Mesothelioma is one of the most deadly cancer known to man
today. It mainly affects the lungs and the abdomen. When a person is diagnosed
with this cancer the first questions always the duration of the time they have
left. It’s always scary to ask knowing everything you once treasured is going
to be left behind. But in most cases patients need to know and they usually
find the answer.
The oncologists and other medical team also find hard it in
most case to give a definite answer to the question because cancer is sometimes
unpredictable and luck various from person to person. Thus to determine the
prognosis of mesothelioma various factors have to be considered
CRITERIA
OF DETERMINING PROGNOSIS OF MESOTHELIOMA
According
to the type.
They are basically three types of mesothelioma depending on
the type tissues involved. These include; sarcomatoid mesothelioma, the
epithelial type, and the mixed type. People with epithelial mesothelioma make
up almost 50% of the diagnosed patients. These patients tend to have a higher
survival rate compared to those with other types of mesothelioma. The sarcomatoid mesothelioma is seen in 15% of
the diagnosed patients.
According
to location
This includes the pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal
mesothelioma, pericardial and testicular mesothelioma. The pleural mesothelioma
which attacks the pleural of the lung is the most common occurring cancer
covering 80% of the cases. The peritoneal mesothelioma attacks the lining of
the abdomen and is found in almost 13% of the diagnosed case. The pericardial
and testicular mesothelioma are the least common types attacking the pericardium
(region around the heart) and the testis in men respectively. The later
mentioned mesothelioma are the hardest to treat.
The stage
of the disease
Mesothelioma is not so easy to diagnose. In most cases
diagnosis is at the 3rd or 4th stage when the mesothelioma
symptoms start to appear. However most of these symptoms are common to many
respiratory diseases so it likely to be misdiagnosed.
When the prognosis of mesothelioma is made, the first
oncologists determine is how far the cancer has spread or metastasized from the
original location of the tumour. The mesothelioma tumours usually originate from
the pleura around the lung and spreads to other body parts. The extent of the
metastasis will determine the mesothelioma treatment and it prognosis.
After the diagnosis, the general health of the patient plays
a part in the patient’s survival. Patients that are younger and stronger tend
to live longer than those at advanced stage. Also diseases like diabetes, high
blood pressure, and heart related disease make the treatment of mesothelioma a
hard task because it involves surgery and other traditional cancer methods like
radiation which makes it so risky.
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