Stages of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma, which is the cancer of the mesothelium arising out of the inhalation of asbestos, is one of those diseases that does not get noticed or diagnosed till it is too late.  Many deaths have occurred without the patients being aware that they were suffering from this disease and that is what makes it so dangerous.  One of the main reasons for this is that some of its symptoms are so similar to pneumonia and cancer of the lungs and the patient gets treated for those diseases, losing valuable time in the process.
Becoming aware of the disease is just half the battle won.  You need to know the extent of the cancer and the stage to be able to take the right treatment.  Two systems are used to determine the stage of cancer in Pleural Mesothelioma and are called the TNM system and the Brighan system.  TNM is very commonly used for detecting the stage of cancer for Peritoneal Mesothelioma in the absence of any other system.
Three important parameters play an important role in the TNM system and they are the tumor, lymph nodes and metastasis.   In the first stage of Mesothelioma, the pleura get covered by only one layer of malignant cells, though the pericardium and the diaphragm may also get affected.
The second stage affects the pleura such that they are covered by two layers and the fluid that is normally created by the pleura, which facilitates the expansion and contraction of the lungs starts getting accumulated in the space between the lungs and the chest wall.  In normal circumstances, surplus fluid is taken in by the lymph and blood, leaving only an appropriate quantity necessary for the smooth functioning of the lungs, but in the second stage of this disease, this fluid remains floating causing breathlessness and pain in the chest.
The third stage involves the spreading of the cancer cells into the areas of the esophagus, chest and lymph nodes and the patient starts experiencing extreme pain in these areas. The last stage is when the cells make their way into the bloodstream and other essential organs like liver and the brain.

Mesothelioma – What is it and how is it diagnosed?

Mesothelioma is a very rare kind of cancer that affects the mesothelium, which itself is the protective shield casing most of the body organs. The primary cause of this disease is exposure to asbestos and the most common organ affected is the pleura of the lungs. Though it is generally assumed that smoking which often causes lung cancer may also be causing mesothelioma, it has been proved that smoking has no role to play in the development of mesothelioma.

The symptoms may not be noticed till about 25 to 30 years after the asbestos exposure, but they can be very disturbing. Typical symptoms are accumulation of fluid in the lungs leading to breathing problems, coughing and pain in the chest. Besides pleural mesothelioma, another condition called peritoneal mesothelioma which is a condition affecting the peritoneum can cause abrupt weight loss, anemia and a high level of clotting. If this is not treated on time, it can progress upwards and result in the neck getting swollen apart from the patient experiencing difficulty in swallowing.

It is often difficult to immediately diagnose this cancer as the patient may exhibit symptoms common to other disorders and it does require investigation at the right time to identify mesothelioma. If a patient has had prior exposure to asbestos, specific chest and lung X-rays are taken to identify any pleural thickening that may have occurred. In that event, a CAT scan as well as an MRI is advised to detect any growth tissues in the pleura and if that is also positive, a biopsy is done to ascertain the presence of any cancerous cells in the pleural fluid. As far as peritoneal mesothelioma is concerned, only a laparoscopy can detect any cancerous cells in the abdomen.

Once diagnosis is complete, the examining doctor identifies the stage of cancer and this is again categorized as localized if it is just restricted to the surface of the membrane and advanced if it has managed to make further inroads into the body.