Mesothelioma is a very rare form of cancer that involves the connective tissues around the human body’s internal organs. There is a presence and development of tumor when a person is diagnosed with mesothelioma. It has been established that the disease is caused only by exposure to asbestos, a construction material widely used in the past for insulation.

Epithelial malignant mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma. It is estimated that globally, about 50% to 70% of all diagnosed mesothelioma are categorized as epithelial malignant mesothelioma.

It is because epithelial malignant mesothelioma is caused by inhalation of very tiny asbestos particles. The other form of mesothelioma, sarcomatoid malignant mesothelioma, occurs in the lining of the abdomen and is caused by ingestion, which is not very likely to occur.

What is epithelial malignant mesothelioma?

Epithelial malignant mesothelioma occurs when there is significant accumulation of asbestos fibers in the mesothelia tissue surrounding the chest and the lungs. That is why most common symptoms of this cancer include pain in either side of the chest, cough, fever, fatigue and shortness of breath.

Because it is a form of cancer, epithelial malignant mesothelioma also causes significant body weight loss and sometimes blood discharges. The disease could also affect other organs of the body, not just the lungs. That is why diagnosis of epithelial malignant mesothelioma usually takes time.

Asbestos is disintegrative in nature. That means, when exposed to air in the surroundings, the substance can break down into very small and invisible fibers, which come and go with the air. Problem is, people can inhale air with asbestos fibers.

If you have been exposed to asbestos for about a month or two, chances are much greater that you would be diagnosed with mesothelioma. But that would not take place until after about 30 t0 50 years. That is because mesothelioma has a very long latency or development period.

It could be a form of consolation that epithelial malignant mesothelioma has a greater prognosis, or rate of survival among patients, than the other type of mesothelioma. However, if the patient is not able to successfully recover from this specific cancer, he would be able to live only up to a year in maximum.

Legal cases

You may have probably heard or read over the news that most of the epithelial malignant mesothelioma patients worldwide are filing cases against the companies that exposed them to asbestos. From Africa, where asbestos mining has been widespread, to the United States, up until down under to Australia, asbestos and construction companies have been aggressively defending themselves against mesothelioma claims.

People who have been put at risk to developing epithelial malignant mesothelioma are very diverse and include miners and construction workers. Even office employees and ordinary people who are working or are usually inside premises that have asbestos as insulators are also at much risk to developing the disease.

Lawyers and complainants to existing cases argue that the asbestos firms should compensate people affected with the cancer because if not for the asbestos exposure, those people would not have contracted the disease in the first place.

Every one has the right to seek for compensation for any distraction or health hazard health hazard caused by anyone. There is no reason why epithelial malignant mesothelioma patients would not do the same.

After all, asbestos companies have profited heavily on asbestos production and use through the years. It is time they pay for their own doings.

How to avoid epithelial malignant mesothelioma

Of course, prevention against epithelial malignant mesothelioma would basically involve not exposing yourself to asbestos. It would not be a problem nowadays because almost all construction firms have already ceased to use asbestos as insulators since the 1980s.

However, you should determine if your place or building has asbestos in it. Usually, the material is present inside walls. If there are asbestos in your place, do not fret. The asbestos would not disintegrate unless exposed to air so, immediately report to the building administrator if there are breakage in your walls and if there are possible asbestos insulators in it.

Lung cancer is a most significant disease after the age of fifty. Much more widespread in men than in women, its incidence rate is growing faster than any other type of cancer. The cause remains unidentified but remarkable evidence points to tobacco’s guiltiness, even if automobile exhaust fumes and other gases are powerfully suspected as well. Cancer in the lung frequently starts with a blameless cough which might be dry or productive of blood streaked sputum. The likely, perceptible difficulties are wheezing, hoarseness, pain in the chest, and weight loss, all signifying the potential presence of a serious disease.

Sometimes the initial sign of lung cancer is pneumonia, with fever. There might also be a cough with yellow sputum when the tumor closes a bronchial tube and infection expands behind the blockage. If a tumor extends directly from the lung into the tissues of the chest wall, it might lead to pain.

In view of the fact that lung cancer can typically be seen on the X-ray film, a chest X-ray is one of the first tests you will have. As with most types of X-ray pictures, a chest X-ray brings about no discomfort. But even if a tumor is not seen, the chest X-ray may offer other clues to the diagnosis, such as pneumonia in the lung.

Your doctor might want you to have a chest X-ray even though the diagnosis is already obvious. The intention is to be able to evaluate it with previous and later X-rays, to follow your progress and observe for likely changes in the lung tissue. It is significant for your doctor to realize whether the cancer is developing, or whether it is responding to treatment and shrinking.

Symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma are similar to other forms of mesothelioma, although its rarity has made it difficult for specialists to determine a specific set of common symptoms. Heart palpitations are more common with this form of mesothelioma than with the others. Additionally, patients may experience difficulty breathing, fever, and cough.

Diagnosis of pericardial mesothelioma is problematic, as the nature of its symptoms is relatively non-specific, in that they can appear as a result of several other cardiac conditions. Unfortunately for most patients, by the time symptoms of the disease appear, the cancer has progressed to a stage where conventional treatments are largely ineffective for anything other than providing temporary relief of symptoms.

As a direct consequence of the difficulties in definitively diagnosing pericardial mesothelioma, and the fact that it is usually only minimally symptomatic until its advanced stages, the prognosis for patients is very poor, with a mean survival time of only six months following diagnosis.

Mesothelioma occurs when the cells of the mesothelium, a two-layer lining of the internal organs, become abnormal and attack the organ or spread to other parts of the body. There are three malignant types of mesothelioma:

· Pleural: This form originates in the chest cavity and may involve the lungs. It is difficult to detect and most often spreads to other parts of the body. It is the most common type, responsible for approximately 70 percent of mesothelioma diagnoses. The survival rate is 17 months after symptoms commence for 92% percent of victims.

· Peritoneal: The type begins in the abdomen cavity lining and advances to the liver, spleen and bowels. The survival prognosis is ten months after symptoms appear. About one-quarter of all mesothelioma cases are peritoneal.

· Pericardial: This manifestation involves the lining of the heart. Eventually the cancer progresses until the heart cannot deliver oxygen to the body. It is the rarest form and accounts for approximately 5 percent of all cases.

Benign mesothelioma is a separate form of mesothelioma where a non-cancerous, non-spreading tumor develops and invokes symptoms similar to those of malignant forms of mesothelioma. Extensive testing is required to differentiate between malignant and benign. Benign mesothelioma occurs in less than 10 percent of all cases.

Mesothelioma lies dormant in the body’s system for a substantially long period of time, typically between 20 and 50 years, before symptoms begin. The age at the time of exposure, levels of exposure and duration of exposure are all risk factors. Young workers with high levels of exposure over many years are at greatest risk. People that fall within this category are more likely to die from one of asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.

Asbestos exposure still exists in our environment today. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates 700,000 buildings, including schools, in the United States contain asbestos insulation.

A jury in Baltimore recently awarded a mesothelioma victim $1.178 million in compensation. The Plaintiff was exposed to asbestos during the 1960s and ’70s.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos and diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is imperative you seek legal advice from a knowledgeable attorney as soon as possible.

First documented by the ancient Greeks, they acknowledged the valuable properties of the substance whilst also being moderately conscious of the hazards. ‘Strabo’ a Greek geographer became conscious of the significant persistent lung damage of slaves who worked with the material, mining it and weaving it into cloth.

Wealthy Persians, Greeks and Romans used asbestos for tablecloths and garments; they would often exhibit to guests how the material could be cleaned in fire. This became a trendy status symbol as a number of cultures believed the material was made of the coat of a fire dwelling animal known as a ‘Samandar’.

By the 19th century Asbestos had become commercially exploited as it provided many properties unobtainable from other materials. It was used in fireproofing, bricks, pipe insulation and roofing to name a few and its uses were not limited to buildings. Ships were commonly fitted with the material as insulation and fireproofing, particularly during WWII.

In the early 1900s, researchers noticed elevated death rates and lung diseases in asbestos mining areas and by the 1930s scientists had officially diagnosed sufferers of ‘asbestosis’ and ‘Mesothelioma‘ with a direct link to the exposure to asbestos.

By the year 2000 all production and use of all kinds of asbestos was banned and by November 2006 the UK government had introduced a strict regulations aimed at minimising contact with the material. The legislations ban the use of the material but also provide strict guidelines on how to manage existing asbestos.

The pleura consists of two layers which support and safeguard the lungs and chest cavity that include the outer layer (parietal layer) that connects the whole chest cavity and the diaphragm, and the inner layer (visceral layer), which spans over the lungs. The disease normally develops in one of the aforementioned layers, but can spread to the other layer. Akin to other mesothelioma malignancy, pleural mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure.

Symptoms

When asbestos fibers get trapped inside the body and trigger the initiation of the cancer process, we typically see in a first phase a thickening of the pleural membrane layers (pleural thickening) that is specifically caused by the accumulation of fluids. Eventually, the amount of fluid that build over up over the cource of time will impair the respiratory system which results in complications to breathe normally.

