Pleural mesothelioma is a disease that affects the lungs of mucus or pulmonary pleura. Sometimes doctors refer to the disease as a mesothelioma of the pleura. There is a common error that mesothelioma is a type of primary lung cancer; it is not. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the serous skin. These membranes comprise a series of bodies along the middle part of the body, including the lungs. The most common type of mesothelioma, pleura mesothelioma affects the serous membranes of the lung.
Mesothelioma can also affect the serous membranes affecting the abdomen, called peritoneal mesothelioma, and the membranes around the heart or pericardial mesothelioma. When mesothelioma spreads in the lungs of serous lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart, secondary lung cancer is considered. In addition, pleural mesothelioma is sometimes called asbestos lung. Technically speaking, cancerous diseases that do not arise in the lung are not considered lung cancer; Thus, terms such as lung cancer and secondary cancer asbestos lungs (pleural mesothelioma) are misleading. Asbestosis is a type of asbestos pulmonary disease that originates in the lungs and is often confused with mesothelioma.
Cancer Pleural Mesothelioma
Pleura mesothelioma cancer accounts for about 75 percent of all mesothelioma cases. This disease is caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers, which then settle in the lungs. These asbestos fibers are integrated into the pulmonary lining (pleura). Over time, they cause chronic inflammation that eventually leads to the growth of cancer tumors or, in some cases, asbestosis.
The cancer pleuramesothelioma rule appears as a multiple tumor mass which affects the parietal region (outside, furthest from the lung) and the visceral surface (inside, closer to the lung) of the pleura. Typically, the parietal surface has more involvement as a visceral surface. There is a slightly higher incidence of mesothelioma in the right lung, apparently due to the fact that the right lung is larger and has a larger pleural surface. In addition, the lower lung generally has more tumor mass than the upper lung. It is thought that this is due to gravitational factors, as the asbestos fibers are deposited in the lung after inhalation.
Large scab pleura is usually observed in patients after the diagnosis. Gradually, as the disease progresses, these eruptions result in complete eradication of the lung cavity. The tumors can spread to the lungs to other organs, including the heart and the abdomen. Mesothelioma can also penetrate the lymph nodes and the circulatory system.
Tumors unrelated to pleural mesothelioma also show up in the pleura. These tumors begin in other parts of the body and metastasize into the pleura. The most common form of non-pleural mesothelioma cancer that occurs is lung cancer, which accounts for about 36 percent of the cancer accounts that occur in the pleura. The most common types are breast cancer (25%), ovarian carcinoma (5%) and stomach cancer (2%). Lymphoma also accounts for a small proportion of cancer that metastasizes to the pleura.
Pleural mesothelioma symptoms
The most common symptom in patients with pleural mesothelioma is chest pain. However, the pain is often not directly associated with the pulmonary pleura and often appears in the shoulder or upper abdomen. Breathlessness, the so-called dyspnoea, is also a symptom. A cough, weight loss and loss of appetite are in some patients, but they are less common. Finally, the rapid growth of tumors of pleural mesothelioma increases the pleural space, which makes them fill with fluid. Often, this accumulation of known as pleural effusion names causes discomfort or pain associated with the first detection of the disease.
Patients with pleural mesothelioma have the three types of cancer mesothelioma cells: the epithelioid mesothelioma, sarcomatoid mesothelioma, and two-phase mesothelioma.
Prognosis of pleural mesothelioma
The prognosis of malignant mesothelioma for most patients is gloomy. In a study of 167 patients with confirmed pleural mesothelioma, the median survival of the patients after the diagnosis was 242 days. The survival rate was also affected by the type of mesothelioma cancer cells; Patients with two-phase types of cells expect shorter life.