Mesothelioma Lung
Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma may.
Mesothelioma lung. Epithelioid mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure and is the most common form of the disease accounting for 70 80 of diagnoses. Exposure to asbestos is the only known cause of malignant mesothelioma. This happens when cancerous cells accumulate in the pleural lining and often cause symptoms. Mesothelioma is a rare aggressive form of cancer that develops in the linings of the lungs abdomen or heart.
The average life expectancy of mesothelioma patients is 12 21 months after diagnosis. Mesothelioma most often affects the tissue that surrounds the lungs pleura. Though malignant pleural mesothelioma affects the lungs it is not considered a type of lung cancer because it forms in the lining around the lungs rather than in the lung tissue. Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that that develops in the pleura a thin membrane that separates the lung from the chest wall.
Removing the affected lung and the tissue that surrounds it may relieve signs and symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. Less commonly the lining of the abdomen and rarely the sac surrounding the heart or the sac surrounding the testis may be affected. Symptoms can include chest pain shortness of breath and general fatigue. Other rarer types of mesothelioma affect tissue in the abdomen peritoneal mesothelioma around the heart and around the testicles.
Mesothelioma in the lungs pleural mesothelioma this is the most common form of the disease. There are about 2 500 to 3 000 cases of it every. Other times it could include pleural based nodules. If you ll be receiving radiation therapy to the chest after surgery this procedure also allows doctors to use higher doses since they won t need to worry about protecting your lung from damaging radiation.
Wide local excision which removes the cancer along with some of the healthy surrounding tissue pleurectomy and decortication in which the surgeon removes part of the covering of the lungs chest lining and outside. The most common is the production of fluid buildup known as a pleural effusion. It accounts for about 75 of all mesothelioma cases. These cancers originate in different locations yet cause similar symptoms such as shortness of breath chest pain fatigue and weight loss.
The cells are slow to metastasize or spread and respond more favorably to treatment than other mesothelioma cancer cells. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs known as the mesothelium. The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Both lung cancer and mesothelioma can originate in the pleural space or spread there during the course of the disease.
Epithelial cells can develop in the lining of the lungs abdomen or heart. It usually occurs from prior exposure to asbestos a type of mineral fiber used in the insulation industry.