Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma or testicular mesothelioma, any of the above could be called epithelial mesothelioma. When the asbestos particles reach the mesothelium around the organs and get stuck to the lining cells and fail to breakdown the result is epithelial mesothelioma.

Epithelial mesothelioma begins to aggravate very early after the asbestos exposure, but due to a very long latency period from a minimum of twenty years to maximum sixty years the diagnosis in most cases never happen and if in case diagnosed tends to be staged at stage 3 or stage 4.

The symptoms arise only when the tumor becomes big enough and presses the organs. The oncologists recommend diagnosis procedure when the initial pain does not subside commendably.

To confirm epithelial mesothelioma a lump or mass of tissues is to be identified in the X-ray. A biopsy extract of the tissue or the fluid collection should be examined by the pathologist to confirm the disease.

After the diagnosis the patient could take up a curative treatment(that basically slows down the pace in which the cancer ) or a palliative treatment which mainly targets in improving the comfort level of the patient and that basically makes it easy for the patient to live with the disease.

Peritoneal mesothelioma contributes to about fifty percent of the diagnosed mesothelioma cases. To be to the point it’s quite a scarcely occurring disease. The tumors could be malignant (which are dangerous) or benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma tumors (which could be ignored).

The condition when the cancer starts to develop is called the Primary peritoneal mesothelioma when the first tumor starts to develop. Detection at this stage could be treated by

• Chemotherapy in the peritoneal area

• Surgical removal of the tumor

• External radiation therapy

• Usage of cytoreduction drugs which target only the cancer cells

In case the cancer is advanced and not primary then the diagnosis becomes complicated as the symptoms resemble some other disease indication as well. Peritoneal mesothelioma treatment procedures demand the patients to be under constant medical scrutiny during the treatment as the doctors decide the dosage and the subsequent treatment steps based on the response from the patient.

One advantage of peritoneal mesothelioma is that most cases are benign. Peritoneal mesothelioma patients have to be very careful about what they eat and it’s extremely important that they quit smoking.

Pericardial mesothelioma is by far the rarest form of mesothelioma. The major cause is due to asbestos. The minute asbestos particles act like needles piercing the mesothelium lining around the heart leading to inflammation. These tissues are called scar tissues and they keep aggravating till Here the lining around the heart is affected leading to tumor formation around the heart.

Surgery is generally a not very much preferred treatment option in case of pericardial mesothelioma. Other treatment options include chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Asbestos cancer in the heart lining could also be treated by means of alternative medicines like homeopathy, acupuncture, ayurvedha and siddha. All these approaches aim at improving the living standard of a pericardial mesothelioma victim but complete cure is very rare. Also the treatment options and the prognosis depend on the patient, age, the mesothelioma stage and the health of the patient.

The general symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma are

• Heart palpitation

• Tiredness

• Chest pain

• Heart specific issues

Immediate medical care is very mandatory in case of pericardial mesothelioma as the disease has a tendency to spread fast.

Pleural mesothelioma is by far the most common mesothelioma types that target the lungs. The infection starts from the serous membrane of the lungs and is basically malignant, which means it could spread to all parts of the body. Asbestos is mostly the cause of this cancer like any other mesothelioma type. Presence of asbestos particles in the body is synonymous to high risk of pleural mesothelioma.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma poses a very serious problem in diagnosis as there are no specific symptoms. The symptoms are quite generic like

• Wheezing

• Breathing difficulties

• Chest pain

• Dry Cough

• Short Breaths

• Talking difficulties

Immediate treatment is much recommended for the patient in case of pleural mesothelioma. The most advisable treatment procedure for pleural mesothelioma is a radiation therapy combined with surgery, though a number of other options are available as well like photodynamic therapy or palliative medication.

Generally oncologists don’t recommend surgical procedures for pleural mesothelioma as the patient might not be able to withstand it when the disease is staged as stage three or stage four.

Alternative medicine is also a good approach for treating this malignant pleural mesothelioma as these procedures focus on rejuvenation of mind and body and relieve the victim off the strain of undergoing the clinical treatment.

Gene therapy is the procedure where the patient’s genes that are the root cause are mutated to fight the cancer cells. The modified cells destroy any cancer cell they encounter. These altered genes are placed directly in the cancer tumor by way of surgical procedures where the suicide genes start their destructive action.

The gene therapy procedure steps are as below

• A duct is placed in the chest cavity

• A syringe is placed in this duct to facilitate infusion of the killer cells in the tumor

• Cytokine protein rich cells are infused in the tumor with the help of the syringe

• The suicide cells are killing the mesothelioma cells instantly when encountering them.

The therapy could be a knockout or replacement type.

In knockout gene therapy the genes that cause the cancer cells are attacked and thus the cancer cells generation is checked.

In replacement therapy the genetic change that has triggered the cancer is identified and the focus is on repairing the mutation that has happened.

A mesothelioma thoracoscopy surgery is required to perform the procedure as a chest implant is to be formed. The procedure is basically risk free and the recovery is also quite rapid.