tumor in the abdominal mesothelium is called peritoneal mesothelioma. Rarely, mesothelioma occurs in other mesothelial tissue, such as on the heart or on the reproductive organs.
It may have other causes:
Although asbestos is the major cause of mesothelioma, up to 30-50% of all cases are not clearly related to previous asbestos exposure. Other possible reasons include previous exposure to radiation or to particular minerals closely related to asbestos that are found in the soil. Smoking has not been shown to be a cause of mesothelioma. However, if a smoker has also been exposed to asbestos, this significantly increases his or her risk of developing other types of lung cancer.
It has a long development time:
It has a long latency period, which means that symptoms don’t develop for 20-50 years after environmental exposure. The average age at which symptoms usually start to appear is around 60 years old.
It occurs more in men than in women:
Mesothelioma affects men about three times more often than women in the US. Occurrence rises gradually with age. In other parts of the world, where exposure comes primarily from other environmental sources, such as in Turkey, mesothelioma occurs about equally in men and women.
It is a rare disease:
An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the US. In other countries, the number of cases varies. Overall, the number of cases reported each year seems to be increasing.
Mesothelioma Cure:
Doctors and researchers are searching and working hard to find solutions pertaining to a cure for Mesothelioma but have not discovered any yet.
Here are more facts about mesothelioma:
There are different types of mesothelioma
In the abdomen, it is called peritoneal mesothelioma; on the lungs, it is called pleural mesothelioma; and if it develops on the heart, pericardial mesothelioma.
It develops mostly on the lungs:
The most common location for mesothelioma to develop is on the lungs. About two-thirds of all mesothelioma cases develop in the pleural mesothelium. This mesothelioma on the lungs is called malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The remaining cases develop in the peritoneal mesothelium in the abdomen. A tumor in the abdominal mesothelium is called peritoneal mesothelioma. Rarely, mesothelioma occurs in other mesothelial tissue, such as on the heart or on the reproductive organs.
It may have other causes:
Although asbestos is the major cause of mesothelioma, up to 30-50% of all cases are not clearly related to previous asbestos exposure. Other possible reasons include previous exposure to radiation or to particular minerals closely related to asbestos that are found in the soil. Smoking has not been shown to be a cause of mesothelioma. However, if a smoker has also been exposed to asbestos, this significantly increases his or her risk of developing other types of lung cancer.
It has a long development time:
It has a long latency period, which means that symptoms don’t develop for 20-50 years after environmental exposure. The average age at which symptoms usually start to appear is around 60 years old.
It occurs more in men than in women:
Mesothelioma affects men about three times more often than women in the US. Occurrence rises gradually with age. In other parts of the world, where exposure comes primarily from other environmental sources, such as in Turkey, mesothelioma occurs about equally in men and women.
It is a rare disease:
An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the US. In other countries, the number of cases varies. Overall, the number of cases reported each year seems to be increasing.
Mesothelioma Cure:
Doctors and researchers are searching and working hard to find solutions pertaining to a cure for Mesothelioma but have not discovered any yet.
Those at an increased risk of developing Mesothelioma
Workers at a shipyard
Workers at an asbestos mine and mill
Producers of asbestos products
Workers in the heating and construction industries
Trades people
Friends and family of the workers in the above listed fields.
Mesothelioma Resource Online, presents information that will help you understand the disease; its causes, effects and how you can best cope with it. We will also suggest resources where you can reach people, organizations and committees dedicated to helping patients of Mesothelioma in every way possible ---from emotional to legal perspectives and more!
Mesothelioma is sometimes misspelled as mesotheliomia, mesotheelioma, mesothilioma, mesothelimoa, mesotheloma, mesotheleoma, mesotheiloma, and mesotheliom. Before you start your search make sure that you know exactly how mesothelioma is spelled to get the best search results.
Workers at an asbestos mine and mill
Producers of asbestos products
Workers in the heating and construction industries
Trades people
Friends and family of the workers in the above listed fields.
