What is pleural mesothelioma?
Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer that develops in cells that form the outer lining of the lungs and the inner lining of the chest cavities. It is the most common type of mesothelioma.
The cause of pleural mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. It usually takes 20 to 50 years for a person to develop mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos. Due to this latency period, the disease usually affects people over 75 years of age.
Early symptoms of malignant pleural mesothelioma include chest pain and shortness of breath. You may not experience any symptoms in the early stages of cancer progression.
The average life expectancy for pleural mesothelioma is often less than 18 months, but it depends on many factors.
Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, some patients live longer with treatment. A combination of several treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, have helped some people survive for years. Clinical trials provide access to new treatments such as immunotherapy.
Pleural mesothelioma facts
Symptoms: shortness of breath, chest pain, dry cough and fatigue
Diagnostic Tools: Imaging Scan and Tissue Biopsy
Treatment: chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and experimental therapy
Life expectancy: About 40 percent live at least one year
How does asbestos Pleasure cause mesothelioma?
Asbestos causes pleural mesothelioma. After inhaling the fibers like mineral needles, they move into the lungs and slowly move to the pleural lining.
Over a long period of time, these fibers undergo irritation, chronic inflammation, and genetic changes that make the cells cancerous.
These cancer cells grow rapidly and uncontrollably, threatening their surrounding organs.
Two layers form the pleura. The outer layer covers the lungs inside the chest cavity (inside the ribs) and the entire layer.
A malignant tumor can develop on either layer and quickly spread to another layer. As the tumor develops on the pleural surface, they grow to form a mass around the affected lung. They also cause pleural fluid to accumulate in the chest cavity.
The combination of tumor mass on the lung and the collection of pleural fluid prevents the lungs from expanding, making breathing difficult.
How is plueral mesothelioma diagnosis?
The diagnostic process for mesothelioma begins when a doctor evaluates the initial symptoms. Chest pain and difficulty breathing warrant a chest X-ray, which reveals fluid buildup or tumors around a lung. The patient should be referred to a specialist for further testing.
Experts should use advanced imaging scans and tissue biopsies to confirm a pleural mesothelioma diagnosis. In addition to identifying cancer, determining the stage and cell type of cancer is important to create an effective treatment plan.
Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma:-
For many people, the symptoms of mesothelioma are not noticeable until the cancer is at a later stage.
Shortness of breath
Chest pain or painful breathing
Frequent dry or juicy cough
coughing up blood
difficulty swallowing
Pain in lower back or rib area
Unexplained weight loss and fatigue
Swelling of face or arms
Night sweats or fever
Lumps under the skin on the chest
Patients rarely mention weight loss and fatigue during their initial physician visit. These symptoms may show whether the cancer has advanced. Some patients have swelling of the face or arms, backache or nerve pain.
Treatment of pleural mesothelioma
The most common puffed mesothelioma treatment is the chemistry of the treatment patients. The initial diagnosed patients can qualify for the combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These treatments can improve symptoms, such as difficulty in pain and breathing in the chest, and improve the survival. With treatment, patients are long lived for long, sometimes, they are able to live in the past cancer centers across the country, which can be done in the treatment of top treatment centers.
Surgery
Cytoreductive surgery is a treatment option for early stage patients. A common procedure, pulmonary-pathology or radical pulmonary disease, involves the removal of tumors and affecting the pleura. A more aggressive surgical option, extrafloral pneumonectomy, removes the lungs, the entire cancerous lung, the diaphragm, and the heart sac, also known as the pericardium.
The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer and prevent it from recurring for as long as possible, hopefully, from several months to years.
Chemotherapy
The most common mesothelioma treatment is chemotherapy. It uses one or more drugs to kill or prevent cancer cells from proliferating. Recent progress has improved how well patients respond to chemotherapy, but the success rate is overall low.
radiation therapy
Targeted radiation can destroy cancer cells and reduce tumor size. Radiation therapy may not cure pleural mesothelioma, but it is an effective way to manage chest pain. Radiation may also help prevent the recurrence of cancer after surgery.
clinical trials
A clinical trial is a research study to test a new treatment strategy or technology. You may be able to voluntarily receive an experimental therapy to be included in a clinical trial.
Emerging cancer therapies such as immunotherapy, gene therapy and photodynamic therapy are designed to fight cancer while causing fewer side effects for the patient.
immunotherapy
Immunotherapy has caused much excitement in the cancer community. This class of drugs activates a patient's own immune system against their cancer. Mesothelioma specialists are testing several immunotherapy drugs that are already officially approved for other types of cancer.
Tags:-mesothelioma,
malignant mesothelioma,
pleural mesothelioma,
malignant pleural mesothelioma survival rate,
mesothelioma cancer,mesothelioma symptoms,
symptoms of pleural
0 Comments