Malignant mesothelioma is a type of cancer that usually affects people who have been exposed to and have breathed asbestos while doing jobs that involved exposure to it. This cancer affects the lining of the pleura (i.e. membrane encompassing the lungs and lining the walls of the pleural cavity) and peritoneum (i.e. the lining of the abdominal cavity). As with most cancers, early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment of malignant mesothelioma.

Some of the symptoms that might indicate this cancer and necessitate a visit to the doctor are:

• Swelling or pain in the abdomen.
• Chest pain.
• Persistent cough.
• Feeling of shortness of breath.

However, since these symptoms are not very unique and can also occur in many other ailments, it is difficult to know whether malignant mesothelioma is to blame.

To diagnose whether you have malignant mesothelioma, the doctor usually has to look inside your chest and abdominal cavities. This is usually accomplished by use of a thoracoscope, which is used to view the insides of the chest cavity. This procedure is called thoracoscopy. To view the insides of the abdominal cavity, the doctor may use peritoneoscope or laparoscope.

If any abnormal tissue is found on the above tests, then the doctor may choose to biopsy (take a small piece of tissue for examination.) This abnormal tissue would then be examined under a microscope for evaluating if any cancer cells are present in the specimen.

If indeed any cancer cells are present, your prognosis would depend upon:

• How the cancer cells look on microscopic examination.
• Size of the cancer.
• Location of the cancer.
• Your age.
• Your general state of health.
• Extent of spread of the cancer to other parts.

What is Meant by Stages:

Staging a cancer is basically the process of finding out how far your cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Based on the stage, the doctor can then formulate a treatment plan. The stages are:

Stage I:  In this stage, the cancer is localized and can be found in the lining of the chest cavity, close to the heart and lungs.

Stage II:  In this stage, the cancer usually would have spread to adjacent areas.

Stage III:  This would be a much advanced stage, whereby the cancer would have spread to the chest wall, heart, and generally to a much larger area of your body.

Stage IV:  This would be the stage where the cancer would have progressed to involved distant organs and tissues, this being the most advanced stage of the disease.

The treatment options in malignant mesothelioma patients are usually:

Surgical: This basically involves surgery to take out the cancer. The surgical option is the most common option for treatment of malignant mesothelioma. This involves partial removal of the lining of the chest and abdomen and perhaps some additional tissue. Sometimes a pneumonectomy (i.e. removal of a lung) may be performed too if the cancer has spread to affect one of the lungs.

Radiation:  This involves using radiation to kill the cancer cells. This option utilizes x-rays to bombard the cancer cells in hopes of killing it or shrinking the tumor. Radiation may be introduced by 2 methods (1) External or (2) Internal. In the external method, radiation is introduced from outside the body. In the internal method, substances that produce radiation (i.e. radioisotopes) are introduced to the specific area of cancer to try and kill the cancer cells.

Chemotherapy:  This would involve using drugs to combat the cancer. The drugs maybe administered either in the form of pills or through the intravenous route. For mesothelioma, chemotherapy may also be administered directly into the chest (they call it intrapleural chemotherapy).