Mesothelioma Resource Online, presents information that will help you understand the disease; its causes, effects and how you can best cope with it. We will also suggest resources where you can reach people, organizations and committees dedicated to helping patients of Mesothelioma in every way possible ---from emotional to legal perspectives and more!
Mesothelioma is sometimes misspelled as mesotheliomia, mesotheelioma, mesothilioma, mesothelimoa, mesotheloma, mesotheleoma, mesotheiloma, and mesotheliom. Before you start your search make sure that you know exactly how mesothelioma is spelled to get the best search results.
Mesothelioma Treatment
The prognosis for malignant mesothelioma remains disappointing, although there have been some modest improvements in prognosis from newer chemotherapies and multimodality treatments. Treatment of malignant mesothelioma at earlier stages has a better prognosis, but cures are exceedingly rare. Clinical behavior of the malignancy is affected by several factors including the continuous mesothelial surface of the pleural cavity which favors local metastasis via exfoliated cells, invasion to underlying tissue and other organs within the pleural cavity, and the extremely long latency period between asbestos exposure and development of the disease. The histological subtype and the patient's age and health status also help predict prognosis.
Surgery
Surgery, by itself, has proved disappointing. In one large series, the median survival with surgery (including extrapleural pneumonectomy) was only 11.7 months. However, research indicates varied success when used in combination with radiation and chemotherapy (Duke, 2008). (For more information on multimodality therapy with surgery, see below). A pleurectomy/decortication is the most common surgery, in which the lining of the chest is removed. Less common is an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), in which the lung, lining of the inside of the chest, the hemi-diaphragm and the pericardium are removed.
Radiation
For patients with localized disease, and who can tolerate a radical surgery, radiation is often given post-operatively as a consolidative treatment. The entire hemi-thorax is treated with radiation therapy, often given simultaneously with chemotherapy. This approach of using surgery followed by radiation with chemotherapy has been pioneered by the thoracic oncology team at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. Delivering radiation and chemotherapy after a radical surgery has led to extended life expectancy in selected patient populations with some patients surviving more than 5 years. As part of a curative approach to mesothelioma, radiotherapy is also commonly applied to the sites of chest drain insertion, in order to prevent growth of the tumor along the track in the chest wall.
Although mesothelioma is generally resistant to curative treatment with radiotherapy alone, palliative treatment regimens are sometimes used to relieve symptoms arising from tumor growth, such as obstruction of a major blood vessel. Radiation therapy when given alone with curative intent has never been shown to improve survival from mesothelioma. The necessary radiation dose to treat mesothelioma that has not been surgically removed would be very toxic.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the only treatment for mesothelioma that has been proven to improve survival in randomised and controlled trials. The landmark study published in 2003 by Vogelzang and colleagues compared cisplatin chemotherapy alone with a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed (brand name Alimta) chemotherapy in patients who had not received chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma previously and were not candidates for more aggressive "curative" surgery. This trial was the first to report a survival advantage from chemotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma, showing a statistically significant improvement in median survival from 10 months in the patients treated with cisplatin alone to 13.3 months in the combination pemetrexed group in patients who received supplementation with folate and vitamin B12. Vitamin supplementation was given to most patients in the trial and pemetrexed related side effects were significantly less in patients receiving pemetrexed when they also received daily oral folate 500mcg and intramuscular vitamin B12 1000mcg every 9 weeks compared with patients receiving pemetrexed without vitamin supplementation. The objective response rate increased from 20% in the cisplatin group to 46% in the combination pemetrexed group. Some side effects such as nausea and vomiting, stomatitis, and diarrhoea were more common in the combination pemetrexed group but only affected a minority of patients and overall the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin was well tolerated when patients received vitamin supplementation; both quality of life and lung function tests improved in the combination pemetrexed group. In February 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved pemetrexed for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, there are still unanswered questions about the optimal use of chemotherapy, including when to start treatment, and the optimal number of cycles to give.