Listed below are some of the symptoms of pleural mesothelioma:

• Constant dry cough

• Coughing up blood

• Difficulty in swallowing

• Shortness of breath that occurs even while at rest

• Continuous pain in the rib area or chest, or excruciating pain while breathing

• Swelling under the skin on the chest

• Night sweats or fever

• Inexplicable weight loss

• Fatigue

Diagnosis

Pleural mesothelioma is not easy to detect since symptoms do not typically occur timely after the initial asbestos exposure. A diagnosis is done on the basis of a biopsy, which is eventually necessary to verify the presence of a mass. Following a medical record evaluation and physical exams, patients have to usually go through a number of medical procedures like imaging tests that includes CT scans or x-rays to verify the location of the tumor. A patient is also likely to undergo tissue and fluid tests, also known as biopsies, to determine the type and grade of the cancer.

Treatments

Continuous progress in the development of new drugs and discovery methods give hope for patients that were diagnosed with this health condition. In view of the fact that this type of cancer is the most commonly diagnosed kind of mesothelioma, the available treatment options for pleural mesothelioma are more advanced and optimized than those available for other types of this illness.

The three typically used pleural mesothelioma treatments are the following:

Surgery – to remove the primary mesothelioma tumor and in close proximity tissues that surround cancer cells then attempt to control or halt tumor growth. Typically done in combination with radiation or chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy – a conventional pleural mesothelioma treatment that makes use of anticancer chemicals to try to destroy cancerous cells.

Radiation therapy – otherwise known as “radiotherapy” which entails the restricted utilization of high-dose radiation to the pleural mesothelioma cancer tumors. This process works by targeting the mesothelioma cancer cells in the treated area.

When thinking of treating Mesothelioma three things need to be looked at: the progression of the disease, position of the cancer, its age and the state of wellness of the patient.

Doctor who specializes in the treatment of such disease should be contacted and such doctors are called an oncologist and he will determine the line of treatment as it hard to treat it and in most cases the prognosis is poor.

Listed below are the 10 ways to treat this disease:

1. Using Interleukin 2 also known as biological therapy

2. Aggressive treatment like radiation in combination with surgical operation is prescribed for mesothelioma patients in order to control symptoms palliatively. Applying this sort of process could be life-threatening as traditional radiation therapy harms surrounding healthy tissue but research is ongoing on using radiation therapy using implants or Ultraviolet light.

3. Correction of the gene sequence that causes cancer known as Gene therapy. Replacement and knockout gene therapy are the two major types.

4. To get rid of all cancerous tissues, surgical operation may be applied and this is recommended if the diagnosis is done in the early stages. Occasionally, palliative operations e.g. thoracoscopy and pleurodesis, pleuroperitonial shunt, chest tube drainage and pleurodesis or pleurectomy could be advice by the doctor as these treat the symptoms of mesothelioma instead of the disease.

5. During the surgical removal of cancerous tissues, photosensitive medication is activated using a laser. This kind of treatment is known as photodynamic treatment.

6. Chemotherapy is another alternative applied and about 12-20% of patients respond to the anti-cancer drugs which destroy cancer cells and prevent their spread. As effective as this could be for cancer patients, chemotherapy is not considered to be a remedy for mesothelioma but it is aim at preventing the spread of the disease. Before surgery, this helps to shrink the tumor which is known as neoadjuvant therapy. Also, to relive the patient from any anguish and irritation by wiping out any remains of the tumor in the body after surgery. Doctors recommend premetrexed with cisplastin as they are now the standard care for mesothelioma as these drugs have shown positive results even with mesothelioma not treatable by surgery.

7. Use a cholesterol depressing drug like Lovastatin

8. Use of biological response modifiers which helps to stimulate the body’s own immune system to combat the disease and this is also known as immunotherapy. This sort of treatment helps to regulate metabolic reactions that promote growth of cancer, prevent spread of cancer, block or reverse processes that lead to formation of cancer, alter cancer cell division and ultimately enhance the functions of the immune system.

9. For patients who have unrestrained fluid accumulation and acute discomfort stemming from it, fluid accumulation prevention is executed and this is done by the introduction of medicinal drug into the cavity by draining the fluid in the chest or abdominal cavity.

10. Use of surgery followed by radiation and chemotherapy. This is also called Trimodal therapy. There are other types of treatment which focus on the patient’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.

Asbestos is the name for a group of minerals

Asbestos is the name for a group of minerals which naturally occur in nature. The tough, flexible fibers can be woven into a variety of materials typically used in industrial products. Serious health problems can be caused when small particles of the material become airborne and are inhaled or swallowed. Exposure to asbestos can cause other health concerns such as increased risk for lung cancer, asbestosis (non-cancerous lung ailment), and larynx and kidney cancers. Smoking doesn’t appear to increase the risk of contracting Mesothelioma. There is a significant increase in risk of contracting cancer of the air passageways in the lungs, for those who are exposed to asbestos and who smoke in combination, however.

