Pleural mesothelioma is a deadly and painful form of cancer that targets the lining of the lungs. When the cancer has spread, physicians call it diffuse pleural mesothelioma.
Pleural mesothelioma begins when a person breathes in asbestos fibers, usually as part of their job. Asbestos is a natural mineral, resistant to heat, fire, and electricity. Until the late 1970s, it was widely used in the automotive, building, fireproofing, roofing, and shipbuilding industries. Many adhesives, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, paint, and plastics contained asbestos. Easily released into the air, asbestos fibers are tiny, allowing workers to breathe them into their lungs. The above industries no longer use asbestos. Asbestos removal is a tedious process using protective clothing and respirators.
The asbestos fibers enter the body and move through the pleura region, puncturing the lung lining responsible for producing the pleural fluids that help the lungs move. In pleural mesothelioma, a cancerous tumor forms in the lung lining.
The latency period for pleural mesothelioma can be up to fifty years with symptoms remaining dormant after exposure. By the time symptoms appear, the pleural mesothelioma has usually progressed. Also adding difficulty, the symptoms of pleural mesothelioma are common and with such a long incubation period after exposure, a physician may treat you for the wrong illness.
The common symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include appetite loss, back pain, coughing up blood, chest pain, difficulty swallowing, coughing, fever, fluid in the lung lining, hoarseness, loss of senses, lung failure, paralysis, rib pain, shortness of breath, swelling, weakness, and/or weight loss.
Treatment options for pleural mesothelioma depend on the extent the cancer has progressed. Other factors include the patient's age, health, and medical history. Typical treatment options for pleural mesothelioma include:
Chemotherapy - The most common treatment for pleural mesothelioma, chemotherapy may kill cancerous cells.
Radiation - Radiation therapy may shrink a pleural mesothelioma tumor and kill cancer cells.
Surgery - Surgery for pleural mesothelioma involves removing portions of the lung lining, lung, and possibly part of the thoracic cavity.
New treatments for pleural mesothelioma include dual therapy, intraoperative photodynamic therapy, immunoaugmentative therapy, gene therapy, and alternative medicine.
An easy cure for pleural mesothelioma may be just around the corner. If you have had past exposure to asbestos, get tested immediately for the three types of mesothelioma: peritoneal mesothelioma (cancer of the abdominal lining), pleural mesothelioma (cancer of the lung lining), or pericardial mesothelioma (cancer of the heart lining).
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