Cisplatin in combination with raltitrexed has shown an improvement in survival similar to that reported for pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin, but raltitrexed is no longer commercially available for this indication. For patients unable to tolerate pemetrexed, cisplatin in combination with gemcitabine or vinorelbine is an alternative, or vinorelbine on its own, although a survival benefit has not been shown for these drugs. For patients in whom cisplatin cannot be used, carboplatin can be substituted but non-randomised data have shown lower response rates and high rates of haematological toxicity for carboplatin-based combinations, albeit with similar survival figures to patients receiving cisplatin.
In January 2009, the United States FDA approved using conventional therapies such as surgery in combination with radiation and or chemotherapy on stage I or II Mesothelioma after research conducted by a nationwide study by Duke University concluded an almost 50 point increase in remission rates.
Immunotherapy
Treatment regimens involving immunotherapy have yielded variable results. For example, intrapleural inoculation of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in an attempt to boost the immune response, was found to be of no benefit to the patient (while it may benefit patients with bladder cancer). Mesothelioma cells proved susceptible to in vitro lysis by LAK cells following activation by interleukin-2 (IL-2), but patients undergoing this particular therapy experienced major side effects. Indeed, this trial was suspended in view of the unacceptably high levels of IL-2 toxicity and the severity of side effects such as fever and cachexia. Nonetheless, other trials involving interferon alpha have proved more encouraging with 20% of patients experiencing a greater than 50% reduction in tumor mass combined with minimal side effects.
Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy
A procedure known as heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy was developed by Paul Sugarbaker at the Washington Cancer Institute. The surgeon removes as much of the tumor as possible followed by the direct administration of a chemotherapy agent, heated to between 40 and 48°C, in the abdomen. The fluid is perfused for 60 to 120 minutes and then drained.
This technique permits the administration of high concentrations of selected drugs into the abdominal and pelvic surfaces. Heating the chemotherapy treatment increases the penetration of the drugs into tissues. Also, heating itself damages the malignant cells more than the normal cells.
This technique is also used in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Multimodality Therapy
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 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 diaphragm, and ipsilateral pericardium. This operation is indicated for a subset of patients with more advanced tumors, who can tolerate a pneumonectomy.
Epidemiology
Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. The incidence rate varies from one country to another, from a low rate of less than 1 per 1,000,000 in Tunisia and Morocco, to the highest rate in Britain, Australia and Belgium: 30 per 1,000,000 per year.[39] For comparison, populations with high levels of smoking can have a lung cancer incidence of over 1,000 per 1,000,000. Incidence of malignant mesothelioma currently ranges from about 7 to 40 per 1,000,000 in industrialized Western nations, depending on the amount of asbestos exposure of the populations during the past several decades.[40] It has been estimated that incidence may have peaked at 15 per 1,000,000 in the United States in 2004. Incidence is expected to continue increasing in other parts of the world. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age. Approximately one fifth to one third of all mesotheliomas are peritoneal.
Between 1940 and 1979, approximately 27.5 million people were occupationally exposed to asbestos in the United States.[41] Between 1973 and 1984, the incidence of pleural mesothelioma among Caucasian males increased 300%. From 1980 to the late 1990s, the death rate from mesothelioma in the USA increased from 2,000 per year to 3,000, with men four times more likely to acquire it than women. These rates may not be accurate, since it is possible that many cases of mesothelioma are misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is difficult to differentiate from mesothelioma.
Surgery
Surgery, by itself, has proved disappointing. In one large series, the median survival with surgery (including extrapleural pneumonectomy) was only 11.7 months. However, research indicates varied success when used in combination with radiation and chemotherapy (Duke, 2008). (For more information on multimodality therapy with surgery, see below). A pleurectomy/decortication is the most common surgery, in which the lining of the chest is removed. Less common is an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), in which the lung, lining of the inside of the chest, the hemi-diaphragm and the pericardium are removed.
Radiation
For patients with localized disease, and who can tolerate a radical surgery, radiation is often given post-operatively as a consolidative treatment. The entire hemi-thorax is treated with radiation therapy, often given simultaneously with chemotherapy. This approach of using surgery followed by radiation with chemotherapy has been pioneered by the thoracic oncology team at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. Delivering radiation and chemotherapy after a radical surgery has led to extended life expectancy in selected patient populations with some patients surviving more than 5 years. As part of a curative approach to mesothelioma, radiotherapy is also commonly applied to the sites of chest drain insertion, in order to prevent growth of the tumor along the track in the chest wall.
