Mesothelioma Cancer: Diagnosis Of Mesothelioma Cancer

by Georage Clark

Beginning with diagnosis mesothelioma with a review of the patient's medical history, including any history of asbestos exposure. A complete physical examination including x-rays of the chest or abdomen and lung function tests is performed. A CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI may also be useful. A CT scan is a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body created by a computer linked to an x-ray machine. In an MRI, a powerful magnet linked to a computer is used to make detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures are viewed on a monitor and can also be printed.

Such sophisticated imaging procedures as MRIs and CT scans usually offer a fairly clear diagnosis, but doctors almost always recommend one more test before coming to a definitive conclusion about any type of cancer. That test is known as a biopsy.

A biopsy, derived from the Greek word meaning "view of the living", involves removing a sample of fluid or tissue from the affected area and sending it to a pathologist for examination. The biopsy is done by inserting a thin needle into the area in question.

In a biopsy, a surgeon or a medical oncologist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating cancer) removes a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope by a pathologist. A biopsy may be done in different ways, depending on where the abnormal area is located. If the cancer is in the chest, the doctor may perform a thoracoscopy. In this procedure, the doctor makes a small cut through the chest wall and puts a thin, lighted tube called a thoracoscope into the chest between two ribs. Thoracoscopy allows the doctor to look inside the chest and obtain tissue samples. If the cancer is in the abdomen, the doctor may perform a peritoneoscopy. To obtain tissue for examination, the doctor makes a small opening in the abdomen and inserts a special instrument called a peritoneoscope into the abdominal cavity. If these procedures do not yield enough tissue, more extensive diagnostic surgery may be necessary.

If the diagnosis is mesothelioma cancer, the doctor will want to learn the stage (or extent) of the disease. Staging involves more tests in a careful attempt to find out whether the cancer has spread and, if so, to which parts of the body. Knowing the stage of the disease helps the doctor plan treatment.

If the cancer is found only on the membrane surface where it originated the mesothelioma symptom is described as localized. It is classified as advanced if it has spread beyond the original membrane surface to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, lungs, chest wall, or abdominal organs.

Visit website for pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, mesothelioma causes.

About the Author
Georage Clark has experience related to health. They gave valueable time of his life to health research and also giving time to atledo.com website.

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New Mesothelioma Treatments Revealed

by Aaron Almus

If you have or are concerned about finding out you have mesothelioma, there are three new mesothelioma treatments that have had success in slowing down the cancer. They are immunotherapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy and gene therapy. Each of these will be explained in this article and hopefully provide you with information that will provide a better idea of your treatment options.

A mesothelioma treatment that is being used worldwide is called immunotherapy. Depending on where you live in the world you might have heard it referred to as biological therapy. In this treatment a patients immune system is stimulate to fight the disease. Biological Response Modifiers, a natural component of the body's immune system, is placed into the patient's immune system. This provides a boost to the immune system that helps fight the cancer.

Everyone is familiar with chemotherapy and the horrible side effects that it can produce. This is because the entire body is exposed to radiation. An alternative therapy that has been used is intensity modulated radiation therapy. This therapy is better on the patient because the radiation is administered in the specific region of the cancer.

The third mesothelioma treatment is known as gene therapy. This is one of the more revolutionary therapies available and has become a very effective treatment not just for mesothelioma but for other fatal diseases. In gene therapy, genes are inserted directly into a patient's cells and tissues to treat the cancer. Gene therapy represents a revolution in mesothelioma treatment by replacing cancer-causing genes with genes medically engineered to die when exposed to cancerous growths.

These engineered genes are a possible way to stop the rapid spread of cancer cells. There are two main types of these genes: knockout gene therapy and replacement gene therapy. Knockout therapy helps fight mesothelioma by assaulting the genes that cause tumors to form and prevent them from forming. Replacement gene therapy replaces a damaged or missing gene with a normal gene that regulates cell growth and division. The genes replaced are usually one that suppresses tumor growth in other circumstances.

This type of therapy is still in its beginning stages and by no means is completely safe. However, because of the results thus far and the fatalness of mesothelioma many patients are willing to participate in various treatments, for any hope of survival outweighs many of the dangers involved. Remember, any treatment options should be discussed with your doctor.

