Causes and Treatment of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a very rare type of cancer. About 300 cases are discovered in the United States yearly, it is about 30 percent of all mesothelioma cases.

Nature of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the abdominal lining or the peritoneum that is why it is called abdominal mesothelioma. This membrane supports and covers the organs of the abdomen. The peritoneum is made of two parts, the visceral and parietal peritoneum. The visceral peritoneum covers the internal organs and covers just about all of the outer layer of the intestinal tract. Covering the abdominal cavity is the parietal peritoneum. Cells in these linings make a fluid that allows organs to rub against one another. The cells of the mesothelium are for creating fluid but the cancer causes them to produce more than what is needed, causing a buildup of extra fluid in the abdominal cavity. Because pleural mesothelioma is more common and usually spreads to the peritoneal cavity, it should be determined if pleural mesothelioma is the primary cancer.

Causes of Peritoneal Mesothelioma

If asbestos fibers are breathed or swallowed, sometimes they can end up in mesothelium of the peritoneum and become embedded there. In time, the fibers cause irregularities in the cells there that develop become cancerous -this is called peritoneal mesothelioma. Like all other types of mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma usually has a long latency period. It usually takes years or even decades after asbestos exposure for the cancer to be discovered, but not all the time. Mesothelioma is extremely rare and only about 2500 cases a year are diagnosed in the United States. Of these, only 17 percent begin in the peritoneum.

Treatment of Mesothelioma

Treatments vary and depend on different issues, like the stages of the disease, your overall health, the opinion of your doctors and what you choose as treatment. There are three types of peritoneal mesothelioma treatment:

1. Palliative therapies

These treatments typically include pain medication and surgeries to remove fluid or bulky tumors. Peritoneal mesothelioma is always deadly. Palliative treatments are meanly to help the patient with pain and discomfort however they do not do anything to cure or slow the disease.

2. Curative therapies

There is no cure for peritoneal mesothelioma. Curative treatments are not meant to stop the disease. They are meant to slow the progress of the disease and help the patients live longer. Curative treatments for mesothelioma are the same as most other cancers and include surgery to remove tumors and cancerous tissues, chemotherapy, and radiation.

3. Experimental therapies

These are new treatments that are being tried and tested in clinical trials. Patients have to have certain requirements to be involved in these clinical trials. Until now, no one has found a cure for the disease but therapies offer hope that a cure may not be far away. Some of the most promising clinical trial are immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, anti-angiogenesis therapy and gene therapy.

Pericardial Mesothelioma and Other Risk Factors

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) a free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature defines pericardial mesothelioma as a type of cancer that originates in the mesothelium, a thin wall of cells that surround the body’s organs and internal body structures. Pericardial mesothelioma originates in the lining of the heart. Other locales of the disease are malignant pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the lining of the lungs and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, which occurs in the abdomen wall. Pericardial mesothelioma is the rarest of the types of mesothelioma and accounts for only a small percent of the two thousand to three thousand mesothelioma cases that are diagnosed each year.

Pericardial Mesothelioma and Exposure To Asbestos

Pericardial mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure, a naturally type of toxic mineral which was used in many industrial ways. While the exact way that microscopic asbestos fibers get into the pericardial lining is not known, doctors think that inhaled asbestos fibers travel into the bloodstream and become lodged in the heart’s lining as the blood goes through the heart. Mesothelioma takes place in other parts of the body, like in the pleura or peritoneum can also metastasize to the pericardial lining.

Methods Of Pericardial Mesothelioma Diagnosis By Physicians

Doctor will mostly believe that someone has pericardial mesothelioma if the person has trouble breathing, shortness of breath, or chest pain. A comprehensive testing and biopsy process will be done through use of multiple body imaging scans. It usually begins in the mesothelial lining, but quickly travels to other closer organs and tissues, eventually spreading in the bloodstream to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As the cancer travels, victims will have more symptoms.

Patients May Have Financial Options

Patients of pericardial mesothelioma may be eligible for financial compensation if they were wrongly exposed to asbestos. Anyone who worked with asbestos products is potentially at-risk and should have frequent checkups with your doctor so that you can be diagnosed as soon as possible.