Although mesothelioma is generally resistant to curative treatment with radiotherapy alone, palliative treatment regimens are sometimes used to relieve symptoms arising from tumor growth, such as obstruction of a major blood vessel. Radiation therapy when given alone with curative intent has never been shown to improve survival from mesothelioma. The necessary radiation dose to treat mesothelioma that has not been surgically removed would be very toxic.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the only treatment for mesothelioma that has been proven to improve survival in randomised and controlled trials. The landmark study published in 2003 by Vogelzang and colleagues compared cisplatin chemotherapy alone with a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed (brand name Alimta) chemotherapy in patients who had not received chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma previously and were not candidates for more aggressive "curative" surgery. This trial was the first to report a survival advantage from chemotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma, showing a statistically significant improvement in median survival from 10 months in the patients treated with cisplatin alone to 13.3 months in the combination pemetrexed group in patients who received supplementation with folate and vitamin B12. Vitamin supplementation was given to most patients in the trial and pemetrexed related side effects were significantly less in patients receiving pemetrexed when they also received daily oral folate 500mcg and intramuscular vitamin B12 1000mcg every 9 weeks compared with patients receiving pemetrexed without vitamin supplementation. The objective response rate increased from 20% in the cisplatin group to 46% in the combination pemetrexed group. Some side effects such as nausea and vomiting, stomatitis, and diarrhoea were more common in the combination pemetrexed group but only affected a minority of patients and overall the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin was well tolerated when patients received vitamin supplementation; both quality of life and lung function tests improved in the combination pemetrexed group. In February 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved pemetrexed for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, there are still unanswered questions about the optimal use of chemotherapy, including when to start treatment, and the optimal number of cycles to give.
Cisplatin in combination with raltitrexed has shown an improvement in survival similar to that reported for pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin, but raltitrexed is no longer commercially available for this indication. For patients unable to tolerate pemetrexed, cisplatin in combination with gemcitabine or vinorelbine is an alternative, or vinorelbine on its own, although a survival benefit has not been shown for these drugs. For patients in whom cisplatin cannot be used, carboplatin can be substituted but non-randomised data have shown lower response rates and high rates of haematological toxicity for carboplatin-based combinations, albeit with similar survival figures to patients receiving cisplatin.
In January 2009, the United States FDA approved using conventional therapies such as surgery in combination with radiation and or chemotherapy on stage I or II Mesothelioma after research conducted by a nationwide study by Duke University concluded an almost 50 point increase in remission rates.
Immunotherapy
Treatment regimens involving immunotherapy have yielded variable results. For example, intrapleural inoculation of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in an attempt to boost the immune response, was found to be of no benefit to the patient (while it may benefit patients with bladder cancer). Mesothelioma cells proved susceptible to in vitro lysis by LAK cells following activation by interleukin-2 (IL-2), but patients undergoing this particular therapy experienced major side effects. Indeed, this trial was suspended in view of the unacceptably high levels of IL-2 toxicity and the severity of side effects such as fever and cachexia. Nonetheless, other trials involving interferon alpha have proved more encouraging with 20% of patients experiencing a greater than 50% reduction in tumor mass combined with minimal side effects.
Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy
A procedure known as heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy was developed by Paul Sugarbaker at the Washington Cancer Institute. The surgeon removes as much of the tumor as possible followed by the direct administration of a chemotherapy agent, heated to between 40 and 48°C, in the abdomen. The fluid is perfused for 60 to 120 minutes and then drained.
This technique permits the administration of high concentrations of selected drugs into the abdominal and pelvic surfaces. Heating the chemotherapy treatment increases the penetration of the drugs into tissues. Also, heating itself damages the malignant cells more than the normal cells.
This technique is also used in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Multimodality Therapy
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 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 diaphragm, and ipsilateral pericardium. This operation is indicated for a subset of patients with more advanced tumors, who can tolerate a pneumonectomy.