About the Author
For more information and guides on mesothelioma visit http://www.mesothelioma-cancer-help.info/ where you will find this and much more, including the most common occupations for asbestos exposure, mesothelioma lawyers, mesothelioma treatments and mesothelioma symptoms.

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Mesothelioma, Asbestos Lung Cancer, Asbestosis, Pleural Thickening & Pleural Plaques

by Nigel Askew

There are five main asbestos diseases including asbestos cancer that can develop following exposure to asbestos fibres. These are malignant asbestos mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, asbestos pleural thickening and asbestos pleural plaques, however, doctors who do not regularly diagnose asbestos disease can misdiagnose (or be slow to give a diagnosis) what the condition is. This can lead to sufferers of asbestos disease wrongly concluding they do not have a right to make an asbestos compensation claim. It is therefore extremely important for sufferers of lung disease who have been exposed to asbestos fibres to immediately contact a specialist asbestos lawyer or asbestos attorney for advice and assistance in obtaining an accurate diagnosis if there is any doubt.

There are five main asbestos diseases including asbestos cancers that can develop following exposure to asbestos fibres These are malignant asbestos mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis, asbestos pleural thickening and asbestos pleural plaques, however, Doctors who do not regularly diagnose asbestos disease can misdiagnose (or be slow to give a diagnosis) what the condition is because:-

A history of asbestos exposure may not be volunteered to the doctor at an early stage as it may have occurred 30, 40, 50 or even more years prior to seeing the doctor and may have been forgotten about. A striking feature of asbestos disease is this long latency period between exposure and onset of symptoms, the fibres laying dormant for many years before causing asbestos disease or symptoms for which medical advice is sought.

Some asbestos diseases require exposure to only very few asbestos fibres to cause illness, especially mesothelioma which can be caused by just one fibre being inhaled into the lungs! This adds to the above mentioned difficulty of no, or only poor, recollection of exposure to asbestos fibres and accurate diagnosis.

As chest physicians become more aware of asbestos disease, due to its increasing incidence, and the need to ask patients at an early stage if they have ever been exposed to asbestos fibres, these difficulties become less and less of an issue, however, in addition to early history taking the following further difficulties regularly arise.

The radiological evidence (shown on x-ray films) is often misunderstood. This can often lead to a incorrect diagnosis being made in asbestos disease cases of pleural plaques and pleural thickening. This is usually due to inexperience and the fact that radiological evidence of asbestos pleural plaques is similar, to the inexperienced eye, to asbestos pleural thickening and vice versa.

This is important in the context of asbestos UK disease litigation as asbestos pleural plaques is currently not considered to be an "injury" by the UK courts for which compensation can be awarded! This is in spite of the fact that pleural plaques sufferers were routinely awarded compensation for twenty years prior to a Court of Appeal ruling in 2006.

Accurate diagnosis in cases of asbestos pleural thickening can be difficult due to the fact that apart from the potential for it to be radiologically confused with pleural plaques, it can also be confused with other non-asbestos related injuries or illnesses. For example, as part of the careful history taking in cases of suspected pleural thickening, it is important to ask the patient if they have ever had a fractured rib or ribs. The healing process of a fractured rib can leave behind radiological evidence that shows up on x-rays as pleural thickening. Other prior lung complications and conditions can also leave behind such evidence.

Difficulties can also arise when trying to arrive at an accurate diagnosis in cases of asbestosis. Asbestosis is the scarring of lung tissue caused by asbestos fibres in the lungs. The difficulty here is that scarring of lung tissue can be caused by other factors or foreign bodies entering the lungs and not just asbestos fibres.

Lung scarring or fibrosis appears the same on x-ray films regardless of what has caused it. It is therefore crucial, perhaps more so than with any other asbestos disease, to ensure an early and very detailed history of significant exposure to asbestos fibres is taken and recorded as lung fibrosis can only be diagnosed as asbestosis if the patient has suffered significant and heavy exposure to asbestos fibres in the past.

For more information visit http://asbestos-injury.blogspot.com/ Nigel Askew

About the Author
Specialist Asbestos Lawyer

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