What is mesothelioma and malignant mesothelioma

This is the most common type of mesothelioma and is caused due to exposure to articles that contains asbestos. Pleural mesothelioma can occur either as an immediate response to such exposure, or several years can lapse between the exposure and occurance of pleural mesothelioma. Symptoms of this can be chronic weakness, pain in swallowing, severe coughing, lower-back ache, chest pain, sudden weight loss and difficulty in breathing. Very often, pleural mesothelioma can be detected without the presence of symptoms also, either due to a tumor or detected in the course of a routine check-up.

In the detection and treatment of pleural mesothelioma, an x-ray or a CT scan and a bronchoscopy must begin the procedure. Biopsy is also needed wherein a sample of the tissue affected is taken out surgically and tested. Although unfortunately there is no permanent cure for pleural mesothelioma, once detected, it can be treated using chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy, and other drugs which aid in reducing the pain. The survival time for patients who have been detected with pleural mesothelioma depends upon the severity of it, or the stage which it has reached. The average survival time is one year, though patients have also been seen to live for five or ten years with proper treatment.

Malignant mesothelioma is used to refer to a cancer of the mesothelium. These are the serous membranes that cover and protect vital organs such as the heart, lungs and abdomen and prevent them from the harms of abrasion or other damage caused during daily activities like pumping of the heart or breathing. Malignant mesothelioma can be of three types, namely, peritoneal mesothelioma (cancer of the membrane surrounding the abdomen), pericardial mesothelioma (cancer of the membrane surrounding the heart) and pleural mesothelioma (cancer of the membrane surrounding the lungs).

All types of mesothelioma are supposed to be malignant or cancerous. They usually begin as a tumor in a specific area and then spread quickly to affect the surrounding cells and tissues. Exposure to asbestos is the most common cause for this disease and though there is no permanent cure for malignant mesothelioma, treatment and rate of survival depend on the specific type of the disease.