Disease Mesothelioma

Friday, Sep 11,2009, 10:52:56 AM Click:

Disease Mesothelioma

The mesothelioma disease is a serious form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos materials. In the disease mesothelioma, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium is a protective coating which is a covering of most internal organs of the body.

Its most common location is the pleura which is the outer wall of the lungs, but it also occurs in the peritoneum is the lining of the abdominal cavity or the pericardium is a sac that surrounds the heart.

When a patient learns of a diagnosis of mesothelioma, confusion is often one of the first emotions experienced. What exactly is mesothelioma? Is this a disease? A virus? Mesothelioma is actually a rare type of cancer. When people refer to the disease of mesothelioma, they refer in fact to mesothelioma cancer. Mesothelioma develops in the mesothelium, the membrane that surrounds the body cavities of many. The mesothelium is composed of mesothelial cells, which become abnormal and divide uncontrollably if mesothelioma is present.

Four different types of mesothelioma exist. The pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of cancer develops in the lining of the lungs, known as the pleura. Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the lining of the abdomen, known as the peritoneum. Pericardial Mesothelioma is very rare, with about 200 cases have been reported internationally. Pericardial mesothelioma develops in the pericardium, the sac that surrounds the heart and protects the body. Testicular mesothelioma is the rarest form of mesothelioma develops in the membranes that surround the testicles, known as the tunica vaginalis.

Approximately 2000 to 3000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma annually in the United States. Many patients are not diagnosed with cancer until it reaches the stage of development later, because it may take 20 to 50 years for a patient to show symptoms of mesothelioma. Cancer is caused almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos and it often takes decades for a patient to express the symptoms of mesothelioma from the time exposure to asbestos occurred original.

Mesothelioma is classified as a tumor of the mesothelium can be benign (localized) or malignant (diffusely spread) and is usually caused by ingestion of asbestos particles produced.

Mesothelium is the thin layer of mesodermal epithelial cells that forms the pleura, peritoneum and pericardium.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer, but more often, which is usually very difficult to diagnose, treat and responds poorly to conventional therapy. Mesothelioma is a cancer in which known cancer and / or malignant cells begin appearing around the heart, lung or abdominal region of the human body. It is believed that the main cause is usually from exposure to asbestos. It takes about 30 to 40 years after asbestos exposure for symptoms of mesothelioma cancer to begin to appear.