Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that directly attacks the mesothelium – the protective outer lining of internal body organs like heart, lungs and stomach. The major cause of the disease is exposure to asbestos. Following exposure to asbestos, the mesothelium cells lose their self-destructive capacity instead go on dividing rapidly, leading to cancerous growths. Mesothelioma symptoms, however, take a long time to be manifest.
There are main three types of Mesothelioma – Pleural, Pericardial and Peritoneal. The classification is done based on the origin of the disease. Researches reveal that a majority of the Mesothelioma cases, say about 75% are pleural. Pericardial Mesothelioma is detected in only 20% of patients; Peritoneal Mesothelioma is the rarest of Mesothelioma types and affects the remaining 5%. The statistics only consider the documented cases; ample cases simply go undiagnosed or undocumented.
Pleural Mesothelioma
Although Mesothelioma forms only a small percentage among various types of cancer, majority of Mesothelioma patients develop Pleural Mesothelioma. Pleural Mesothelioma is characterized by accumulation of fluid between the mesothelium lining and the chest.
This disease strikes when asbestos particles and fibers inhaled get lodged in the mesothelium; however, the disease lies dormant for a prolonged period and the symptoms make appearance decades later, say after 20 to 50 years. By the time the cancerous growths are detected, the disease usually reaches an advanced stage and even spreads to other parts of the body.
Symptoms of this disease include fever, breathing difficulties, panting, coughing and chest pain. The symptoms of this disease are very often confused with pneumonia, which makes diagnosis all the more difficult.
Pericardial Mesothelioma
A fatal form of Mesothelioma, it involves the mesothelium linings of the heart. The main symptoms of the disease include breathing problems, fever, chest pain, exhaustion, persistent coughing and rapid palpitations. In the advanced stages, the lining of the heart becomes thick and fluids starts accumulating in the heart. Further, it may also spread to other parts of the body.
Like the other types of Mesothelioma, cure for Pericardial Mesothelioma is yet to be arrived at. Of course, a number of treatments like surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy are used to alleviate the symptoms of the disease; these allow the patients to lead a pain-free life.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Peritoneal Mesothelioma directly affects the abdomen of the patient. This disease leads to malfunctioning of the mesothelium cells in abdomen. Similar to other types of Mesothelioma, oral/nasal inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers is cited as one of the main causes of this disease.
In this case, the fibers move through the digestive track and settle down in some corner of the intestine. As a result, the lining in this part of the body divides rapidly and the cells live longer. This leads to the development of tumors in the abdomen.
Some of the major symptoms of the Peritoneal Mesothelioma are constipation, nausea, vomiting, fever, loss of weight, chest pain, breathing difficulties and severe abdominal pain. Like other types of Mesothelioma, this disease can also be diagnosed through several techniques like Laparoscopy, Laparotomy, MRI, PET, IT scans, X-ray and others.
