Prognosis Mesothelioma

About 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year. After the patient is diagnosed, the doctor will likely discuss their prognosis. The best way to avoid a poor prognosis of mesothelioma is through early detection. The extent of factors related to mesothelioma prognosis in Jevuska's blog will be described further as follows.

What are the factors that affect the prognosis of mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma progonosis is generally undiagnosed until the later stages of development. In addition, the symptoms of mesothelioma are very common and often resemble less serious conditions, which can make it difficult in diagnosing cancer. As a result, the prognosis for the majority of patients is very poor, but many doctors may recommend mesothelioma treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to help combat the disease.

Mesothelioma cancer diseases there are several stages, from stage one to stage four. Unfortunately, once mesothelioma cancer has reached the third or fourth stage, treatment options not only become more limited, but less effective as well.

In addition to the stage of cancer and patient age, other factors that influence the prognosis include:

• Types of mesothelioma - pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma or testicular mesothelioma
• Size of tumor
• The location of the mesothelioma tumor and whether it can be performed by surgery
• Levels of other symptoms, including fluid in the lungs or stomach
• Whether the patient is a smoker or not

Malignant mesothelioma cancer is usually diagnosed in individuals over 55 years, although there are exceptions of course. Some patients already have some medical problems caused by old age, making treatment more difficult and increasing the prognosis of mesothelioma worse in patients.

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy: Comparison of Cisplatin & Carboplatin

A mesothelioma article was recently published in the scientific journal Lung Cancer that examines the benefits and costs of combination of Cisplatin and Pemetrexed with Carboplatin and Pemetrexed for mesothelioma chemotherapy.

Cystplatin and Pemetrexed combination chemotherapy is one of several chemotherapy options that have proven successful enough to treat patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) mesothelioma, but this combination can be highly toxic to the body. There is no treatment and treatment for malignant mesothelioma cancer without any undesirable side effects.

In the journal the authors note that 'two random phases of the study in phase III show a benefit for the prognosis of mesothelioma with the use of antifolates such as raltitrexed or Pemetrexed, when combined with Cisplatin. The study has shown an absolute increase in overall survival averaging 2.6 and 2.8 months, compared with single treatment for Cisplatin. This has led many institutions to use Cisplatin and Pemetrexed as standard of palliative chemotherapy treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma. '

Unfortunately, the combination of Cisplatin and Pemetrexed produces unwanted toxic effects and this prompted researchers to study other chemotherapy drugs to be combined with Pemetrexed. The researchers said, 'Recently, two phase II trials have been evaluated for the efficacy of Carboplatin and Pemetrexed in MPM. Both studies showed an overall response rate of 18.6 and 25%, with an average survival rate of 12.7 and 14 months. As a result of this result, we have performed a retrospective analysis of MPM patients treated with Carboplatin and Pemetrexed at our institution. '

In an attempt to find a combination of mesothelioma chemotherapy with little toxicity and side effects, the researchers investigated further by replacing Cisplatin with Carboplatin when paired with Pemetrexed. Using a retrospective approach, researchers evaluated 49 cases of malignant pleural mesothelioma given a combination of Carboplatin and Pemetrexed and compared the results with data combining Cisplatin chemotherapy with Pemetrexed.

The degree of disease control (known in the absence of a progressive mesothelioma via CT scan) for the patient was 69 percent, and the partial response and the percentage of disease stability by 28 percent and 41 percent. The clinical increase shown in the figure was 69 percent, the majority of patients reporting an increase in profits after two cycles of chemotherapy. Toxicity is generally low and better than Cisplatin toxicity with Pemetrexed.

The median time of treatment failure was 4.6 months. The mean overall survival in this study was 14 months, which compared with Cisplatin-pemetrexed for 12.1 months. The researchers point out, 'In conclusion, our data show a combination of Carboplatin and Pemetrexed may be an option in the treatment of mesothelioma, especially in patients with problems with the use of Cisplatin.'

Pleural differences in mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma

Mesothelioma cancer is a disease in which the tumor / cancer grows in the mesothelium layer - the internal body cavity layer (inside). Giving a specific name of this type of mesothelioma depends on the location of the tissue where the cancer begins to develop.

Pleural mesothelioma begins in the chest, the pleura that surrounds the lungs (the outer lining of the lungs and the internal chest wall). The percentage of pleural mesothelioma is about 70% of all cases of mesothelioma. While peritoneal mesothelioma begin to develop in the lining of the abdominal cavity.
Although sometimes referred to as 'asbestos lung cancer / asbestos lung cancer', mesothelioma is not the same as lung cancer. Lung cancer occurs within the lungs itself; whereas mesothelioma cancer, especially pleural mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the lungs. Cases of mesothelioma disease has been infecting many people in the world, for example 3000 Americans every year affected by cancer. Malignant mesothelioma cancer is indeed mostly happening in industrialized countries.

Mesothelioma Treatment with Photodynamic Therapy

Several experimental therapies are currently being performed for the treatment of mesothelioma cancer, one of the most promising is a technique called Photodynamic Therapy (PDT).

Mesothelioma or commonly called asbestos cancer, is a very aggressive and deadly cancer, it affects the lining of the chest (pleural mesothelioma) and the abdominal cavity (peritoneal mesothelioma), is generally less responsive to traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. A number of other treatments, such as gene therapy, immunotherapy and alternative approaches can provide hope for mesothelioma cancer patients.

Photodynamic therapy or photodynamic therapy is one type of mesothelioma treatment that is very promising in the future. This method combines three separate elements: nontoxic, photosensitizing compound, oxygen and visible light. Photodynamic therapy targets mesothelioma cancer cells. Usually given during or after surgery to remove the remaining part of the tumor.