Epidemiology
Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. The incidence rate varies from one country to another, from a low rate of less than 1 per 1,000,000 in Tunisia and Morocco, to the highest rate in Britain, Australia and Belgium: 30 per 1,000,000 per year.[39] For comparison, populations with high levels of smoking can have a lung cancer incidence of over 1,000 per 1,000,000. Incidence of malignant mesothelioma currently ranges from about 7 to 40 per 1,000,000 in industrialized Western nations, depending on the amount of asbestos exposure of the populations during the past several decades.[40] It has been estimated that incidence may have peaked at 15 per 1,000,000 in the United States in 2004. Incidence is expected to continue increasing in other parts of the world. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age. Approximately one fifth to one third of all mesotheliomas are peritoneal.
Between 1940 and 1979, approximately 27.5 million people were occupationally exposed to asbestos in the United States.[41] Between 1973 and 1984, the incidence of pleural mesothelioma among Caucasian males increased 300%. From 1980 to the late 1990s, the death rate from mesothelioma in the USA increased from 2,000 per year to 3,000, with men four times more likely to acquire it than women. These rates may not be accurate, since it is possible that many cases of mesothelioma are misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is difficult to differentiate from mesothelioma.
Cause
Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma. In the United States, asbestos is the major cause of malignant mesothelioma and has been considered "indisputably" associated with the development of mesothelioma. Indeed, the relationship between asbestos and mesothelioma is so strong that many consider mesothelioma a “signal” or “sentinel” tumor. A history of asbestos exposure exists in most cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos. In rare cases, mesothelioma has also been associated with irradiation, intrapleural thorium dioxide (Thorotrast), and inhalation of other fibrous silicates, such as erionite. Some studies suggest that simian virus 40 (SV40) may act as a cofactor in the development of mesothelioma.
Asbestos was known in antiquity, but it was not mined and widely used commercially until the late 19th century. Its use greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risks associated with asbestos exposure were not publicly known. However, an increased risk of developing mesothelioma was later found among shipyard workers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople. Today, the official position of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. EPA is that protections and "permissible exposure limits" required by U.S. regulations, while adequate to prevent most asbestos-related non-malignant disease, they are not adequate to prevent or protect against asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma. Likewise, the British Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states formally that any threshold for mesothelioma must be at a very low level and it is widely agreed that if any such threshold does exist at all, then it cannot currently be quantified. For practical purposes, therefore, HSE assumes that no such "safe" threshold exists. Others have noted as well that there is no evidence of a threshold level below which there is no risk of mesothelioma. There appears to be a linear, dose-response relationship, with increasing dose producing increasing disease. Nevertheless, mesothelioma may be related to brief, low level or indirect exposures to asbestos. The dose necessary for effect appears to be lower for asbestos-induced mesothelioma than for pulmonary asbestosis or lung cancer. Again, there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos as it relates to increased risk of mesothelioma.
The duration of exposure to asbestos causing mesothelioma can be short. For example, cases of mesothelioma have been documented with only 1–3 months of exposure. People who work with asbestos wear personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure.
Latency, the time from first exposure to manifestation of disease, is prolonged in the case of mesothelioma. It is virtually never less than fifteen years and peaks at 30–40 years. In a review of occupationally related mesothelioma cases, the median latency was 32 years. Based upon the data from Peto et al, the risk of mesothelioma appears to increase to the third or fourth power from first exposure.
Asbestos was known in antiquity, but it was not mined and widely used commercially until the late 19th century. Its use greatly increased during World War II. Since the early 1940s, millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Initially, the risks associated with asbestos exposure were not publicly known. However, an increased risk of developing mesothelioma was later found among shipyard workers, people who work in asbestos mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople. Today, the official position of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. EPA is that protections and "permissible exposure limits" required by U.S. regulations, while adequate to prevent most asbestos-related non-malignant disease, they are not adequate to prevent or protect against asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma. Likewise, the British Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states formally that any threshold for mesothelioma must be at a very low level and it is widely agreed that if any such threshold does exist at all, then it cannot currently be quantified. For practical purposes, therefore, HSE assumes that no such "safe" threshold exists. Others have noted as well that there is no evidence of a threshold level below which there is no risk of mesothelioma. There appears to be a linear, dose-response relationship, with increasing dose producing increasing disease. Nevertheless, mesothelioma may be related to brief, low level or indirect exposures to asbestos. The dose necessary for effect appears to be lower for asbestos-induced mesothelioma than for pulmonary asbestosis or lung cancer. Again, there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos as it relates to increased risk of mesothelioma.
