All About Mesothelioma Cancer

All About Mesothelioma Cancer
By Eirik Comm

Mesothelioma is considered to be the rarest and
deadliest types of cancer, and usually affects the mesothelial
tissues of the body organs, normally abdomen and lungs. It
develops malignant and cancerous cells in mesothelium, which is
the protective cell covering many internal organs of the body.
It can even damage other body organs by spreading out the
damaged cells to them.

The main cause of this type of in about 50-80% cases is
exposure to the asbestos. People involved in occupations like
constructions jobs in insulators, shipyards and boiler makers
are at a risk of catching asbestos disease. It is a very
restrained form of which provides only few symptoms that
can be noticed until the disease becomes enormously advanced.

Pleural mesothelioma is the most usual type of the cancer,
indicated by chronic coughing, shortness of breath in
combination with common cold and allergies. Other pleural
mesothelioma symptoms include chest pain, coughing blood,
fatigue, wheezing, swollen lymph node, loss of appetite, loss of
weight and lung infection.

Peritoneal mesothelioma is another form of the cancer, which
generally affects the covering around the intestines and the
stomach. Symptoms of this type of include weight loss,
fever, anaemia, pain in abdomen, swelling in abdomen or bowel
obstructions. Another type of the is pericardial
mesothelioma, the symptoms of which including palpitations,
persistent coughing, chest pain and shortness of breath.

It has been estimated that about 2000 new cases of this type of
cancer are diagnosed every year. It is to be noted that only a
professional expert can diagnose mesothelioma. The
disease starts in small lumps in the pleura membrane, that may
not be scanned on X-rays, until they are advanced and grown up
in large size. The symptoms of the disease may not come into
view until 30-50 years of exposure to asbestos.

The treatment options available for this type of are:

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy with doxorubicin or adriamycin has
been 20% responsive in cases of mesothelioma.

Radiation

Therapy: This disease is quite moderately responsive
towards radiation therapy also. It can improve the quality of
life of the patient, as it can reduce shortness of breath and
pain in the body, while it can not cure the problem.

Surgery: Surgical choices like removing the tumour by
cutting out the lun or decortication have also not been very
successful so far.

Photodynamic therapy: In this process, the cells are
given an intravenous photosynthesizer, which are afterwards
activated in order to destroy the cells with the help of a laser
light of specific wave length. This therapy is still in its
experimental stages.

The average survival time of a patient from the time of
observance of the is about 4-24 months, however, with
proper care, some patients have also been seen living for many
years. Therefore, it is advisable for those who are working in
asbestos prone localities to regularly consult a doctor and go
for regular check ups, so that any possibility for the cancer
can be diagnosed at an earlier stage.

About the Author: Eirik Comm is the professional freelance
writer. He's also the webmaster of http://Healthyliveworld.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

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