What are the different types of mesothelioma?

The different types of mesothelioma are: Pleural mesothelioma Peritoneal mesothelioma Pericardial mesothelioma Testicular mesothelioma

What is the most common cause of mesothelioma?

The most common cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. More than 80 percent of pleural mesothelioma patients and up to half of peritoneal mesothelioma patients have a known history of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos is a mineral that was used for many years across a wide variety of industries due to its stability and resistance to heat. It tends to break easily into fibers, which can be extremely tiny—so tiny that they can’t be seen, felt or even smelled when they’re suspended in the air.

What are symptoms of pleural mesothelioma?

Patients with pleural mesothelioma may experience symptoms such as: Shortness of breath Chest pain Cough Difficulty swallowing Hoarseness of the voice Unexplained weight loss Night sweats and/or fever Similar symptoms can be caused by other respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, COPD (emphysema), asthma, and lung cancer.

What are symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma?

Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma may have symptoms such as: Nausea and/or vomiting Abdominal pain Diarrhea Constipation Swelling of the abdomen Unexplained weight loss Night sweats and/or fever There are a number of other digestive conditions that can cause similar symptoms, including Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer.

How is mesothelioma diagnosed?

The diagnosis of mesothelioma generally involves several different steps, including imaging studies, a biopsy and sometimes blood tests.

What are the different mesothelioma cell types?

The three main mesothelioma cell types are: Epithelioid Sarcomatoid Biphasic

How do you determine the stage of pleural mesothelioma?

For pleural mesothelioma, there’s a formally defined staging system called the TNM staging system, which characterizes the cancer by the size of the tumor, spread to lymph nodes and metastasis (spread to distant parts of the body).

How do you determine the stage of peritoneal mesothelioma?

For peritoneal mesothelioma, there isn’t a formal staging system. One common method uses a modified version of the TNM system. To classify the tumor size, this system uses the peritoneal cancer index (PCI), which is determined by scoring the amount of cancer present in each of 13 different regions of the abdomen, for a maximum score of 39.

What is the prognosis for mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer. Without treatment, the average life expectancy is about four to six months. For those who receive treatment, pleural mesothelioma patients have a median survival of 15 to 22 months, depending on the stage of the cancer at the time of diagnosis. For peritoneal mesothelioma patients who receive CRS-HIPEC (a combination of surgery and chemotherapy), median survival rates of 34 to 92 months have been reported.

What are the treatment options for pleural mesothelioma?

Although the prognosis for this cancer tends to be relatively poor overall, there are treatments available that can potentially extend life for some patients. These include: Tumor-removing surgery Chemotherapy Radiation therapy Immunotherapy Tumor-treating fields (TTF)

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare and serious cancer that affects the mesothelium, or lining, of various organs. You are at risk of developing this cancer if you have been exposed to asbestos. There is a 20-40 year latency between exposure and cancer development. Every year, there are approximately 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma in the United States.

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Mesothelioma is a unique disease that affects the lining of either the lung or the lining of the abdominal cavity. Mesothelial cells are a very special kind of cell. The way we’re made, if we normally inhale and exhale, we generally aren’t supposed to feel pain; if we did not have the mesothelial lining, we would. What would happen is our lungs would rub against our rib cage, but because of this lining we’ve got, it’s like an oily Saran wrap; it allows the lung to increase and expand, and decrease, and it allows this movement without it rubbing the rib cage.

Now, that lining, those cells, are the ones that become cancerous in mesothelioma, and it makes it a very difficult disease to treat. I told you that the mesothelial cells, that this lining is see-through like Saran wrap; that’s because it doesn’t really have a blood supply to it. Blood supply makes tissue: red, blue, and other things; this is one where, as a result of no blood supply, it’s really difficult to treat. You can’t really take chemicals like you can for chemotherapy, in a normal way, to treat this. So mesothelioma is a very difficult disease to find any relief from, and it’s a disease that’s not really affecting the lung itself directly, but is doing so indirectly by affecting the lining of the lung or the lining of the abdominal cavity.

KEY FACTS

3,000

approximate number of new mesothelioma cases per year in the U.S.

20 million

people in the U.S. are at risk of developing mesothelioma at some point in their lives

80%

of all cases are pleural mesothelioma which occurs in the lining of the lungs

20-40 years+

latency period between asbestos exposure and potential development of mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive type of cancer that occurs in the mesothelium, which is a type of membrane that lines certain organs of the body. The primary risk factor for developing mesothelioma cancer is asbestos exposure. Without treatment, the average life expectancy is only a few months. Treatment can extend this in certain patients, but mesothelioma is still considered incurable, and long-term remission is very rare.