The duration of exposure to asbestos causing mesothelioma can be short. For example, cases of mesothelioma have been documented with only 1–3 months of exposure. People who work with asbestos wear personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure.
Latency, the time from first exposure to manifestation of disease, is prolonged in the case of mesothelioma. It is virtually never less than fifteen years and peaks at 30–40 years. In a review of occupationally related mesothelioma cases, the median latency was 32 years. Based upon the data from Peto et al, the risk of mesothelioma appears to increase to the third or fourth power from first exposure.
perjantai 10. joulukuuta 2010
Mesothelioma Symptoms
Mesothelioma symptoms show up decades right after exposure to asbestos fiber has taken position. Mesothelioma can not be conclusively diagnosed from statement of its signs alone for the reason that cancer features symptoms which have been normal to some other illnesses. In addition, different kinds of mesothelioma cancer have different Mesothelioma symptoms.
Pleural mesothelioma grows in the pleura, or the liner of the lungs. It is the most popular form of mesothelioma cancer. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma cancer are chest pain, problems with breathing in, difficulty using swallowing, breathing problems of blood vessels and sweating.
Peritoneal mesothelioma occurs in your peritoneum, or perhaps the lining in the abdomen. Its signs or symptoms consist of weight loss, diarrhea, bloating with the belly, abdominal pain along with formation associated with lumps associated with tissue inside the abdomen.
Pericardial mesothelioma is found in the muscle bordering the guts. It is one of the most rare varieties of mesothelioma, seen in about a fewper cent regarding mesothelioma cases. The the signs of pericardial mesothelioma cancer are heart problems, abnormal heartbeat, fever as well as difficulty using breathing.
Testicular mesothelioma, as well as mesothelioma associated with Tunica Vaginalis advances inside the tissue encircling the testicles. Your indicator of this type of mesothelioma is actually the existence of full of around the testicle. Because this kind of mesothelioma may be the rarest form of the cancer, info relating to the symptoms is bound.
Anyone experiencing the mesothelioma symptoms explained above need to take coronary heart that mesothelioma is a exceptional cancer afflicting about 3000 folks in the US on a yearly basis. Thus, it is likely that the signs or symptoms are suggestive of a situation or even illness a smaller amount critical as compared to mesothelioma cancer. Nonetheless, no finish should be arrived at without the advice of a physician.
It is particularly significant for people who caused asbestos fiber made up of products as well as lived with anyone who did, to find medical attention if they’re experiencing the signs of mesothelioma. However, asbestos was applied in a wide range involving products including brakes, covering shingles, electric wiring and padding material. As a result, workers such as mechanics, construction employees, boiler workers, electricians among others who worked with asbestos items are at risk of developing mesothelioma. Further, people who were living with mesothelioma industry staff is also at risk of developing cancer from secondary asbestos fiber coverage e.h., cleanup your asbestos infected clothes of someone who caused asbestos fiber.
Men and women battling from mesothelioma cancer should take into account contacting an experienced mesothelioma cancer lawyer. Firms in the asbestos fiber industry knew of the deadly problems of asbestos fiber but failed to disclose these phones maintain profitability. For the same cause, organizations failed to provide protective equipment that can have avoided exposure to mesothelioma. Therefore, legislation allows mesothelioma cancer patients to file for legal promises against organizations responsible for their particular exposure to asbestos fiber.
Pleural mesothelioma grows in the pleura, or the liner of the lungs. It is the most popular form of mesothelioma cancer. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma cancer are chest pain, problems with breathing in, difficulty using swallowing, breathing problems of blood vessels and sweating.
