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What Is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the protective linings (mesothelium) that cover different organs. Mesothelioma is becoming a well-known health crisis due to its association with asbestos exposure. By nature, mesothelioma takes 10-50 years to produce symptoms after the initial asbestos exposure, making a diagnosis shocking and devastating to patients and their families.
Depending on how the cancer forms, it can affect the linings of the lungs and chest (pleura), the abdominal organs (peritoneum) or the heart (pericardium).
Pleural Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma located within the protective lining that covers the lungs and chest wall (pleura). It accounts for roughly 80-85% of all mesothelioma cases that are diagnosed. Pleural mesothelioma is aggressive and has a poor prognosis. Ongoing research into pleural mesothelioma treatments is giving patients a better chance at long-term survival by combining chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery along with new and promising therapies.
Pleural Mesothelioma Symptoms
Chest pain
Dry, persistent cough
Difficulty breathing
Fluid buildup in the lungs (pleural effusions)
Unexplained weight loss
Fever
Fatigue
Peritoneal Mesothelioma
When mesothelioma forms in the lining of the abdominal organs (peritoneum) it’s called peritoneal mesothelioma. The second most common form of the disease, peritoneal mesothelioma accounts for 15-20% of mesothelioma cases.
With the best prognosis of all three primary disease locations, peritoneal mesothelioma patients benefit from effective multimodal treatments involving surgery and direct chemotherapy.
Pericardial Mesothelioma
Pericardial mesothelioma occurs when mesothelioma tumors form in the protective sac that covers the heart organ (pericardium). The rarest form of the disease, pericardial mesothelioma accounts of less than 1% of all known mesothelioma cases.
Researchers are still unsure of how pericardial mesothelioma forms—an understanding made more difficult by the fact that the majority of cases aren’t diagnosed until autopsy.
Pericardial Mesothelioma Symptoms
Chest pain
Difficulty breathing
Heart irregularities (palpitations and murmurs)
Fluid buildup in the heart sac (pericardial effusions)
Heart inflammation (pericarditis)
Fever
Fatigue
Who Gets Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma can affect anyone, at any age, and of any background. Sadly, it can affect even the healthiest and most active people, including young adults. However, mesothelioma predominantly affects older people over the age of 65, and the vast majority are males.
Roughly 30% of mesothelioma victims are veterans, with the majority of these victims being past Navy members.
The reason mesothelioma affects this older male demographic, is because it’s caused by asbestos. As an industrial and construction material, it was mostly men who were exposed to asbestos during their careers in the military or emergency services, or as mechanics, construction workers or other industrial trades.
Because asbestos exposure is the direct cause of mesothelioma, many victims wonder about what asbestos is and how it can cause such a deadly disease. They may feel confused and seek out answers as to why asbestos was even used in the first place. Frustration is common, and empowering yourself with information regarding asbestos use and mesothelioma can help you to cope with your diagnosis.
What Causes Mesothelioma?
Asbestos is the only known cause of developing mesothelioma. Classified as a group of minerals, asbestos is extracted from the ground in places around the world, including the United States and Canada. When asbestos mining began in the mid 20th Century, it was seen as a tremendous industrial discovery. Asbestos was used extensively in the military and construction projects across the globe.
It soon became apparent to asbestos producers that there were severe health risks associated with handling asbestos. Instead of informing asbestos purchasers of these dangers, the manufacturers ignored the signs in what is now considered a well-known cover-up attempt.
How Asbestos Leads to Mesothelioma
Asbestos is dangerous because if distributed through handling, it releases its fibers into the air. Anyone working around the materials is at risk of inhaling or ingesting asbestos fibers. However, because the fibers are so tiny, victims never know they’re swallowing or breathing them in.
After inhaling or ingesting asbestos fibers, mesothelioma victims feel no effect. Instead, the fibers remain unnoticed inside the body and make their way into the deep tissue linings of the lungs, abdomen or heart. Where the fibers end up depends on how you contacted the asbestos. You could have breathed them in, or you could have swallowed them if they ended up in your drinking water or food.
The Mesothelioma Formation Process:
Over time, the asbestos fibers further lodge themselves deeper and deeper into the mesothelium of the organs.
Following decades of dormancy, the fibers can start to irritate the tissues, causing inflammatory reactions within healthy cells.
After enough irritation, the once healthy cells may become triggered and turn into abnormal, cancer cells.
When enough cancer cells form within the organ linings, they can soon outnumber healthy cells. As cancer cells clump together and form tumors (masses of cancerous tissue), it becomes the condition known as mesothelioma.
What’s My Life Expectancy?
The general life expectancy for mesothelioma patients is very short compared to some other, more well-researched cancers, like lung and breast cancers.
After diagnosis, the average mesothelioma life expectancy is only 12 to 21 months.
It’s important to note that mesothelioma statistics are based on historical data and don’t always reflect the truth about what a mesothelioma patient can expect. The truth is that mesothelioma affects each patient differently. Your life expectancy has a lot to do with your individual circumstances.
Some factors that will determine your life expectancy include:
Where the mesothelioma is located
The mesothelioma cell-type
The stage at which you were diagnosed
Your body’s response to treatments
Your age and personal health level, including lifestyle and medical history
For example, if doctors detect mesothelioma in the early stages, the average life expectancy is greater than 21 months. But late-stage mesothelioma patients have an average life expectancy of only 12 months.
Mesothelioma Survival Rates
Doctors determine your life expectancy based on your unique case as well as past cases that they can draw expectations from. One of the ways doctors determine life expectancy is by looking at survival rates of mesothelioma.
By taking a specific timeframe and determining the percentage of people who survived that long, experts come up with the “survival rate”. Here are examples of mesothelioma survival rates that may indicate how long patients will live after diagnosis:
Some patients don’t wish to see survival statistics.
Here are some of the typical mesothelioma survival rates:
55% of patients survive 6 months
33% of patients survival 1 year
9% of patients survive 5 years
Though these statistics may seem bleak, it’s important for mesothelioma patients to know that these numbers encompass decades of cases. In earlier years, mesothelioma was virtually untreatable as little was known about it.
Today, long-term survivorship has improved dramatically thanks to new therapies and better research. With aggressive treatments, many patients have survived longer than 10 years, and there are many long-term survivors still alive today.
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