Pericardial Mesothelioma : Quick Facts

By Nkeno Kapya

What is pericardial mesothelioma?

It is a cancer caused by the inhalation of asbestos dust, and is the most rare of mesothelioma cancers. It accounts for about 5% of all cases.
Its period of latency (time it takes for the symptoms to show) is approximately 30-50 years. Symptoms are similar to other diseases such as pneumonia whilst in the early stages. This makes it rather difficult to diagnose and treat.

What are the treatment options for pericardial mesothelioma?

There are three options available for an individual diagnosed with this cancer; surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. A patient will first require a doctor's evaluation to determine which treatment option is suitable for him.

What are my chances of survival from pericardial mesothelioma?

It is important to stress that once you start experiencing the symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma (shortness of breath, chest pains, coughing up blood, and palpitations) you should immediately seek specialized help.
The prognosis of pericardial mesothelioma depends largely on how early the cancer is detected. Should you be diagnosed in the later stages of development, your chances of survival could be very slim (usually a few months).

Can you go through each of the treatment options?

Radiation - large doses of radiation are used to kill the cancerous cells on the pericardium. The disadvantage of using radiation to treat pericardial mesothelioma is that the vital organs close to the heart are also being damaged.

Surgery - this can be divided into two parts; aggressive surgery & palliative procedures. Aggressive surgery involves the removal of the cancerous cells from the pericardium. This procedure is only performed by an extremely skilled surgeon as the cells are usually located in close proximity to the heart and lungs. Any small mishap can have a fatal outcome.

Palliative procedures are used in the latest stages of pericardial mesothelioma. They serve the sole purpose of relieving the symptoms since the cancer is almost incurable at this stage.

Chemotherapy - drugs are used to kill the cancerous cells. Unfortunately, the majority of drugs used to treat pericardial mesothelioma have an extremely low success rate. Pharmaceutical companies are conducting trials to come up with the right combination of drugs that can produce better results for treating pericardial mesothelioma.

You also have dual therapy which is just a combination of the three methods. Cancerous cells are removed by means of surgery, then the remaining cells are killed off by radiation and chemotherapy. Although still dangerous, dual therapy has demonstrated a higher success rate than using the three individual methods alone.

Nkeno Kapya owns http://www.pericardialmesothelioma.info, where numerous related articles on pericardial mesothelioma can be found.

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Mesothelioma or Asbestos Cancer

By Mike Plank

Mesothelioma: What is it?

Mesothelioma is a malignant cancerous disease of the cells lining the patient's body cavities such as chest, abdominal region or the area surrounding the heart. It is thought to be associated with exposure to asbestos, and this asbestos association has been documented in 70-80% of all mesothelioma cases. Asbestos cancer or mesothelioma is very difficult to assess and diagnose consistently. The time between exposure and the onset of the disease, and the rate of progression of malignant mesothelioma, make diagnosis very difficult.

It is believed that even insignificant exposure to asbestos in environments such as asbestos mills, mines, shipping yards, some older Navy ships or even patient's homes can result in mesothelioma. In many cases mesothelioma does not occur for decades after initial exposure to this cancer-causing asbestos. 2000-3000 cases of mesothelioma per year are currently being diagnosed. Family members of workers exposed to asbestos can also contract this disease through exposure to the worker's clothing. Like many other cancers, smoking greatly increases the risk of contracting mesothelioma.

Some of the earliest symptoms of mesothelioma are commonly over looked due there similarity to symptoms of less serious diseases. Some patients do not show any signs of sickness in the early stages of development of the disease. The most common symptoms of mesothelioma include dyspnoea, pleuritic pain, lasting cough, fatigue, and weight loss. These symptoms may not be attributed to mesothelioma unless the patient is examined by a competent and knowledgeable health care provider who orders the appropriate tests. Test for mesothelioma, or asbestos cancer, may include CT scans, x-rays scans, or MRI. Surgery can be one of the treatment options; however, the recurrence rate of cancerous cells is high. It is very important that the disease is diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

This disease is not more prevalent in any particular race or ethic group; however it is more common in men. Most cases of mesothelioma occur 30-45 years after initial exposure to asbestos. Once it develops, this cancer will continue to grow until it is treated or the victim expires.

Mesothelioma: Treatment

Although science is not certain as to the exact mechanism which causes mesothelioma, it is thought that the asbestos fibers puncture the parenchyma, become lodged in the pleura, and by process of irritation create the change in the cells which causes the mesothelioma.

The chance of recovery for a person with mesothelioma depends on several factors, including:

Size of the cancer

Location of the cancer

Spread of the cancer throughout the body

Response to treatment

Appearance of the cells under a microscope

Age of the patient


Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases. Virtually all cases of malignant mesothelioma are attributable to asbestos exposure.

