Pleural Mesothelioma treatment in India

Released Date: 2021-02-19

What is Pleural Mesothelioma?

Construction workers, builders, miners and others who work around asbestos are at risk for pleural mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium).The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining of the abdomen and rarely the sac surrounding the heart, or the sac surrounding the testis may be affected.

Symptoms

Shortness of breath due to fluid around the lung
A swollen abdomen
Chest wall pain
Cough
Feeling tired
Weight loss

Causes/Risk Factors

Personal history of asbestos exposure. If you've been directly exposed to asbestos fibers at work or at home, your risk of mesothelioma is greatly increased.
Living with someone who works with asbestos. People who are exposed to asbestos may carry the fibers home on their skin and clothing. Exposure to these stray fibers over many years can put others in the home at risk of mesothelioma.
A family history of mesothelioma. If your parent, sibling or child has mesothelioma, you may have an increased risk of this disease.
Radiation therapy to the chest. If you had radiation therapy for cancer in your chest, you might have an increased risk of mesothelioma.

Complications

Difficulty breathing
Chest pain
Difficulty swallowing
Pain caused by pressure on the nerves and spinal cord
Accumulation of fluid in the chest (pleural effusion), which can compress the lung nearby and make breathing difficult.

Treatment

Pleural mesothelioma is difficult to treat because it isn’t a solid tumor. The disease can spread along nerves, blood vessels and tissues.

Treatments may include:

Surgery (pleurectomy): A surgeon removes part or all of the pleura. Sometimes, the surgeon also removes the diseased lung.

Pleural Mesothelioma causes and Treatment

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy can shrink the cancer or slow its growth.
Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy treatments are now approved and can also shrink cancer or slow its growth.
Thoracentesis or catheters: These treatments remove excess fluid from the chest to ease breathing. They can reduce symptoms, but they don’t treat the cancer.
Clinical trials: Several therapies show promise in clinical trials. For example, targeted therapy harnesses specific immune-system elements to attack genes and proteins in cancer cells.

Frequently asked questions

Q.What causes pleural mesothelioma?

Asbestos exposure is the main cause of pleural mesothelioma. About 8 out of 10 people with mesothelioma have been exposed to asbestos. When asbestos fibers are breathed in, they travel to the ends of small air passages and reach the pleura, where they can cause inflammation and scarring.

Q.How long do you live after being diagnosed with mesothelioma?

The life expectancy for mesothelioma patients is approximately 12 to 16 months. Pleural mesothelioma patients can live 19 to 21 months depending on the stage of cancer at diagnosis.

Q.How do I know if I have asbestos in my lungs?

Shortness of breath.
A persistent, dry cough.
Loss of appetite with weight loss.

Q.Can lungs heal from asbestos?

No known method exists to remove asbestos fibers from the lungs once they are inhaled. Some types of asbestos are cleared naturally by the lungs or break down in the lungs.

Q.Is there a test for mesothelioma?

Biopsy. A biopsy is the main test used to diagnose mesothelioma. A doctor will remove a sample of tissue for a specialist called a pathologist to examine under a microscope. The pathologist can then determine if the tumour is mesothelioma and, if so, the type of mesothelioma cells present.

Q.What is the best treatment for mesothelioma?

Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC)

This is the most effective mesothelioma treatment option for this type of the cancer. Doctors deliver heated chemotherapy drugs into the abdominal cavity after surgery. The process kills remaining cancer cells.