This information is about mesothelioma – a
cancer of the thin membrane that lines the chest and abdomen. It describes the
causes and symptoms of mesothelioma and what is likely to happen if you are
diagnosed with this type of cancer.
Facts
Around 2,300 people are diagnosed
with mesothelioma in the UK each year. Exposure to asbestos is the most common
cause of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma doesn’t usually develop until 30–40 years
after exposure to asbestos.
Surgery, radiotherapy and
chemotherapy can all be used to treat mesothelioma. An important part of
the care for people with advanced mesothelioma is using treatments to control
symptoms.
What is
Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a tumor
of the mesothelium. This is the thin membrane that lines the chest and abdomen
(tummy) and surrounds the organs in these areas.
A cancer of the mesothelium is called a malignant mesothelioma. However, it’s usually referred to simply as
mesothelioma. There are other tumors of the mesothelium, such as adenomatoid tumors,
benign cystic mesotheliomas and solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura.
Risk
factors and causes of mesothelioma
Asbestos is the
most common cause of mesothelioma. Up to 9 out of 10 cases of mesothelioma
are caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.
Occasionally, mesothelioma develops in people
who have never been exposed to asbestos. The other causes of the disease are
not fully understood, but in rare cases mesothelioma has been linked to
exposure to radiation.
Mesothelioma is not infectious and can’t be
passed on to other people. It isn’t caused by inherited faulty genes, so family
members don’t have an increased risk of developing it, unless they have been in
contact with asbestos.
People most likely to have been exposed to
asbestos at work include:
Joiners and
construction workers
Plumbers
Electricians
Boilermakers
Shipbuilders.
These jobs were mostly done by men.
Mesothelioma is five times more common in men than in women.
People who have not worked directly with
asbestos can also sometimes develop mesothelioma. These include:
Family members of
people who’ve worked with asbestos and brought the dust home on their clothes
People who lived near
asbestos factories
People who worked in
buildings containing asbestos materials, which were disturbed or damaged.
Symptoms
of mesothelioma
The symptoms of mesothelioma may include any
of the following:
Breathlessness, chest wall pain which feels
heavy and dull or aching, weight loss, fever, sweating (especially at night), hoarseness
– this happens when there is pressure on the nerve that supplies the voice box,
cough that doesn’t go away, abdominal pain and swelling (peritoneal
mesothelioma).
These symptoms can be caused by conditions
other than cancer, but you should always have them checked out by your doctor,
particularly if they don’t go away after a couple of weeks.
Currently, there is no cure for mesothelioma
unless it can be completely removed by surgery. Unfortunately, when
mesothelioma is diagnosed, it has usually already spread beyond the point where
it could be completely removed by surgery. In this case, the aim of treatment
is to control symptoms.
Different treatments can be used for
mesothelioma. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the most commonly used
treatments. These treatments may be used to control
symptoms such as pain, or to control the cancer for as long as
possible. Research has shown that chemotherapy may help some people live
longer.
Occasionally, surgery may be used to help control
pleural effusions caused by the mesothelioma. However, there is no evidence
that surgery can help people with mesothelioma live longer.
Prognosis
The
prognosis for malignant mesothelioma is rarely favorable, which is why early
diagnosis is so incredibly important. Yet as mentioned above, there are great
strides being taken in the medical and scientific communities to ensure that
life expectancy and survival rates continue to climb for patients as
researchers continue to find a cure.
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