If you have mesothelioma or you know someone who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, remember that time matters. The sooner you consult your doctor and get professional care the better your chances will be of dealing with this dangerous asbestos cancer. There are three traditional methods of fighting cancerous mesothelioma:

Surgery

Chemotherapy drugs

Radiation therapy.

Please contact your doctor as soon as possible to get more information.

Mesothelioma: Phenomenon

The nature of Mesothelioma or Asbestos Cancer and the length of time before symptoms may occur has made conventional claims for compensation difficult. This has opened the door and presented a great opportunity for personal injury lawyers and personal injury and class action lawsuits.

An indication of the part that the Internet has played, or is playing in this, can be determined by the amount of money personal injury lawyers and law firms are spending to advertise their services on the Internet. Many of these Law Firms have entire websites dedicated to this subject. In fact much of the information in this article was culled from these law firms' websites.

The punch line on all these websites of course is that the mesothelioma victim should hire this law firm to represent them in a personal injury or class action lawsuit.

Most reader know that it is possible to buy ads that will be displayed on Search Engine results pages when certain keywords are searched on. The current record high payment for keyword advertising of this type is held by "mesothelioma" and "asbestos cancer". These law firms are currently paying more than any other seller of goods or services to attract visitors to their websites.

Is this good or is this bad? Obviously the law firms feel that there is a great deal of money to be made in these personal injury suits, but what about the mesothelioma victim? For him/her these lawyers, and law firms, may represent the only chance for adequate medical care and the means to support their families and live their lives with this debilitating disease.

Mesothelioma: The Summary

Mesothelioma, or asbestos cancer, is a terrible disease. The length of time between exposure and the onset of the symptoms hangs over the heads of many people like a life sentence. Personal injury lawyers and attorneys are often derided and condemned, however for the victims of Mesothelioma they may represent the only means of securing the funds to treat the disease or cope with the disabling impact of malignant mesothelioma.

For more information on Asbestos, Radon, Lead-based paint etc.
Please visit us at http://www.americanhomeinspectordirectory.com/

Article submitted by the American Home Inspector Directory

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Mesothelioma or Asbestos Cancer


Radon Testing and Information


Lead-Based Paint - Testing


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How Do You Treat Pericardial Mesothelioma?

By Nkeno Kapya

Of all the cancers caused by asbestos dust (mesothelioma), pericardial mesothelioma is the most rare, accounting for a fraction of all cases (5%). It is a cancer that grows on the pericardium (the lining of the heart). This is a delicate 'film', and any infection on the pericardium can have deadly consequences.

Once an individual has been diagnosed with pericardial mesothelioma they are offered three different treatment options. These are radiation, surgery and chemotherapy. Pericardial mesothelioma is extremely difficult to treat (due to the intricacies involved in removing the tumours from the pericardium), and a patient's chances of survival are slim. All three methods have a poor success rate mainly due to the fact that pericardial mesothelioma is detected in the mature stages of development. (The reason for this is because in the early stages of the cancer the symptoms resemble those of diseases such as pneumonia). The prognosis for a patient undergoing treatment at this point (mature stage) is usually less than a year.

Before treatment, the patient requires a doctor's evaluation in order to determine which of the three treatments are suitable for him/her. Details such as age, weight, medical history, and general well-being are considered prior to the commencement of treatment. So, how do you treat pericardial mesothelioma?

Radiation - As with all cancer treatments that use this method, large doses of radiation are used to kill the cancerous cells on the pericardium. The downside to radiation treatment is that not only are you killing off the cancerous cells, but you are also damaging the vital organs in close proximity to the heart, namely the lungs. The heart also gets damaged (due to the large doses of radiation).

Surgery - We can break this down into two parts; aggressive surgery and palliative procedures. Aggressive surgery involves the removal of the cancerous cell. Since these are very close to the heart and lungs, this makes it an extremely precarious procedure and one that requires an extremely skilled surgeon.
Palliative procedures are used in the latest of stages of pericardial mesothelioma and serve the sole purpose of reducing the symptoms. Usually at this stage the cancer is practically incurable.

Chemotherapy - This is the most widely-used of cancer therapies which involves the use of drugs to kill the cancerous cells. Unfortunately, the majority of drugs used have a low success rate with pericardial mesothelioma. Research is being conducted to come up with a cocktail of drugs that have a more favourable outcome.

There does exist another form of treatment which involves using all three aforementioned treatment options. It is known as Dual Therapy. Surgery is used to remove the cancerous cells, then chemotherapy and radiation are used to kill the remaining cells. The success rate for this method is higher than just using radiation, surgery or chemotherapy alone, but can still be dangerous.

Nkeno Kapya owns http://www.pericardialmesothelioma.info, where numerous other articles on pericardial mesothelioma can be found.

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