survivability rates among different cancers and remains
extraordinarily difficult to treat. While research is ongoing and our
knowledge of the disease is definitely increasing faster than it ever
has, doctors know an actual cure is still years away.
Advanced Mesothelioma Prognosis
By Peter Kingston
There are a variety of details in the advancement of a person's
mesothelioma prognosis and fine differences amongst these details may
have a dramatic impact on the course the disease will take. The
statistical models employed in mesothelioma often miss the
extraordinary differences between a person's stated
prognosis/diagnosis and the way in which the disease actually impacts
his or her life.
Photo: emesotheliomainformation.com
Stage is important for determining mesothelioma prognosis because it
can be for other cancers. However, mesothelioma stats are hard to
find, and the stats that exist are unreliable. Early diagnosis and
remedy are a lot of important in looking for a favorable mesothelioma
prognosis. Since mesothelioma is usually diagnosed at an advanced
stage, the statistics for you to five year survival are usually
unreliable. At Stage IV, mesothelioma has spread to other organs, and
since a cure is not possible, the mesothelioma prognosis is poor.
Remedy at this stage consists mainly of pain management and supportive
care.
The latency period with this disease is usually 10 to 30 years, and
symptoms include breathing difficulties and a decrease in the
elasticity of the lungs. Effusions, both pleural and peritoneal,
represent major symptomatic problems for at least two thirds of the
patients. Unfortunately, the duration of symptom control is
short-lived. Single agent and combined chemotherapy have reported
higher response rates in STAGE II patients, however the toxicity
reported is also higher and there is no evidence which combination
treatments cause longer survival or longer control of the symptoms.
Diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma begins with a thorough medical
history to document the patient's symptoms and any conceivable
asbestos exposure, followed by a complete physical examination. These
steps are generally followed by a chest or abdominal x-ray, computed
tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. The symptoms of mesothelioma
are similar to other lung diseases and cancers.
The severity of the affliction varies from person to person, but in
most cases the onset of Pleural Mesothelioma is usually very slow with
the alot of frequent presenting symptom being persistent pain
localized in the chest. Sometimes the pain is accompanied by severe
difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath. The advancement of
asbestosis symptoms including coughing, breathlessness and chest pain
typically prompts a sufferer to seek medical attention. Following an
initial physical assessment of the patient, a physician will employ
the use of a chest imaging scan (x-ray, MRI, CT scan) thus as to view
the lungs.
Mesothelioma patients have such common symptoms which the MD can not
even consider the illness to be asbestos-related let alone malignant
mesothelioma. This is a symptom that develops in the later stages of
the disease. However, it is critical to note which these tumors are
able to spread to various parts of the body, affecting various organs.
Surgery, while used successfully for palliative control of symptoms,
has only minimal effect on median survival times whenever used because
a radical treatment. Extra pleural pneumonectomy, defined as a
"radical treatment" is associated with a median survival of 15-24
months.
Typically, mesothelioma takes 10 to 50 years to develop, and during
this latency period, sufferers may have no symptoms. Furthermore,
mesothelioma happens more often in men than in patient and risk
increases with age. Pleurectomy/decortication can be performed to
relieve symptoms in pleural mesothelioma. Other procedures such as
thoracentesis may be performed to drain pleural effusions and prevent
them from recurring. Other symptoms include hoarseness, coughing up
blood, swelling of the face and arms, muscle weakness, and sensory
loss.
Learn more about Mesothelioma and Asbestos related disease here
Asbestos Related Disease and also here Mesothelioma Prognosis.
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