Peritoneal mesothelioma occurs in your peritoneum, or perhaps the lining in the abdomen. Its signs or symptoms consist of weight loss, diarrhea, bloating with the belly, abdominal pain along with formation associated with lumps associated with tissue inside the abdomen.
Pericardial mesothelioma is found in the muscle bordering the guts. It is one of the most rare varieties of mesothelioma, seen in about a fewper cent regarding mesothelioma cases. The the signs of pericardial mesothelioma cancer are heart problems, abnormal heartbeat, fever as well as difficulty using breathing.
Testicular mesothelioma, as well as mesothelioma associated with Tunica Vaginalis advances inside the tissue encircling the testicles. Your indicator of this type of mesothelioma is actually the existence of full of around the testicle. Because this kind of mesothelioma may be the rarest form of the cancer, info relating to the symptoms is bound.
Anyone experiencing the mesothelioma symptoms explained above need to take coronary heart that mesothelioma is a exceptional cancer afflicting about 3000 folks in the US on a yearly basis. Thus, it is likely that the signs or symptoms are suggestive of a situation or even illness a smaller amount critical as compared to mesothelioma cancer. Nonetheless, no finish should be arrived at without the advice of a physician.
It is particularly significant for people who caused asbestos fiber made up of products as well as lived with anyone who did, to find medical attention if they’re experiencing the signs of mesothelioma. However, asbestos was applied in a wide range involving products including brakes, covering shingles, electric wiring and padding material. As a result, workers such as mechanics, construction employees, boiler workers, electricians among others who worked with asbestos items are at risk of developing mesothelioma. Further, people who were living with mesothelioma industry staff is also at risk of developing cancer from secondary asbestos fiber coverage e.h., cleanup your asbestos infected clothes of someone who caused asbestos fiber.
Men and women battling from mesothelioma cancer should take into account contacting an experienced mesothelioma cancer lawyer. Firms in the asbestos fiber industry knew of the deadly problems of asbestos fiber but failed to disclose these phones maintain profitability. For the same cause, organizations failed to provide protective equipment that can have avoided exposure to mesothelioma. Therefore, legislation allows mesothelioma cancer patients to file for legal promises against organizations responsible for their particular exposure to asbestos fiber.
What is Mesothelioma?
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that occurs in the thin layer of cells lining the body's internal organs, known as the mesothelium. There are three recognized types of mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of the disease, accounting for roughly 70% of cases, and occurs in the lining of the lung known as the pleura. Peritoneal mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the abdominal cavity, known as the peritoneum and pericardial mesothelioma originates in the pericardium, which lines the heart.
Who is at risk for Mesothelioma?
The only recognized cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos, though other factors such as smoking can make mesothelioma more or less likely in some individuals. Industrial laborers were widely subjected to asbestos exposure on the job, as the material was widely used throughout the 20th century. Few of these workers knew they were being exposed to asbestos and thus put at risk for mesothelioma, however, despite the fact that many manufacturers were aware the material was hazardous. In most cases, mesothelioma symptoms will not appear in an individual exposed to asbestos until many years after the exposure has occurred. Those who believe they may have been exposed to asbestos are at risk for mesothelioma and should fill out our form to receive a free mesothelioma information packet, detailing treatment options, emerging therapies, and jobsite exposure information.
Mesothelioma Treatment
Mesothelioma TreatmentOnce an individual has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the next step is to discuss mesothelioma treatment options with his/her physician. Recent scientific research has produced significant breakthroughs with regard to treatment protocols for mesothelioma patients and more options are now available for managing mesothelioma and supporting improved quality of life. Newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients always have many questions about the treatment options that would be most effective for them, including those about new treatment therapies like Alimta® and Cisplatin and other chemotherapy drugs. In addition to these newer drugs that are being used to treat asbestos cancer, mesothelioma patients also have a number of "conventional" treatment options to consider, including mesothelioma chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.
