Mesothelioma is a critical and fatal cancer. It is caused by direct exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma cancer is categorized into three categories: pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma. This destructive cancer damages the mesothelium which is a membrane that forms the lining of several body cavities like the pleural (thoracal cavity), peritoneum (abdominal cavity) and pericardium (heart sac).

Pleural mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma is one of the most common forms of mesothelioma. More than 75% of victims fall in this category. This cancer affects the outer lining of the lungs and the chest cavity and makes it thicket. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma are very common like difficulty in breathing, pain in the chest, fatigue, swelling of the face and neck, trouble when swallowing, cough and weight loss. These symptoms are shown by other diseases also and hence it becomes difficult to diagnose this cancer. Lining of the lungs are made up of two layers, parietal which covers the chest wall and visceral which covers the lungs. Mesothelium cells grow and produce a tumor which enlarges the space, causing it to fill with fluid. This extra thickness in layers is known as pleural effusion which leads to discomfort and pain in the chest. The pain may also be felt in the arms and the shoulders.

After the diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma you can opt for several mesothelioma treatment options. The factors like the patient’s age and history, location of the tumor, and stage of the cancer are to be noted while treating the patient. The different treatments available for the pleural mesothelioma are radiation, chemotherapy, pneumonectomy, and palliative therapies. Pneumonectomy means removing the cancerous lung or parts of the diaphragm where the disease has spread. In this treatment parts of chest and surrounding tissue which may be affected by the cancerous cells are also removed. This treatment can be carried out depending on the patients overall health, the amount of asbestos inhaled and the spread of the disease.

The next form of treatment is radiation. In this treatment the area affected by the cancer is exposed to the radioactive source. These radiations destroy the cancerous cells. Radiation therapy do not cause any harm to the healthy cells. Chemotherapy is one of the common treatments for pleural mesothelioma. In this treatment high power drugs are given to the patients either by injecting it or in the forms of pills. These drugs may cause some side effects such as vomiting, hair loss, nausea, weight loss and fatigue. The disadvantage in this treatment is that the drugs administered have to make their way to the cancerous cells, unlike radiation therapy where the radiation is directly targeted to the affected area. This may cause harm to the healthy cells as well.

Palliative therapies involve extracting extra fluid by needle and suction from the affected areas. In order to keep fluid accumulation under control, drugs are used. Researches are being performed to find new ways to treat this deadly cancer and so you should always keep yourself updated with these treatments and researches.

Mesothelioma is a form of rare cancer which is unfortunately not rare anymore and affects people who have been affected and exposed to asbestos in some way or the other. This form of exposure can be direct or indirect. Thus someone who is coming into daily contact with someone who is being or has been exposed to asbestos in some way or the other stands a very good chance of contracting mesothelioma as well. Mesothelioma gets its name from the areas in the body which it affects. The cancerous cells are developed in the mesothelioma and the latter is a protective lining which covers most of the vital internal organs of the body.

There is many types of mesothelioma depending on which part of the body, or rather which organ and its protective lining has been affected. Here are the major types of mesothelioma:

Pleural Mesothelioma: this is the most common among all the kinds of mesothelioma that do occur in the world. About 75 percent of all the mesothelioma patients in the world are suffering from pleural mesothelioma. Here, the cancerous cells are formed in the pleura which is the lining covering the lungs as well as the chest cavity. Mesothelioma quickly takes over the pleural lining and thus as a result. There is a massive build up of fluid within that cavity. Due to the fluid build up there is a lot of pain which comes along with the development and spread of mesothelioma. When someone inhales a lot of these asbestos fibers, these objects get stuck in the pleura and mutilate the lining and so cause irreparable damage to the organ. As a result, cancer is caused out of the mutations that are created because of the intrusions of these foreign bodies. This form is caused through inhalation of asbestos particles.

Pericardial Mesothelioma: this is the rarest form of mesothelioma that can ever be found among all mesothelioma patients. This kind of cancer affects the lining of the heart which is called the pericardium. Less than 10 percent of mesothelioma patients have this form of mesothelioma. Here again, cancerous tumors are formed around the heart and also there is a fluid build up. This fluid obstructs the natural and normal functioning of the heart. As of now, there is very little information as to how asbestos particles can enter the heart cavity and affect the lining.



Peritoneal Mesothelioma: this is a relatively commoner form of mesothelioma than the previous one. About 10 to 20 per cent of the mesothelioma patients today are of this kind. The lining of the abdominal cavity is called the peritoneum. There is another form of peritoneal mesothelioma which affects the male testicles and this diseases is a very rare one. The cause of peritoneal mesothelioma is the ingestion or the consumption of asbestos fibers which then travel through the length of the body and end up in the gut. Here the cancerous mutations are caused in the abdominal cavity which causes a lot of pain and discomfort as a result.