Mesothelioma Treatment

There is no effective treatment for mesothelioma. But good treatment outcome in patients with early stage of mesothelioma. 

Most people use a combination therapy, called multimodal therapy. Handling classics such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy less effect on curing diseases and life skills. Pleuropneumonektomi radical surgery such as; as single-modality treatment, also showed no improvement on life skills. But management trimodaliti with pleuronektomi ekstrapleural and adjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical external radiation to be hemitoraks help the ability to live up to 5 years by 45% for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma of epithelial limited and there is no spread to the mediastinum. But radical action is intended only for a particular patient. 

Radiotherapy can not cure, but it is usually used to prevent further infiltration of the tumor and treat chest pain. Chemotherapy did not work, either act alone or in combination with other measures. To improve the ability of malignant pleural mesothelioma survival, new therapeutic strategies try to use the base immunotherapy or gene therapy. Gamma interferon is used intrapleura results are quite good in limited-stage disease. 

Mechanism of action of antitumor of gamma interferon is a complex, inter alia: (1) direct antiproliferative effect on

tumor cells, (2) pleural macrophage activation into cytotoxic to tumor cells, and (3) activation of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells by cytokines released by the macrophages.

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Mesothelioma Diagnosis is difficult, it requires special inspection, and experienced experts. However, the first step is to do chest X-ray or CT-scan, and then usually followed by action bronkoskopy. Invasive tumor spread directly into surrounding tissue. When deployment into, will compress the lungs. When spread out would invade the chest wall and ribs, this situation makes the patient feel very sick.

Medical science still can not answer at the cellular level, why and how asbestos fibers cause mesotelial cells become abnormal (malignant or cancerous). Similarly unknown if only one fiber cause tumors or if need more fiber to the occurrence of mesotheliomas. The development of these tumors do not depend on the development of other factors. Suspected that the malignant cells are found in the tumor occurs due to genetic factors which occur cell transformation.

Mesothelioma Symptoms

Mesothelioma is a cancer that occurs in the line of cells outside the lung, pleura or located within the cavity peritoenum. The disorder is usually associated with asbestos exposure on the job and
began to rise in some countries. Pleural mesotheliomas are of two types: (1) diffuse and malignant (cancer), and (2) is localized and benign.

Symptoms begin to appear 20 years after exposure. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare tumor, but in epidemiology insidensnya increased sharply. Some reports indicate that mesothelioma associated with exposure to asbestos found as many as 60-80% of cases. There is little data on the disease. The risk seems related to the dose / amount of levels of asbestos in the lungs. Mesotheliomas that occur due to exposure to asbestos can lead to fatality in 2 to 4 years after diagnosis.

However, tumors are known to occur after exposure to krokidolit work for 6 weeks. Cancer spread and metastasize widely. Bloody effusion with pain in the chest wall often there due massive pleural effusion of blood mixed.  Therefore people who suffer from pleural effusion with a history of exposure to asbestos even a few years ago to think about the possibility of

mesotheliomas.  In animal experiments suggest that these fibers are very fine with a diameter of about 0.1 and a length of 8 milimikron milimikron or more responsible for the occurrence of mesotheliomas.

Mesothelioma is rarely reported as a result of exposure to pure topaz, but is accompanied by exposure to krokidolit, amosit, or mixtures containing these minerals. 

Mesotheliomas are responsible for approximately 2-16% of deaths. The risk of mesothelioma is not affected by smoking in asbestos-exposed workers.

Mesotheliomas diagnosed sometimes inadvertently, before symptoms appear. Sometimes a tumor was found on a routine chest X-ray. However, when symptoms are present, it seemed short of breath, weakness, weight loss,

loss of appetite, chest pain, sore lower backs, persistent cough, difficulty swallowing, while symptoms may appear alone or combined with others. On physical examination found pleural effusion. Fluid from the pleural effusion can generally be viewed by chest X-ray and lung auscultation on physical examination. However, a definitive diagnosis mesotheliomas can only be enforced through a biopsy, pathology examination and autopsy. This is important because there is also a pleural effusion caused by disease or other tumors that have a picture similar to mesotheliomas.