Mesothelioma - an Asbestos Related Lung Cancer
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer located in the lining of either the lungs, abdomen or the heart. These linings are thin layers of tissue covering the organ.
The pleura is the tissue covering the lungs and the wall of the chest cavity which cushions and protects the lungs. The peritoneum lines the abdominal wall and surrounds most of the organs in the abdomen. The pericardium is the tissue surrounding the heart.
Mesothelioma is a rare but very serious cancer. There are three types of mesothelioma based on the types of cancerous cells. The most common type is epithelioid and consists of 50-70% of total cases and has the best prognosis. The second type is called sarcomatoid, consists of 10-20 % of mesothelioma cases and is more unpredictable in nature. The third type of mesothelioma is called biphasic, it is a combination of the other two types and consists of 20-35% of all cases.
There are an estimated 2000-3000 new cases of mesothelioma in the United States every year. The majority of these cases begin in the chest wall (pleural mesothelioma), a few start in the abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma) and very rare are the cases starting in the lining surrounding the heart (pericardial mesothelioma).
The pleura is a thin lining of mesothelial cells. There are two pleuras in the chest, the parietal pleura and the visceral pleura. The parietal pleura lines the chest wall including the inside of the ribs, diaphragm and pericardium. The visceral pleura covers the lungs and filters fluid to and from the chest. If the pleura becomes diseases it is not effective at eliminating fluid from the chest resulting in pleural effusion or too much fluid in the chest.
Mesothelioma is usually the result of exposure to asbestos. Most people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma have had jobs where they breathed asbestos fibers. It may take up to 60 years from the time of asbestos exposure until mesothelioma develops.
Although rare, mesothelioma is a serious form of cancer which is often in its advanced stage when a diagnosis is made. In general, prognosis for mesothelioma patient is poor, however, some patients live with the disease for a long time. As mentioned earlier, the type of mesothelioma has an impact on the prognosis, as well as, the age of the patient, how much tumor has developed and if treatment is rendered. There are many variables in evaluating a mesothelioma case, so only the patients doctor can determine the best treatment and possible prognosis on an individual basis.
Jill Kane provides useful information and resources regarding mesothelioma and asbestos at http://www.mesothelioma-101.org
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Mesothelioma: What is it? Mesothelioma is a malignant cancerous disease of the cells lining the patient's body cavities such as chest, abdominal region or the area surrounding the heart. It is thought to be associated with exposure to asbestos, and this asbestos association has been documented in 70-80% of all mesothelioma cases. Asbestos cancer or mesothelioma is very difficult to assess and diagnose consistently. The time between exposure and the onset of the disease, and the rate of progression of malignant mesothelioma, make diagnosis very difficult.
Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma cancer. A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos.
Since the late 1800's Asbestos has been mined and used commercially. The use of Asbestos dramatically increased during World War II and since the early 1940's millions of Americans have been exposed to asbestos dust working within industries where initally the risks were not known. There has been widespread exposure to Asbestos by workers within shipyards, mines and mills, producers of asbestos products, workers in the heating and construction industries, and other tradespeople and an increase risk of deveolping mesothelioma has been the result. .
Cancer is a disease in which certain body cells don't function right, divide very fast and produce too much tissue that forms a tumor. A leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women is probably lung cancer. This is the number one cause of cancer deaths surpassing breast cancer as the leading cause of deaths in women. Cancers that begin in the lungs are divided into two major types, the non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer depending on how the cells look under a microscope.
Mesothelioma attorneys It is very important to work with specialized mesothelioma attorneys. They specialize in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits based on exposure of asbestos and other related asbestos lawsuit cases.
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It is documented that Australia had the highest per capita use of asbestos in the world from the 1950's until the 1970's. As a tragic consequence, Australia now has the highest per capita incidence of mesothelioma in the world. With more than 500 Australians contracting mesothelioma per year, it is estimated that up to 18,000 Australians will die from this asbestos related cancer by the year 2020.
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An exciting new treatment that has given hope to mesothelioma victims is called gene therapy. Gene therapy attempts to decipher why proteins within certain cells cause them to be resilient to cancer while some cells do not. A while back it was believed that genes were complete upon birth, and that they couldn't affect conditions afflicted during life. This however, turned out to not be the case. Since then we have learned that smoking, sunlight and certain foods can all affect our DNA and make changes to our genetic code. These new insights provided by these conditions have allowed doctors to view many conditions like malignant mesothelioma in a new light.
Malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the sac lining the chest (the pleura) or abdomen (the peritoneum). Most people with malignant mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they breathed asbestos.
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