Important Information For Those Who Have Been Exposed To Risk Factors

Now there is no way to stop pericardial mesothelioma. Because mesothelioma is so rare, and pericardial mesothelioma is even rarer, it can take months for the disease to be diagnosed. Detection as soon as possible is very important because it will offer the victims more treatment options and may help them survive longer and have a better quality of life. The prognosis for the patient diagnosed with pericardial mesothelioma is not good. Some people die a short time of being diagnosed. Most do not live longer than one year, although a small number have lived longer than four years after diagnosis.

Mesothelioma Latest: New Mesothelioma Treatment discovered in Australia

Nothing can be better than this! Yes I mean it. Can you believe a new mesothelioma treatment has been discovered in Australia? The effectiveness of this treatment is definitely a ray of hope for the several people who are waiting for a miracle to happen.

What is the new mesothelioma treatment?

It is Dr. Malcom Feigen from the Austin Health Centre, Victoria, Australia who is behind this discovery. It has been seven long years of effort that has made is possible. A Radiation Oncologist by profession he has been into the research for mesothelioma treatment methods. The treatment is about providing a high dosage of radiation in treating mesothelioma, which has shown impressive results that include increased years of life without mesothelioma attack and lower chances of getting it back.

In his research Dr. Malcom tested his research on 13 patients who had already undergone chemotherapy or surgery. Those who had undergone only radiotherapy showed recovery, but with greater chances of the disease repeating. The outcome of the research is that only a combination of treatments proved effective, than any one. This combination effect included a high dosage of radiotherapy regiment. The best about the introduction of high dosage radiotherapy is that the patients who had undergone the treatment where benefitted with lower side effects and long lasting benefits.

The real benefit of new radiotherapy treatment is that it keeps cancerous tumors suppressed. The conclusion is that those who had been treated with high dosage of radiotherapy, found additional benefits from the other treatments they had undergone. This important finding of combination treatments, was effective in not only making a person live atleast two years longer but has also increased the chances of new discoveries happening in the medical parlance of the disease, that will completely cure the disease. Radiation has an important role to play in treating mesothelioma cancer and benefits are far reaching and long lasting.

Getting Advice from your Mesothelioma Doctor

Being diagnosed with Mesothelioma cancer is serious. As a life threatening disease, Mesothelioma cancer should be handled with care. Not only is it about the medical treatments you will undergo, but also the mental trauma. Hence, it is important to learn some important information about the disease and the ways to handle it.

What you should ask your Mesothelioma Doctor?

Getting the advice and medical support of your medical practitioner is important in order make sure your progress is along expected lines. You need to know:

• What is the nature of my Mesothelioma cancer?
• What is the specific reference used to describe my problem?
• What is the stage of my cancer?
• What is the life expectancy of my disease?
• Is my Mesothelioma disease in a curable stage?
• Can you explain the treatments and their course applicable to my stage of Mesothelioma?
• What is your area of experience in treating Mesothelioma cases?
• How comfortable are you in treating my Mesothelioma stage of cancer?
• Can you name the specific mesothelioma treatment applicable to my stage of the disease?
• What is the course of this treatment and how long will it take to complete the course?
• Are there any specific side effects I will come across during the course of my treatment?
• What is the possible outcome of the treatment recommended?
• What will happen to my disease and what kind of a relief can I expect?
• Where can I have my treatment done and will you perform the treatment?

While these are an illustrative set of questions you could ask your medical advisor, nothing can stop you from listing anything that comes to mind. It is definitely better to list your questions before hand, so as not miss them while talking to your doctor.

Mesothelium and Mesothelioma – Some Interesting Facts

Anyone who has mesothelioma or knows someone who has mesothelioma knows the pain and suffering one has to endure from this deadly disease. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. Even though this disease is quite rare, it is very serious and in most cases has a lethal outcome. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways.

The term mesothelioma comes from mesothelium, which is a protection covering which shield and coats most of the internal organs of the body such as the heart and lung.

Types of Mesothelium

There are two types of mesothelium: visceral mesothelium and parietal mesothelium.

Visceral Mesothelium: Visceral mesothelium is the mesothelial tissue that closely surrounds the organ in the abdominal cavity.

Parietal Mesothlium: The parietal mesothelium is the membrane that surrounds the lungs and the walls of the chest cavity.

