Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is almost always directly caused by exposure to asbestos. Work that deals with or takes place around asbestos is always suspect. Studies have made known that the vast majority of those that have mesothelioma had exposure to asbestos over period of time. Mesothelioma is also a very uncommon kind of cancer with merely about 4000 cases each year. Depending on where the cancer is affecting the mesothelium, types will differ. They are known as Pericardial Mesothelioma, Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Pleural Mesothelioma.

It is called mesothelioma because of the region it affects, the mesothelium. The cavities that we are interested in are the Pleura, Pericardium and Peritoneum cavities.

The symptoms of this cancer depend to a great extent on the region affected. The symptoms can take as long as 50 years to show up Peritoneal Mesothelioma – Weight loss, Abdominal Pain, Abdominal swelling, Nausea, lumps in the abdomen area, erratic bowel movements. Pleural mesothelioma symptoms consist of chest pains, lumps in the chest, and painful breathing instead. Lastly, pericardial mesothelioma symptoms involve murmurs, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations and orthopnea.

There is a possibility that treatment may send this cancer into remission but that is rare. The survival rate of patients is not promising at all. Patients diagnosed with an advanced stage of mesothelioma are commonly anticipated to have a life-expectancy of about a year at most. For those that have an early phase of mesothelioma, life expectancy rates are generally encouraging with many going on to live up to 5 years or more.

Because of its rarity, widespread research is not being done. Dr.David Sugarbaker has been at the head of mesothelioma research and he, along with other noteworthy doctors have been making respectable progress in the area. It is possible to stretch the life expectancy by a number of years with aggressive treatment.

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