What is the type of Mesothelioma?

Pleural mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma spreads into the thoracic cavity and sometimes involves the lungs. Metastases can occur in any organ, including the brain, and are much more common than previously thought.

The onset of mesothelioma is usually very late, and the most common symptom is persistent pain confined to the chest. Pain can be accompanied by severe dyspnea due to the accumulation of water in the pleural space, known as pleural effusion. Coughing, weight loss and fever are not uncommon. The single most valuable test to show the extent of the disease is computed tomography (CT scan).

Currently, there are no serum markers available for the diagnosis of mesothelioma. Detecting elevated serum levels of hyaluronic acid may help distinguish mesothelioma from other tumors and track the effects of treatment.

Median survival is approximately 17 months from the onset of symptoms. 3-year survival rate is 10% 5-year survival rate is about 5% (if 100 patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma at a particular point in time, 10 patients are still alive at the end of 3 years That means that 5 patients will only be alive at the end of 5 years).

Peritoneal mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma includes the abdominal cavity and invades the liver, spleen, or intestines. Like pleural mesothelioma, pain is the most common symptom. In addition, the abdominal cavity (ascites) accumulates water, which makes the abdomen appear to be enlarged. Patients experience nausea, vomiting, swelling of the legs, fever, and difficulty in bowel movements.

The prognosis is worse than pleural mesothelioma, and the median survival time is about 10 months after the onset of symptoms.

Benign mesothelioma:

A rare form of mesothelioma is cystic mesothelioma of the peritoneum. Its prognosis is benign. Its outbreak is mainly explained in young women. However, diagnosis is difficult and requires extensive electron microscopy and immunohistochemical studies.

Rare site:

Pericardial mesothelioma is a rare heart cancer. Tumors are usually detected late by echocardiography and have a very poor prognosis with or without treatment. Mesothelioma of the ovary and scrotum has also been reported in the literature. Management differs depending on the stage of the disease, and the prognosis is very poor. The etiology of some of the cases of mesothelioma described in children remains unknown and is not believed to be associated with asbestos, and treatment and prognosis vary from individual to individual.

What are the risk factors for malignant mesothelioma?

Risk factors increase your chances of getting a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, exposure to unprotected, intense sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer, and smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer and other types of cancer. Scientists have discovered several risk factors that increase a person's chances of developing mesothelioma.

Asbestos: The main risk factor for mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos.Asbestos refers to the family of magnesium silicate mineral fibers. In the past, asbestos was widely used as a heat insulating material because it does not conduct heat well and is resistant to melting and burning. The use of this material has decreased as the association between asbestos and mesothelioma has become well known. However, up to 8 million Americans may already be exposed to asbestos.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 733,000 schools and public buildings in the country today contain asbestos insulation. 10% to 15% of US schools may contain asbestos insulation. Some miners, factory workers, insulation manufacturers, railroad workers, shipbuilders, gas mask manufacturers, construction workers, especially insulation, are among those at risk of occupational asbestos exposure. Includes people involved in the installation of. Some studies have shown that families of people exposed to asbestos at work are at increased risk of developing mesothelioma because asbestos fibers are carried into workers' clothing.

Asbestos has two main forms: serpentine and amphibole. The winding fibers have curly hair and are supple. Chrysotile is the only type of serpentine fiber and the most widely used form of asbestos. Amphibole is a thin rod-shaped fiber, and there are five main types: crocidolite, amosite, anthrophylite, tremolite, and actinolite. Amphibole (especially crocidolite) is considered to be the most carcinogenic (carcinogenic). However, even the more commonly used chrysotile fibers should be considered dangerous as they are associated with malignant (cancerous) mesothelioma.

Asbestos can cause cancer by physically stimulating cells rather than by chemical effects. When the fiber is inhaled, it is mostly removed in the nose, throat, trachea (trachea), or bronchi (large respiratory tract of the lungs). Fiber attaches to the mucus in the airways and is removed by coughing or swallowing. Long, fine fibers are difficult to remove and can reach the ends of small airways and penetrate the lining of the pleura of the lungs and chest wall. These fibers can directly damage the mesothelial cells of the pleura and eventually cause mesothelioma.

Asbestosis fibers can also damage lung cells and cause asbestosis (formation of scar tissue in the lungs) and / or lung cancer. People exposed to asbestos have a seven-fold increased risk of lung cancer compared to the general population. Indeed, asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer are the three most common causes of death and illness among people exposed to high doses of asbestos. Peritoneal mesothelioma that forms in the abdomen can result from coughing and swallowing inhaled asbestos fibers. Cancers of the larynx, pancreas, esophagus, colon, and kidneys are also associated with asbestos exposure, but the increased risk is not as great as lung cancer.

The risk of developing mesothelioma is related to how much asbestos a person has been exposed to and how long this exposure has lasted. People who are young, long-term, and exposed to higher levels are most likely to develop this cancer. Mesothelioma takes a long time to develop. The period from exposure to asbestos to diagnosis of mesothelioma is usually between 20 and 40 years.

Although the risk of developing mesothelioma increases with the amount of asbestos exposure, it is clear that genetic factors also play a role in determining who develops mesothelioma. This explains why not all people exposed to high levels of asbestos dust develop mesothelioma.

Radiation: Several reports of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma developed after exposure to thorium dioxide (thorotrast) have been published. This material has been used by doctors in the past for certain x-ray examinations. Thorotrast has not been used for many years as it has been found to cause cancer.

Zeolite: This is a chemically related silicate mineral commonly found in soils in the Anatoli region of Turkey. Several cases of mesothelioma have been reported in the area and may have been caused by this mineral.

Simian virus 40 (SV40): This virus was recently identified by researchers of human mesothelioma cells and has been shown to induce mesothelioma in animal models. Polio vaccines given as a primary precaution from 1955 to 1961 have been shown to be contaminated with SV40. However, the implications of these facts are not fully understood and further research is needed to clarify the link between malignant mesothelioma and viral etiology.

Tobacco: Tobacco smoking is not associated with the development of mesothelioma, but the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of lung cancer. Asbestos workers who also smoke have a 50 to 90 times higher risk of lung cancer than the general population. More asbestos workers die of lung cancer than mesothelioma.