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Lung cancer is caused by inhalation of toxic fumes – whether through smoking, inhalation of second-hand smoke, or worse breathing in of more deadly carcinogenic fumes. A deadlier variant of lung cancer, mesothelioma, is caused by the constant inhalation of asbestos. This type of cancer manifests itself 15 to 25 years after exposure. Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the mesothelium membrane or the internal organs. When it invades the membranes, these divide without any order. When embedded in the lungs, it causes scarring and lesions. These abrasions on the lungs soon develop into full-blown pleural mesothelioma. When asbestos fibers take over the abdominal area, it triggers the growth of peritoneal mesothelioma.
Symptoms of mesothelioma appear between the twentieth and fiftieth year after exposure to asbestos. And when it does appear, it is already malignant. The symptoms include shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain due to the build up of fluid in the pleural space are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. In the case of peritoneal mesothelioma, this cancer that affects the protective lining of the abdomen causes pain or swelling in the abdomen, loss of appetite, nausea, weakness, abnormal blood clotting, bowel obstruction, breathing difficulties and fever.
Cancer like this has four stages. Staging the cancer helps the doctor determine how far gone the cancer is, or the size of the tumor, whether the cancer is in the lymph nodes, or if the cancer has spread anywhere else. Lung cancer is also categorized to four groups:
Stage 1: The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes, it is localized. This stage can be divided into 1A and 1B. Stage 1A indicates that the tumor is small or 3cm or less across. Stage 1B means that the cancer is larger or that it is developing in the main airway of the lung. This stage indicates that the cancer have gone into the inner membranes of the lung or a partial collapse of the affected lung.
Stage 2: This stage is divided, again, into two. Stage 2A indicates that the cancer is small but has spread to the lymph node nearest the affected lung, while Stage 2B means that the cancer in the lung is larger than 3cm across, and cancer is present in the lymph nodes nearest to the infected lung, or there is no cancer in the lymph node but the cancer has grown into the chest wall, the muscle of diaphragm, or has invaded the outer covering of the heart.
Stage 3: There are stages again – 3A means that cancer is present in nodes on the same side of the lung, or the cancer has reached the lymph nodes nearest the afflicted lung and has spread to either the chest wall or the covering of the lung (pleura) or the middle of the chest. When the cancer is determined as stage 3B – the cancer has spread to nodes on the either side of the chest or above the collarbone. It could also mean that there is more than one tumor in the affected lung, or the tumor has grown into another major organ (windpipe, gullet, or a blood vessel). At this stage fluid build-up is surrounding the lung contain cancer cells. This is a malignant pleural effusion.
Stage 4: The cancer at this last stage has already invaded another lobe of the lung from where it started or has traveled to another major body organ such as the liver or bones.
An operation can completely tell the doctor how far gone the cancer is. In many cases, the doctor can tell the stage of the cancer through several testing methods used in diagnosing lung cancer.
In pleural effusion, a type of mesothelioma cancer, there is fluid along the membranes coating the outside of lungs or the pleura. The fluid makes it difficult or impossible for the lung to expand fully when you breathe. If there is plenty of fluid along that area, a person will have a hard time breathing.
This fluid is checked for cancer cells. If negative of cancer cells, it is called a malignant pleural effusion and will determine the stage of your cancer. Sometimes a person with lung cancer has fluid around the lung but the fluid doesn't contain cancer cells. If there are no cancer cells, it doesn't contribute towards the lung cancer stage.
Mesothelioma, whether pleural or peritoneal, is always fatal. The majority of the patients die just two years of diagnosis. However, medical science is developing new treatments and perhaps even a cure for the disease.
With mesothelioma, it is said to be localized if the cancer is confined on the membrane’s surface where it started. It becomes advanced when it has spread to the other parts of the body.
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