Unlike the case with chemotherapy and radiation, which tend to have a burning effect on the patient's body, Photodynamic Therapy gives a clear advantage that it does not kill healthy cells-non-cancerous cells. This means that the side effects of mesothelioma cancer treatment can be reduced and of course the prognosis of mesothelioma will be better.

In America, Photodynamic Therapy has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration - a POM agency such as in Indonesia - for some cancers, although its use to treat mesothelioma is still in the experimental stage.

There are about 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma cancer diagnosed each year in the United States, and around the world, and there have been 20,000 people dying of the disease each year. Nearly all mesothelioma diagnoses are associated with contact with asbestos, a mineral material that has been incorporated into a variety of commercial products that can make fireproof. Although the use of asbestos peaked in the 1970s, mesothelioma has a very long latent period for diagnosis and therefore can not be diagnosed within just a year, or even decades after contact.


Credit:
www.asbestos.net
Photo: www.burtonhospitals.nhs.uk

Mesothelioma Histology: Description of mesothelioma cancer cells

The histologic features of mesothelioma cancer consist of epithelial cells or fibrous cells and may be both. The histology of mesothelioma epithelial cells sometimes causes confusion with perapheral anaplastic lung carcinomas or metastatic carcinomas. The attempt to diagnose mesothelioma with cytology or pleural needle biopsy is often unsuccessful. This makes it a little difficult to differentiate mesothelioma with adenocarcinoma in small tissue specimens.

Photodynamic Therapy Techniques help in the treatment of Mesothelioma
Thoracoscopy action is useful in obtaining specimens for diagnostic purposes. Mesothelioma cancer examination on the operation and use of stain or electron microscope can often be helpful. Specific strains were reported to be most useful for mesothelioma histologic features, special stains including acid-Schiff diastase, hyaluronic acid, mucicarmine, CEA, and Leu M1.

Symptoms of Mesothelioma Cancer
The histologic features of mesothelioma cells greatly affect the progonosis of mesothelioma, and most studies show that mesothelioma patients with epithelial cells provide a better prognosis than histologic images of sarcomatous or mixed cell mesothelioma.

The Mesothelioma vaccine proved safe

According to a recent study conducted by a cancer research laboratory in the Netherlands, the newest new vaccine for mesothelioma can prevent and treat mesothelioma, a form of cancer that comes from exposure to asbestos. Researchers have tested vaccines in 10 patients who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, with all of them showing elevated levels of antibodies to the disease and three of them suggest that the tumor has decreased in size.

What are the symptoms of mesothelioma cancer?

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, explains how vaccines work by creating dendritic antigen cells in malignant mesothelioma tumors in the fluid layer in the patient's lungs. Dr Joachim Aerts, the study author and lung specialist at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, said the approach using the patient's immune system is useful for attacking the tumor and creating immunity to the disease, rather than using conventional radiation or with chemotherapy treatments.

How is histologic mesothelioma?

Dr Aerts says that this is one of the relatively new forms of treatment for a cancer called immunotherapy. The mesothelioma vaccine can be used and relatively safer, with few side effects when compared with current treatment methods. He expressed the hope that further studies could improve the survival rate of patients with mesothelioma disease. Currently, patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, the prognosis of their life is less than two years.

Patients who have been exposed to asbestos usually do not show symptoms of mesothelioma for several years, or even decades, after the initial exposure period. At that time, mesothelioma metastases will continue to run in the lungs and seep into other organs. The other side of the study is that vaccines can be a direct treatment for workers exposed to asbestos.

Although the side effects shown by patients in the study were not as severe as those experienced by chemotherapy or radiation treatments, one potential effect comes from changes in the patient's immune system during immunotherapy. The study noted that patients recovered quickly and showed no signs of autoimmune disease.

The difference between pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma
Dr Aerts notes that there are potential problems in immunosuppressive disorders. He said that the main problem for the treatment of mesothelioma is that the tumor creates an environment in the pleural mesothelium that can reduce the effects of the vaccine. He mentioned that the next step in vaccine development is how to give immunosuppressive around the cancer to improve the effectiveness of the treatment.

Dr. Aerts and his fellow researchers have done a number of tests on the effects on dendritic cells and how they can affect cancerous tumors in mice. Previous research has shown that vaccinations produce the antibodies necessary to destroy malignant cells and keep the surrounding healthy tissue to produce specific immunity.

Real Story: Diagnosis of Mesothelioma in children 12 years

Taylor Boerem, a 12-year-old boy was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma. Taylor was diagnosed with stage 4 mesothelioma peritoneally on March 24, 2010. Mesothelioma is an almost rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Most cases consist of pleural mesothelioma types and develop in the lungs, but peritoneal mesothelioma develops in the lining of the stomach.

It is very rare for people of Taylor age who are diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma cancer. From the time a person is exposed to asbestos, symptoms often occur between 20 and 50 years to appear. However, young children exposed to asbestos are more susceptible to the development of this disease than adults.

Taylor's parents, Trevor and Mary Boerem, saw their son lose weight, fatigue, headache, nausea and night sweats, all of which were malignant mesothelioma symptoms. The family initially tried chiropractic care before undergoing exploratory surgery on March 19, 2010.

After evaluating the results and additional tests, cancer has been widely found around the stomach. Mrs. Boerem said that research shows Taylor is the sixth child to be diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma and he is the youngest person currently affected by cancer.

Taylor has undergone surgery and other treatments at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Referring to Taylor's condition, Mrs. Boerem said, 'He has heard from others about the prognosis of this mesothelioma.'

Reference
Asbestos.com News June 18, 2010