‘Mesothelioma’

What Is Pathophysiology?

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Understanding MesotheliomaThe 2 subgroups of asbestos are termed amphiboles and serpentines. Amphiboles are continued aciculate fibers with aerial length-to-diameter ratios and are aggressive to dissolution. These fibers abide in the tissues for years. Crocidolite is the amphibole best accessible commercially and is acerb associated with mesothelioma.

Serpentines accept a braid actualization and are added soluble. Chrysotile, the abandoned serpentine, accounts for 80-90% of bartering asbestos acclimated in the United States and Canada. Chrysotile is beneath baneful than crocidolite because of its abate length-to-diameter ratio, added tissue solubility, and addiction to drop in the axial airways. Chrysotile that has been attenuated with tremolite (a noncommercial amphibole) has been appropriate as the alone anatomic account of mesothelioma, although this is not accustomed universally. The apparatus by which asbestos fibers account mesothelioma is not able-bodied understood. One accessible account is that cancerous transformation of beef follows a foreign-body acknowledgment that is acquired by the baffling fibers. (more…)

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Age Groups Most Affected

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Age Groups Most Affected

Mesothelioma has a long latent period between exposure to asbestos and the onset of injury or illness. The latent period can be 15 to 50 years or more. There are also documented cases whose latent period was less than 15 years. It means that a person recently diagnosed with mesothelioma it is likely that for decades has been exposed.

According to NCI (National Cancer Institute), are reported annually in the U.S. Approximately 3,000 cases of malignant mesothelioma. The incidence of mesothelioma appears to increase. Mesothelioma is 3 times more common in men than in women. In men, the feasibility is 10 times higher at ages 60 to 70 years, compared to men between 30 and 40. In the past 50 years, occupational exposure to asbestos in the U.S. are estimated to have affected approximately 8 million people.

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Support Care or Palliative Therapies

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Care or Palliative Therapies

The term palliative care refers to those procedures that relieve symptoms and help patients be more comfortable.

Pleurodesis
Pleurodesis is a procedure sometimes used to control the pleural effusion, or fluid formation between the lungs and the overlying layer. Pleurodesis causes the space between them closes and reduces the possibility of accumulation of fluids. There is a method of pleurodesis using thoracoscopy, which makes a small incision or several small incisions in the skin and inserted a thoracoscope for better observation of the pleura. After applying the sclerosing agent.

Pain Management
Pain management is another way of treating pains associated with mesothelioma.

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Radiation Therapy

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Radiation Therapy

With radiation therapy, is achieved by damaging or destroying cancer cells through intensive treatment of X-rays. Although not a cure for mesothelioma, radiation may be used at various stages of treatment of malignant mesothelioma. Often, radiation is the main treatment for patients with health problems. Radiation can also be used to eliminate small formations of cancer cells that surgery might overlook. When radiation is used in conjunction with surgery, radiation is known as adjuvant.

External Beam Radiation
The form of radiation therapy is best known external irradiation. A machine similar to X-ray focusing intense beams of light directly to the tumor, but from outside the body, thus ending the cancer cells under the skin.

Internal Radiation (Brachytherapy)
When the radiation source is placed inside the body, radiation therapy is called brachytherapy. In the case of mesothelioma, the active materials are placed directly into the chest or abdomen.

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Chemotherapy: Treatment with drugs

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using specific chemical agents or drugs that are only destroying malignant cells and tissues. Your doctor may recommend chemotherapy exclusive of a chemical agent or a combination thereof. The exclusive one chemotherapy agent, as its name implies uses only one. Combination chemotherapy using more than one. Although not a cure for mesothelioma, chemotherapy may help reduce and slow the progression of cancer.

Alimta (Pemetrexed)
Alimta The drug can be prescribed for the treatment of patients with mesothelioma. It indicates the use of Alimta with cisplatin (see below) for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Normally, Alimta is administered through an IV tube. (IV infusion)

Onconase (Ranpirnase)
A new drug called Onconase could help slow the spread of mesothelioma tumors.

Navelbine (Vinorelbine)
Like Alimta, in combination with other chemicals in chemotherapy, Navelbine is used to treat mesothelioma tumors. Clinical trials are still in process and have already begun testing in some patients. Generally, Navelbine administered intravenously.

Carboplatin (Paraplatin)
Carboplatin is a chemotherapy drug that interferes with the growth of cancer cells, slowing their spread in the body. Carboplatin can cause serious side effects. Generally, Carboplatin is administered intravenously.

Cisplatin (Platinol)
Cisplatin is a clear fluid, usually given in combination with other drugs to treat certain types of cancer, including mesothelioma. In the treatment of mesothelioma, cisplatin is administered in combination with Alimta. As is the case with many of the chemotherapy, side effects may occur. Generally, Cisplatin is administered intravenously.

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Pericardial Mesothelioma

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Pericardial MesotheliomaPericardial Mesothelioma is also known as cancer tissue sac containing the heart.

Symptoms may include chest pain and breathing problems. The tumor and / or fluids that accumulate between the heart and the sac can compress the heart, causing breathing problems. Your doctor may diagnose this cancer using a procedure called thorascopy for thoracoscopy, which might in turn require a cut in the chest cavity to remove the tumor.

Patients who develop an excessive amount of fluid around the heart, called an effusion, may be diagnosed with mesothelioma of the pericardium through a sample of fluid. It is also possible to drain the fluid to relieve symptoms of mesothelioma of the pericardium. The process of drainage of these fluids is known as pericardiocentesis.

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The Difference Between Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer

The easiest way to understand the difference between lung cancer and mesothelioma is that lung cancer is in the lung tissue, while pleural mesothelioma occurs in the layer of tissue lining the outside of the lung.

Smoking is considered the primary cause of lung cancer, and asbestos as the primary cause of mesothelioma. Asbestos can also cause lung cancer. Smoking does not cause mesothelioma. People who have been exposed to asbestos and who also smoke have up to 90 times more likely to be affected with lung cancer than those who do not smoke.

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Asbestos Product: Risk of developing mesothelioma

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

asbestos

Who is at risk for developing mesothelioma?
Those who have worked directly with asbestos or asbestos products are most at risk of developing mesothelioma, but have found some cases of mesothelioma in people with minimal exposure.

The professions that have a high risk of developing mesothelioma include:
* Workers with metal plates (including shipbuilding)
* Manufacturers of vehicle bodies (including rail vehicles)
* Plumbers
* Gas Technicians
* Carpenters
* Electricians
* Construction workers
* Plasterer
* Constructors
* “Manitas”
* Steel Installers
* Painting
* Sheet metal workers
* Welders

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Mesothelioma

Friday, January 29th, 2010

mesothelioma x-ray

What is mesothelioma?
Malignant mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that starts in the mesothelium, the membrane that covers and protects most internal organs of the body. The mesothelium is composed of two layers, one surrounding the body itself and the other forms a sac around it epithelium. Usually produces a small amount of fluid between these two layers, which lubricates the movement of the organs protected. When normal cells of the mesothelium lose control and fall rapidly, appears mesothelioma.

The most common form of mesothelioma is mesothelioma pleural which occurs in the lining of the lungs. Other forms are “peritoneal” mesothelioma, affecting the epithelium of the abdominal cavity and mesothelioma “pericardial” which affects the lining of the heart.

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