Mesothelioma clinical trials and experimental treatments are still other options that some mesothelioma patients may be eligible to participate in. Our site features a comprehensive mesothelioma cancer treatment section that includes important information for patients and families. We've included resources on top mesothelioma doctors such as Dr. Sugarbaker, as well as a comprehensive list of questions that you may wish to discuss with your personal physician when preparing a mesothelioma treatment plan. We are always providing new and informative resources regarding mesothelioma treatment including: Clinical Trials, conventional treatments, experimental therapies, as well as alternative mesothelioma treatment options. Check back often for the most recent advances in mesothelioma treatments.
Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos ExposureAsbestos exposure is the single known cause of mesothelioma. Inhaled or ingested asbestos fibers may cause an inflammation of internal tissue and disrupt organ function which leads to the development of mesothelioma. Asbestos products were used extensively throughout the 20th century in a wide variety of applications. Many of these products were responsible for asbestos exposure sustained by both the individuals who manufactured the products as well as those who used them at commercial and industrial jobsites including shipyards, refineries, power plants, steel plants and more. Several asbestos companies continued to produce these products even after they were known to be hazardous and harmful to workers and their families. Those who have become sick with mesothelioma because of exposure to these products may now be eligible for financial compensation if they were wrongfully exposed.
Asbestos was also used at many New York jobsites including Ground Zero and the former World Trade Center site. Common asbestos exposure sites in New York include the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Todd Shipyard, and the Con Edison power plant in New York City.
Who is at risk for Mesothelioma?
The only recognized cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos, though other factors such as smoking can make mesothelioma more or less likely in some individuals. Industrial laborers were widely subjected to asbestos exposure on the job, as the material was widely used throughout the 20th century. Few of these workers knew they were being exposed to asbestos and thus put at risk for mesothelioma, however, despite the fact that many manufacturers were aware the material was hazardous. In most cases, mesothelioma symptoms will not appear in an individual exposed to asbestos until many years after the exposure has occurred. Those who believe they may have been exposed to asbestos are at risk for mesothelioma and should fill out our form to receive a free mesothelioma information packet, detailing treatment options, emerging therapies, and jobsite exposure information.
Mesothelioma Treatment
Mesothelioma TreatmentOnce an individual has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the next step is to discuss mesothelioma treatment options with his/her physician. Recent scientific research has produced significant breakthroughs with regard to treatment protocols for mesothelioma patients and more options are now available for managing mesothelioma and supporting improved quality of life. Newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients always have many questions about the treatment options that would be most effective for them, including those about new treatment therapies like Alimta® and Cisplatin and other chemotherapy drugs. In addition to these newer drugs that are being used to treat asbestos cancer, mesothelioma patients also have a number of "conventional" treatment options to consider, including mesothelioma chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.
Mesothelioma clinical trials and experimental treatments are still other options that some mesothelioma patients may be eligible to participate in. Our site features a comprehensive mesothelioma cancer treatment section that includes important information for patients and families. We've included resources on top mesothelioma doctors such as Dr. Sugarbaker, as well as a comprehensive list of questions that you may wish to discuss with your personal physician when preparing a mesothelioma treatment plan. We are always providing new and informative resources regarding mesothelioma treatment including: Clinical Trials, conventional treatments, experimental therapies, as well as alternative mesothelioma treatment options. Check back often for the most recent advances in mesothelioma treatments.
Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos ExposureAsbestos exposure is the single known cause of mesothelioma. Inhaled or ingested asbestos fibers may cause an inflammation of internal tissue and disrupt organ function which leads to the development of mesothelioma. Asbestos products were used extensively throughout the 20th century in a wide variety of applications. Many of these products were responsible for asbestos exposure sustained by both the individuals who manufactured the products as well as those who used them at commercial and industrial jobsites including shipyards, refineries, power plants, steel plants and more. Several asbestos companies continued to produce these products even after they were known to be hazardous and harmful to workers and their families. Those who have become sick with mesothelioma because of exposure to these products may now be eligible for financial compensation if they were wrongfully exposed.
Asbestos was also used at many New York jobsites including Ground Zero and the former World Trade Center site. Common asbestos exposure sites in New York include the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Todd Shipyard, and the Con Edison power plant in New York City.
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