The mesothelium is the protective sac

The mesothelium is the protective sac that covers the majority of the body’s internal organs. It has two cellular layers: one layer surrounds the organ immediately; the other forms a sac around the organ. This is where lubricating fluid is released allowing the organ to easily glide against adjacent structures. Mesothelioma is the cancer of the mesothelium. It occurs when the cells of the mesothelium divide abnormally in an uncontrolled manner. If the cancer cells metastasize from the original site, the invasion can spread to nearby organs and tissues. Most cases initiate in the pleura which surrounds the lungs and lines the chest cavity.

There has been an increase in the number of cases reported

There has been an increase in the number of cases reported in the last twenty years. Yet Mesothelioma is rare relatively speaking. There are around 2,000 cases reported every year in the United States. It occurs less frequently in women than men and the risks increase as you age. This disease can however, appear in both men and women at any age. The major risk factor that contributes to Mesothelioma is working with asbestos. This is the case in seventy to eighty percent of the cases reported. Some individuals have reported having the disease who has never known to be exposed to asbestos.

• Shortness of breath and pain – When walking or climbing stairs your breath is short and inhalation is difficult and pain is present under the rib cage.

• Fluid in the lungs or abdomen – Excess fluid in the abdomen or in the lungs causing an unusual cough.

• Lumps in the abdomen- unusual or newly developed lumps in the abdomen area

• Losing weight for an unknown reason

Any or all of these signs are reason enough to visit your physician

Any or all of these signs are reason enough to visit your physician to get a complete physical. It is much better to be safe than sorry with this disease. Do not wait, get a physical today and make sure that your life will not end on an oxygen tank and so weak you cannot leave your bed. Your life does not have to end this way, so get your physical today and make sure your body is not being invaded by Mesothelioma cancer.

Government regulation of asbestos

Government regulation in the US concerning the use of asbestos is slowing the incidence of the development of Mesothelioma in the US, but it does not stop companies in other parts of the world to continue placing their employees at risk for this awful disease. Only international regulation of this compound will finally slow and eventually stop the rate of increase in the cases of Mesothelioma cancer.

Some of the symptoms of mesothelioma cancer are

1. Pain and discomfort in the chest wall.

2. Accumulation of fluids in the cavity surrounding the lungs.

3. Breath gets shortened

4. Anemia.

5. Cough associated with wheezing and in some cases-hoarseness.

There are several other symptoms of this cancer and mesothelioma cancer affects different parts of the body and so the symptoms are also different in various cases. In some body parts patients also develop tumor masses due to disease and this affects the body very poorly. In some severe cases of mesothelioma patients can also suffer from jaundice, low blood sugar level, blood clots in veins, lungs and arteries.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer is very difficult because its symptoms are very common to other disease. Generally patient’s medical history helps a lot in finding the disease and for this purpose chest scan and lung functional test id performed to check the conditions of lungs and chest. The chest ray exam reveals the internal report of the patient that whether the patient was exposed to asbestos or not. For different organ different tests are performed to identify the disease as epithelium cancer can be found in any organ in the human body.

Treatment

Mesothelioma cancer is a very rare cancer and it can be treated in different ways, some of the treatments are stated below:

Surgery – surgery in these types of cancers are not very useful and in many cases it has failed. But still if surgery is combined with chemotherapy and radiation, it is quite successful. The chest lining can be removed with the help of surgery but the lung lining is very hard to remove.

Radiation – radiation is for those patients who can tolerate the radiation therapy and some of the major reasons for the success of radiation therapy are that it has cured many of the patients and extended their life by more than 5 years. Radiation mixed with chemotherapy is more useful rather than lone radiation. Many doctors and hospitals use radiation and chemotherapy for treating the patients suffering from mesothelioma cancer.

Chemotherapy – chemotherapy is the only known treatment which has shown tremendous results on mesothelioma cancer and it has significantly shown signs of recovery in patients. Different patients who have gone through chemotherapy treatment has shown a good recovery and their life gets increased by more than a year. Chemotherapy so far is the only treatments which can temporary cure mesothelioma patients.

Immunotherapy – this is the therapy where a patient’s immune system is supplied with certain boosts so that they can prevent the cancer. This treatment has shown some positive side regarding the treatment but the practice of immunology was suspended as patients suffer from heavy side effects due to this treatment.

Many peoples have died because of this disease and many are still suffering from these cancer. Researchers are still trying to find a permanent cure to this cancer.. Mesothelioma cancer is a very rare case but still it is very dangerous and there is no permanent cure for this disease. Some of the developed countries like U.S. are constantly trying to find a permanent cure but it seems a bit tough job for the doctors to find a permanent cure. But still mesothelioma cancer patients can live a bit longer by the available treatments. Please Check with your doctor for the best course of action in a particular case.