Mesothelioma Lung Cancer

Posted by admin on June 27, 2008

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What is mesothelioma lung cancer?

This is a form of cancer caused by long exposure to asbestos on the lungs if not other parts of chest cavity.

How does asbestos exposure happen?

People can be exposed to asbestos without their knowledge, or if they know, they are aware that such exposure will cost them in the future. Asbestos is commercially feasible mineral that is mined and used many ways like construction of roads, roofing and also other in products. Therefore one may be working in these places and for one to be exposed; they must inhale or ingest the dust particles of asbestos. These for a long period will be deposited on your chest cavity parts or abdominal cavity.

Is the mesothelioma lung cancer infectious?

The answer is no. this disease can be latent or inactive in our bodies for a long period of time without our knowledge. However, because of this, when this disease is detected, it will be in the advanced and severe stages.

Can mesothelioma lung cancer be detected with ease?

I am afraid no. first reason because, there is also a big chance that one could be suffering from adenocarcinoma (another type of cancer that can be found in the mesothelium, and does not originate in the mesothelium, but rather in the lining or inner epithelium of an organ). When an adenocarcinoma occurs in the lining of the lungs it can spread to the mesothelium, or pleura, surrounding the lungs.

One could also have asbestosis a chronic inflammation of the lungs. This is also a cancer of the lung caused by the same exposure to asbestos and can be confused with lung mesothelioma, because the many years the diseases takes in the body before they can portray any signs makes it hard to tell which between them one will suffer from.

Asbestosis is a progressive disease with no cure.

What are the signs of mesothelioma lung cancer?

The pleura are the membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. This is the one that the cancerous cells will attack and when this becomes severe, one will have mesothelioma lung cancer which shows the following symptoms: Shortness of breath and pain in the chest wall, pleural effusion or a fluid surrounding the lungs, fatigue, anemia, wheezing, hoarseness, cough and blood in the fluid coughed up (sputum).

Options available for treatment

Surgery- this is performed to remove the cancer. It can be done to a patient on its own or jointly with other therapies. Report states that those who survive for a period of five years after diagnosis are less than ten percent.

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy- this uses high-energy x-rays to slay cancer cells and contract tumors. Experiments involving forms of radiation treatment have established rather encouraging with about twenty of the patients experiencing a greater than fifty percent cutback in tumor mass combined with negligible side effects.

Chemotherapy- this technique uses drugs to wipe out the cancer cells. It is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can finish cancer cells throughout the body.

These are still the commonly used options but it is vital to discuss them in details with your doctor before you both can decide which one is substantial to your specific case. You may not have plenty of choices if your disease is already at the very advanced stages of development.