Pericardial Mesothelioma - Symptoms, Treatment and Diagnosis

The main reason responsible for pericardial mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. Inhalation of asbestos fibers can damage different portions of your body. Similar to other mesothelioma forms, symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma can take ten to fifteen years to show up. If you have been diagnosed with this disease, you will find cancerous tissues around the heart lining. The pericardium plays a vital part in body functioning especially when it comes to protecting your heart.



Symptoms



Tissue expansion and fluid accumulation will happen when there is a fast growth of the cancerous tumors. The fluid can have a negative impact on the proper functioning of your heart causing irregular heartbeat and chest pain. When you complain of chest pain, you are going to be diagnosed. Some of the less common symptoms of this disease are cough, fever, fatigue and shortness of breath.



Individuals suffering from pericardial mesothelioma can exhibit all three types of mesothelioma cancer cells. It includes epithelioid mesothelioma, biphasic mesothelioma and sarcomatoid mesothelioma. Your prognosis can be affected by the kind of cancer cells. Recent study has come to the conclusion that individuals with biphasic mesothelioma cancer cells normally have a shorter life expectancy.



Treatments

Cancer surgery is not a good option for individuals that are diagnosed with pericardial mesothelioma. Prognosis for patients of pericardial mesothelioma is grim and often palliative treatment is an only option available for them. By opting for this treatment, your overall life quality is going to improve. Another good thing about this treatment is that it decreases the complexity of symptoms that happen because of fluid buildup in the pericardium. To get rid of excess fluid, there is a strong possibility that fine needle routine can be implemented. Radiation therapy can also play a significant part in removing excess fluid.

Diagnosis



Accurate and quick pericardial mesothelioma diagnosis is tough because of the non-specificity of the symptoms. To diagnose this form of cancer, your health care provider needs to take into consideration your symptoms, past medical record and current medical state. In the initial stage, all the focus is on the medical records and conducting physical examination.



To evaluate the exact location of cancer, your health care provider will conduct plenty of imaging tests. MRI tests are the way to go if you are looking to get an idea of cancer stage. The diagnosis of pericardial mesothelioma ends with a biopsy. The main objective of doing biopsy is to get a proper understanding of the cancer origin point.



While there is still no cure for mesothelioma cancer, the forms of treatment and care are being worked on so that the life expectancy of patients can increase. New and improved methods of treatments are being tested to work on the quality of patient's life and reduce pain.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma - Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a type of mesothelioma which occurs in 10% to 20% of all mesothelioma cases. This type of mesothelioma is developed into peritoneum which is the protective covering around abdominal cavity and its organs. In peritoneal mesothelioma, peritoneum becomes cancerous in nature due to the rapid proliferation of cancerous cells.



How Peritoneal Mesothelioma Causes?



But the question is that what causes cancerous cells proliferation in protective lining of mesothelium? The answer is 'asbestos fibers'. Yes its asbestos exposure which causes the ultimate formation of cancerous tumors in mesothelium (peritoneum). Asbestos fibers enter the human body either by inhalation or by ingestion and approaches to peritoneum. Here these fibers get trapped and find no way to come out. After passing one or two decades these fibers start their destructive activities and bring changes in the nature of peritoneum. This change occurs in the form of irritation and inflammation which further increases to produce cancerous cells. Once these cells produce they start dividing rapidly which results in the thickening of peritoneum and fluid formation around it. As the quantity of fluid increase it starts putting pressure on abdominal organ and patient starts showing symptoms as persistent abdominal pain or lump formation under skin on abdominal region.



Peritoneal Mesothelioma Symptoms



Various symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include:



* Abdominal Pain

* Abdominal Swelling

* Lump Formation in Abdominal Region

* Weight Loss

* Anemia

* Fatigue

* Nausea

* Vomiting or Fever



Due to the slow process of cancer development which starts decades ago from lodging few asbestos fibers on peritoneum to excessive fluid formation, cancer cells proliferation and layer thickening it takes almost 20 to 50 years for a patient to demonstrate these symptoms because no mesothelioma symptom arises after initial asbestos exposure in any case.



Peritoneal Mesothelioma Diagnosis



Diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma starts with the physical examination to find out the reason for symptoms patient is demonstrating persistently. The complete overview of patient's history is also taken into account to trace the presence of asbestos exposure. Other diagnostic techniques include taking images of internal body organs through various imaging methods. X rays, MRI and CT scan are commonly applied techniques to take these cross sectional images of internal body organs. Minor biopsy can also be considered in order to take sample of fluid building around peritoneum. This sample is tested in laboratory to confirm the presence of cancerous cells in the body.



Peritoneal Mesothelioma Treatment



The treatment options available for the patient of peritoneal mesothelioma include:



1- Radiotherapy (using radiations to destroy cancer tumor)

2- Chemotherapy (injecting medicine directly to damaged part for instant and deep affect)

3- Surgery (removing affected parts completely)



In some cases radiotherapy is used to shrink the cancer tumor before surgery and then chemotherapy is applied to inject medicine directly into peritoneum after surgery. In this way combination of treatment options can be applied to destroy the cancer tumor and to stop the process of cancer cell proliferation.