Medical view of mesothelioma by Archana Sarat
Medical View of Mesothelioma
More than 8 million people have been exposed to asbestos and are at risk of succumbing to mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is caused when the mesothelium cells start to divide rapidly leading to cancer. The only known cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos fibers. The disease has a very long latency period, sometimes even around 60 years. The disease has no known cure and death becomes inevitable.
It is also very hard to correctly diagnose the disease in the early stages, as the symptoms of the disease are similar to other non-malignant diseases like pneumonia. The asbestos fiber, which is light and invisible, is released during mining and manufacture of asbestos. It is inhaled easily through nose and mouth and affects the mesothelium lining of the body part that it comes into contact with. This sets off the mesothelium cells rapid division operation, resulting in tumors. The mesothelium lining can be found in the organs like lungs, abdomen and heart.
Depending on this, mesothelioma can be classified into three categories: § Pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lungs, § Peritoneal mesothelioma, which affects the abdomen, and § Pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the heart.
Due to the long latency period of the disease, people who have worked in asbestos-related factories in their youth may contract the disease in their old age during or after retirement. Many of them may have shifted many jobs by this time and they do not relate their condition to asbestos exposure. Thus, they do not consider mesothelioma as an occupational disease. They face huge sorrow at having to part with their loved ones in such a tragic way.
Life of Jack Daws
Jack Daws was working as a tutor in the rural regions of Pennsylvania. He had a beautiful wife and a handsome son. He had what is called as a perfect family! They were always supportive and co-operative. They had enduring love and constant hope on each other.
Jack Daws loved his job as he loved kids of all ages and all sizes. He was the coach of the local soccer team during weekends. When Jack was around 55 years, he was planning on getting a retirement from the school where he tutored in another year or two.
At this crucial point of time, Jack slowly started realizing something was wrong with his health. He felt a constant pain in his chest and severe shortness of breath. He, his family and his doctor dismissed all these symptoms as a cause of aging, initially. But, slowly, his condition started to worsen. He felt as if a heavy weight has been placed on his chest. Also, he started losing weight rapidly. By now, the doctor also started sensing that something was wrong with Jack. The doctor conducted a whole lot of tests on Jack. One of the tests that were conducted was to study the fluids & cells in his lungs. After this test, the doctor felt that it appeared cancerous. Further tests followed to make the right diagnosis. It was, finally, confirmed. Jack suffered from 'Pleural Mesothelioma', I.e. mesothelioma affecting the lungs. Doctors felt that Jack had only another year or two of life on earth. Jack started analyzing how he contracted mesothelioma. He had never worked in any asbestos-related industries. Slowly, it dawned on Jack. Lots of construction and painting work used to be done on in his school.
Due to his long career at the school, he was constantly exposed to asbestos dust, which was used during the painting work. The company, which did the job for the school, did not take any safeguards to protect, anyone. Jack was advised to initiate proceedings against the company. The company did not disclose the dangers of asbestos and behaved in a selfish profit-oriented manner.
When Jack initiated proceeding against the company, it was found that lots of people have already sued the company for the same reason and have won their cases. Thus, the Company did not want to go into lengthy and expensive legal proceedings. They agreed to go in for an out-of-court settlement. After negotiations, the company paid Jack around a million dollars for the health damages he suffered and around two million dollars for his family-dependents. Jack underwent treatment at a cancer center. The cancer was spread all around his body and surgery was ruled out for him. Jack underwent chemotherapy and lived a life of suffering for the next two years. After that he succumbed to the disease. However, his soul will rest in peace as he has provided a safe and comfortable settlement for his loving family members.
About the Author
Archana Sarat is a freelance writer and medical researcher. Know more about mesothelioma at http://www.rarehope.com
11.11.07
7.11.07
Malignant Mesothelioma
Malignant Mesothelioma by Subramani
Malignant mesotheliomas in the thorax arise from either the visceral or the parietal pleura. Although uncommon they have assumed great importance in the past few years because of their increased incidence among persons with heavy exposure to asbestos. In coastal areas with shipping industries in the UNITED States and Great Britain and in Canadian and South African mining areas, up to 90% of reported mesotheliomas are asbestos-related. There is a long period of 25 to 45 years for the development of asbestos related mesothelioma and there seems to be no increased risk of mesothelioma in asbestos workers who smoke. This is in contrast to the risk of asbestos related bronchogenic carcinoma already high and is markedly magnified by smoking. Thus for asbestos workers those who are also smokers), the risk of dying of lung carcinoma far exceeds that of developing mesothelioma.
Asbestos bodies are found in increased numbers in the lungs of patients with mesothelioma and mesotheliomas can be induced readily in experimental animals by intrapleural injections of asbestos.
Malignant mesothelioma is a diffuse lesion that spreads widely in the pleural space and is usually associated with extensive pleural effusion and direct invasion of thoracic structures. The affected lung is ensheathed by a thick layer of soft gelatinous, grayish pink tumor tissue.