What Is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which malignant cells are found in the lining of the chest or Abdomen. This deadly disease can cause abnormal growth and division of the mesothelium cells by invading and damaging the adjusting tissue and organs. The cancer cell can also spread from their original location to other parts of the body. A combination of smoking with asbestos exposure significantly increases a persons’ risk of developing mesothelioma. However mesothelioma has also been reported in some people who have not been exposed to asbestos.

Who Is At Risk For Developing Mesothelioma?

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. The heavier the exposure to asbestos the higher your chances are of developing mesothelioma, plus the length of exposure time also increases your risk. However research show that some individual with only a brief amount of exposure have also developed mesothelioma; Likewise not everyone who is heavily exposed to asbestos developed mesothelioma. Smoking combined with asbestos exposure can increase your risk of developing cancer of the air passage in the lung.

There have also been reports of family members and those who come in contact with asbestos workers are also at risk for developing mesothelioma or other asbestos related disease. Family members can reduce their chances of exposure to asbestos fibers if asbestos workers shower and change before leaving the workplace.

What Are Some Of The Signs And Symptoms Of Mesothelioma?

The symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Some of the signs and symptoms include: weight loss, shortness of breath, fatigue, acute pain in the abdominal region and chest area, abdominal swelling, anemia, just to name a few.

Is Mesothelioma A Death Sentence?

About twenty years ago the answer would be yes, but this is no longer the case today. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma it is critical that you seek immediate medical treatment.

What Are Some Of The Treatments Used For Mesothelioma?

It depends on the stage of the disease, the location of the cancer and the patient’s overall health and age. Some of the mesothelioma treatments include: conventional therapies, surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and or a combination of treatment and medications.

Survival Rate of Mesothelioma

Individuals between the age group of 50 and 70 years are more likely to get the disease due to the long latency period. However, a survey conducted in 2007 revealed that the disease affects more people between the age group of 30 to 40. Based on industry and occupation, statistics indicate that people working in industries such as construction, railroad, shipyard, manufacturing and automobile industries are likely to be exposed to asbestos, with the construction industry having about 1.3 million people being exposed to asbestos.

The statistics on the study of mesothelioma also indicates that the life expectancy of people with the disease to be at least one year. However, with early detection and aggressive mesothelioma treatment, the life expectancy may increase up to two to five years. Studies also indicate mesothelioma can be a silent killer as the symptoms associate with the disease lies inactive in the body for very long periods ranging between ten to fifty years. As symptoms are likely to appear only in the later stages of the disease, this reduces the survival chances of the patient.

Mesothelioma Survival Rates

The disease is hard to detect as symptoms take the form of a simple upset stomach or simple breathlessness. As result, the disease is already in an advanced stage when finally diagnosed. This leaves them with just over a year left to live at this stage in spite of getting the best treatment possible.

Even though mesothelioma statistics have shown that it has been active over the past 100 years, records of the average survival rate of patients’ dates back to just 20 years. The study also revealed that the survival period for this type of cancer is within one to five years following a diagnosis. For those diagnosed between 1998 and 2002, the survival chance for these individuals is about 9%. Some of the factors that affects mesothelioma survival rate are:

• The early detection of the disease
• The complexity of the disease
• Size of the tumor
• If the tumor can be removed via surgery
• The quantity of fluid in the chest or abdomen
• The age and general health of the patient
• The type of cancer cells

For the pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, the survival rate is under a year. However, mesothelioma specialists believe that the survival period is longer despite findings derived via clinical trails. According to various medical literatures, the average survival rate is between 4 to 18 months. The survival rate for people diagnosed and treated in the earlier stages of the disease is not very clear and the timeframe can differ from person to person.

Mesothelioma Research

Extensive Mesothelioma research is undertaken by many organizations. Various companies using asbestos are also initiating their own research. This is because more and more people diagnosed with the disease are seeking compensation, and has resulted in these companies paying out huge amounts of money. The National Institute of Cancer is also conducting continuous mesothelioma research on the cause, symptoms, diagnosis as well as the cure and treatment of the disease.

Due the increase in demand for representation of patients seeking compensation, many law firms are also conducting their own research to understand more about the disease. Drug companies, research groups, and government organizations with the hope of bringing about a cure for the disease as well ways of increasing the survival rate among the patients usually provide funding for ongoing research.