Mesothelioma Diagnosis & treatment methods

Pleural mesothelioma is by far one of the most difficult diseases to diagnose. The mesothelioma diagnostic procedure generally involves a chest x ray followed by few other imaging techniques which is then followed by a biopsy which in most cases is the final stage and confirms the existence of the disease.

When a patient is developing cancerous growths within there are always a number of changes that happen in the system. A new unwanted drift from the usual cell division process tend to induce some chemicals and other substances in the blood stream. These are called tumor markers. These secretions are available in the blood or any other body fluids. An advantageous point is that these fluids are released from a very early stage of cancer itself. So if there is a method to trap the tumor markers from the body fluids then mesothelioma could be detected in a very early stage and the chances of positive prognosis is very high.

The new developments in the technology have led to what is called as Mesomark. This is a blood assay test where the body fluids are checked for the tumor markers.

Pleural mesothelioma is a very common form of mesothelioma which is the cancer of the lung lining and is caused mostly due to exposure to asbestos. Pleural mesothelioma takes a lot of time to display symptoms; it ranges through decades the maximum being close top six decades and in most cases the patients demise with the disease undiagnosed. On diagnosis the prognosis is very negative urging the oncologists to explore newer ways of tacking the disease. Result of such serious researches is the pleuroscopy approach of treating pleural mesothelioma.

Pleuroscopy enables the surgeon to have a very clear view of the chest interiors to successfully clear the affected region of the cancerous cells. The procedure involves inserting a long thin probe through an incision in the chest. The probe carries a light and a camera locked in an appropriate angle and provides input to a video monitor that gives the detailed visuals of the chest to the surgeon. The pleuroscopy allows the surgeon to take out the accumulated fluid in the lungs due to the infection and also extract further tissue samples for future examination. This is definitely a very successful method exploited in treating pleural mesothelioma patients.

In most cases the final step of a diagnosis is a biopsy. Biopsy is examination of tissues of the affected area by a pathologist. The method in which the cells are collected varies with different cases.

Mostly fine needle aspiration is the preferred method of obtaining the tissue samples. To obtain a tissue sample for pleural mesothelioma the patient is under anesthesia, and then a small incision is made surgically in the chest area. A thorascope is inserted through the incision to reach the chest cavity and the tissue is extracted. The pathologist makes a very detailed examination of the cells to observe any physical changes. Also the obtained sample is used to do even more testing to confirm the cancer. This might be immunochemistry where the cell is studied for any protein carcinogenic markers or other advanced tests that check the molecular and DNA structure of the cancer cells. In case of metastasis several biopsies are required.

The main reason for the negative prognosis of the disease is the very long latency period. By the tome of biopsy and definite staging the patient’s become too feeble for any treatment procedures, thus giving very less insight in the other diagnosing techniques.

A rare form of mesothelioma which in most cases is malignant is papillary mesothelioma. This is a cancer found predominantly in women as it is a cancer formation in the peritoneum during the reproductively active period. The infected cells are bump shaped and do not spread at a fast pace. The papillary mesothelioma is a benign cancer and there are a number of curative treatments available. The incidence is extremely low for even any research to be carried out. Some cases have also been reported in the testicles of men, ovaries, heart lining and the lung lining as well. But papillary mesothelioma has a high chance of recurrence.

Treatment is mostly surgical, supported by chemotherapy and other methodologies. Though benign the cancer very aggressive and spreads extensively. The symptoms depend on the location of the tumor. The diagnosis involves a number of imaging technologies like x ray or CT scan used to have a clear look at the tumors. Though the prognosis is positive for papillary mesothelioma the recurrence of the disease makes it necessary for the patient to get back to surgery and therapies again and again.

Testicular mesothelioma is also a cancer infection in, the lining layer of the testicles (tunica vaginalis) like the other types of mesothelioma which are pleural mesothelioma (infection of the lung lining), peritoneal mesothelioma (infection of the abdomen lining) and pericardial mesothelioma (infection of the heart lining). Testicular mesothelioma is an extremely rare form of mesothelioma where the number of cases has not even crossed 150 according to the entire cancer research materials and resources available. Mesothelioma is caused due to the asbestos particles settled in the various lining layers, but the unsolved riddle is how these asbestos particles reach the testicles.

The diagnosis and treatments are not well defined at all due to the rarity of the disease. The prognosis and treatment also depends on the whether the testicular mesothelium is primary or secondary. Primary is the case where the cancer is formed in the testicles itself whereas in the secondary the cancer has actually metastasized from some other part of the body, the cause in most cases being the peritoneal mesothelioma.

When a patient is diagnosed with testicular mesothelioma then the treatment option in most cases is surgical removal of the testicles either partially or completely. In case of secondary infection the treatment methodologies require a complete relook to eradicate the primary cancer.