Microscopically malignant mesotheliomas consists of a mixture of two types of cells either one of which might predominate in an individual case. Mesothelial cells have the potential to develop as either mesenchymal stromal cells or epithelium like lining cells. The latter is the usual form of the mesothelium, an epithelium that lines the serious cavities of the body. The mesenchymal types of mesothelioma appears as a spindle cell sarcoma resembling fibrosarcoma (sarcomatoid type), whereas the papillary type consists of cuboidal, columnar or flattened cells forming a tubular and papillary structure ( epithelial type) resembling adenocarcinoma. Epithelial mesothelioma may at times be difficult to differentiate grossly and histologically from pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
Special features that favor mesothelioma include the following (1) positive staining for acid mucopolysaccharide, which is inhibited by previous digestion by hyaluronidase; (2) lack of staining for carcinoembryonic antigen (CFA) and othere epithelial glycoprotein antigens, markers generally expressed by adenocarcinoma (3) strong staining for keratin proteins with accentuation of perinuclear rather than peripheral staining (4) on electron microscopy the presence of long microvilli and abundant tonofilaments but absent microvillous rootlets and lamellar bodies. The mixed type of mesothelioma contains both epithelial and sarcomatoid patterns. Cytogenetic abnormalities occur in mesotheliomas but not reactive mesothelial proliferations a diagnostically useful feature.
Clinical course
The presenting complaints are chest pain, dyspnea and as noted recurrent pleural effusions. Concurrent pulmonary asbestosis (fibrosis) is present in only 20% of patients with pleural mesothelioma. Fifty percent of those with pleural disease die within 12 months of diagnosis and few survive longer than 2 years. Aggressive therapy (extrapleural pneumonectomy, chemotherapy , radiation therapy) appears to improve this poor prognosis in some patients. The lung is invaded directly, and there is often metastatic spread to the hilar lymph nodes and, eventually , to the liver and other distant organs.
Mesotheliomas also arise in the peritoneum, pericardium, tunica vaginalis, and genital tract. Peritoneal mesotheliomas are particularly related to heavy asbestos exposure, 50% of such patients also have pulmonary fibrosis. Although in about 50% of cases the disease remains confined to the abnorminal cavity, intestinal involvement frequently leads to death from intestinal obstruction or inanition.
About the Author
For more information about Malignant Mesothelioma visit http://www.medicalhealthcenter.net
Malignant mesotheliomas in the thorax arise from either the visceral or the parietal pleura. Although uncommon they have assumed great importance in the past few years because of their increased incidence among persons with heavy exposure to asbestos. In coastal areas with shipping industries in the UNITED States and Great Britain and in Canadian and South African mining areas, up to 90% of reported mesotheliomas are asbestos-related. There is a long period of 25 to 45 years for the development of asbestos related mesothelioma and there seems to be no increased risk of mesothelioma in asbestos workers who smoke. This is in contrast to the risk of asbestos related bronchogenic carcinoma already high and is markedly magnified by smoking. Thus for asbestos workers those who are also smokers), the risk of dying of lung carcinoma far exceeds that of developing mesothelioma.
Asbestos bodies are found in increased numbers in the lungs of patients with mesothelioma and mesotheliomas can be induced readily in experimental animals by intrapleural injections of asbestos.
Malignant mesothelioma is a diffuse lesion that spreads widely in the pleural space and is usually associated with extensive pleural effusion and direct invasion of thoracic structures. The affected lung is ensheathed by a thick layer of soft gelatinous, grayish pink tumor tissue.
Microscopically malignant mesotheliomas consists of a mixture of two types of cells either one of which might predominate in an individual case. Mesothelial cells have the potential to develop as either mesenchymal stromal cells or epithelium like lining cells. The latter is the usual form of the mesothelium, an epithelium that lines the serious cavities of the body. The mesenchymal types of mesothelioma appears as a spindle cell sarcoma resembling fibrosarcoma (sarcomatoid type), whereas the papillary type consists of cuboidal, columnar or flattened cells forming a tubular and papillary structure ( epithelial type) resembling adenocarcinoma. Epithelial mesothelioma may at times be difficult to differentiate grossly and histologically from pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
Special features that favor mesothelioma include the following (1) positive staining for acid mucopolysaccharide, which is inhibited by previous digestion by hyaluronidase; (2) lack of staining for carcinoembryonic antigen (CFA) and othere epithelial glycoprotein antigens, markers generally expressed by adenocarcinoma (3) strong staining for keratin proteins with accentuation of perinuclear rather than peripheral staining (4) on electron microscopy the presence of long microvilli and abundant tonofilaments but absent microvillous rootlets and lamellar bodies. The mixed type of mesothelioma contains both epithelial and sarcomatoid patterns. Cytogenetic abnormalities occur in mesotheliomas but not reactive mesothelial proliferations a diagnostically useful feature.
Clinical course
The presenting complaints are chest pain, dyspnea and as noted recurrent pleural effusions. Concurrent pulmonary asbestosis (fibrosis) is present in only 20% of patients with pleural mesothelioma. Fifty percent of those with pleural disease die within 12 months of diagnosis and few survive longer than 2 years. Aggressive therapy (extrapleural pneumonectomy, chemotherapy , radiation therapy) appears to improve this poor prognosis in some patients. The lung is invaded directly, and there is often metastatic spread to the hilar lymph nodes and, eventually , to the liver and other distant organs.
Mesotheliomas also arise in the peritoneum, pericardium, tunica vaginalis, and genital tract. Peritoneal mesotheliomas are particularly related to heavy asbestos exposure, 50% of such patients also have pulmonary fibrosis. Although in about 50% of cases the disease remains confined to the abnorminal cavity, intestinal involvement frequently leads to death from intestinal obstruction or inanition.
About the Author
For more information about Malignant Mesothelioma visit http://www.medicalhealthcenter.net
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