Malignant Mesothelioma

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Malignant Mesothelioma

Malignant Mesothelioma

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.

A doctor should be seen if a person has shortness of breath, pain in the chest, or pain or swelling in the abdomen. If there are symptoms, the doctor may order an x-ray of the chest or abdomen.

The doctor may look inside the chest cavity with a special instrument called a thoracoscope. A cut will be made through the chest wall and the thoracoscope will be put into the chest between two ribs. This test, called thoracoscopy, is usually done in the hospital. Before the test, the patient will be given a local anesthetic (a drug that causes a loss of feeling for a short period of time). Some pressure may be felt, but usually there is no pain.

The doctor may also look inside the abdomen (peritoneoscopy) with a special tool called a peritoneoscope. The peritoneoscope is put into an opening made in the abdomen. This test is also usually done in the hospital. Before the test is done, a local anesthetic will be given.

If tissue that is not normal is found, the doctor will need to cut out a small piece and have it looked at under a microscope to see if there are any cancer cells. This is called a biopsy. Biopsies are usually done during the thoracoscopy or peritoneoscopy.

The chance of recovery (prognosis) depends on the size of the cancer, where the cancer is, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope, how the cancer responds to treatment, and the patient's age.

Malignant Mesothelioma Treatment

There are treatments for all patients with malignant mesothelioma. Three kinds of treatment are used:

Surgery (taking out the cancer)

Radiation Therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells)

Chemotherapy (using drugs to fight the cancer)

Surgery is a common treatment of malignant mesothelioma. The doctor may remove part of the lining of the chest or abdomen and some of the tissue around it. Depending on how far the cancer has spread, a lung also may be removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy. Sometimes part of the diaphragm, the muscle below the lungs that helps with breathing, is also removed.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy) or from putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer cells are found (internal radiation therapy).

If fluid has collected in the chest or abdomen, the doctor may drain the fluid out of the body by putting a needle into the chest or abdomen and using gentle suction to remove the fluid. If fluid is removed from the chest, this is called thoracentesis. If fluid is removed from the abdomen, this is called paracentesis. The doctor may also put drugs through a tube into the chest to prevent more fluid from accumulating.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in the vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. In mesothelioma, chemotherapy may be put directly into the chest (intrapleural chemotherapy).

Intraoperative photodynamic therapy is a new type of treatment that uses special drugs and light to kill cancer cells during surgery. A drug that makes cancer cells more sensitive to light is injected into a vein several days before surgery. During surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible, a special light is used to shine on the pleura. This treatment is being studied for early stages of mesothelioma in the chest.

Recurrent Malignant Mesothelioma

Treatment depends on many factors, including where the cancer came back and what treatment the patient received before. Mesothelioma Clinical trials are testing new treatments.

For more free legal information on Mesothelioma and Asbestos Lawsuits, please visit Free Legal Information.

In The News:

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The campaign called “Take 5 and Stay Alive,” is aimed at preventing DIYers from becoming victims of lung disease, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, caused by asbestos exposure. According to the BLF, nearly 4000 Britains die each year ...
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The mesothelioma attorneys at the firm are proud to salute military veterans who have passed from mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the lungs, due to asbestos exposure while serving in the Armed Forces. "A large number of military veterans, ...
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Building List Reminds of Prevalence of Asbestos, Risk to Construction Trades ...
AboutMesothelioma.net
But asbestos remains very much a 21 st century problem because many older houses and buildings contain cancer-causing asbestos building materials. Breathing asbestos causes asbestosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs; lung cancer, and mesothelioma, ...

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Such reactions are believed to be the same mechanism by which asbestos fibers may trigger malignant mesothelioma in the pleural membrane around the lungs. Although scientists have long known that the affects of fibers depends on their length, ...

ALEC Puts the Screws to Asbestos Victims
JD Supra (press release)
Asbestos is still legal in the US Every year, 9000 Americans are stricken with asbestos-related illnesses, like lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, according to the Environmental Working Group. Workers who have been most exposed include ...

Burton Mail
Orthopaedic surgeon killed by mesothelioma
Burton Mail
... he removed a boiler packed with white asbestos. Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Geoffrey Newton died at the Royal Derby Hospital's Nightingale Macmillan Unit aged 81, almost two years after he was diagnosed with lung-lining disease mesothelioma.

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Daily News - Galveston County
Genetic susceptibility to mesothelioma
Daily News - Galveston County
About 3000 people die of mesothelioma every year, nearly half within one year of diagnosis. The main cause of this cancer is asbestos, a fibrous material that gets inhaled into the lungs. The National Institutes of Health estimates 11 million people ...
New Biomarker Raises Hope of Early Detection, Treatment of MesotheliomaAlbany Times Union

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Weitz & Luxenberg Helps Lifetime GE Worker Reach Settlement against ...
Virtual-Strategy Magazine
... diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma – a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs – two years ago, the same week in May in which his lawsuit was brought to its successful conclusion. Mesothelioma's only known cause is exposure to asbestos, ...

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Surviving Mesothelioma
Finding the Mesothelioma Asbestos Connection
Surviving Mesothelioma
Even though the cause of mesothelioma – exposure to asbestos – is well-known, it is not always easy for a mesothelioma patient to find his or her own 'asbestos connection'. For people who worked in asbestos-filled job environments, such as asbestos ...

Mesothelioma.com
Unsafe Asbestos Conditions Prompt Worker Strike
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... fear for their health every time they are exposed to hazardous asbestos and not provided with protective gear such as respirators, which will prevent them from inhaling dangerous dust and fibers that can later cause lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Asbestos Workers Strike over Safety and Wage ConcernsAsbestos.com

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