Canada is among the countries with highest number of mesothelioma cases. This is because there extensive mining of chrysotile asbestos in the country and asbestos is used in thousands of products. Mesothelioma is caused due to asbestos exposure at workplace. Every day in Canada one new case of mesothelioma cancer is diagnosed and the experts feel that the numbers continue to rise, with approximately 2.1 of every 100,000 Canadians diagnosed with the disease annually.
The final and the most advanced stage of mesothelioma is the Stage 4. In this stage the cancer has metastasized to various parts of the body like the brain, the entire abdomen and other organs of the abdominal and chest cavity. As it has spread to various organs far away from the primary location, it is also called as the "distant metastatic cancer.
A prognosis of stage 3 mesothelioma means that the cancer is now in its advanced stage of development. The asbestos cancer has now spread from the mesothelium, which is the point of origin, to other nearby tissues or organs. The asbestos cancer has spread to the lymph node group closest to the primary tumor location. When the lymph nodes past the chest area are affected, this causes the disease to spread at a faster pace.
Statistics indicate that about 3000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed every year in the United States alone. After being diagnosed with mesothelioma, the next step is to discuss the prognosis or likely outcome of the disease. Epithelioid mesothelioma is considered to be the most common form of mesothelioma. It affects the mesothelium surrounding certain organs of the body. This form of mesothelioma is found in about 60% of the cases.
The staging process is very critical to determine the prognosis of mesothelioma. For a proper prognosis it is very important to have an early diagnosis as well as proper treatment. As mesothelioma is commonly diagnosed only at an advanced stage, the survival rate is quite less as in the Stage 4; the disease is spread to many parts of the body and has distant organ metastasis. It is usually not possible to treat the disease at this stage resulting in poor prognosis. The treatment is commonly restricted to only pain management and supportive care.