There are four types of mesothelioma: pleural (lung), peritoneal (abdominal), pericardial (heart) and testis. Pleural and peritoneal is the most common type, comprising nearly 90 percent of all diagnoses. Learn more about the specific types and what it means for your treatment options.
Medical experts acknowledge four main types of mesothelioma - each named for the area of the body where the cancer forms. The most common type, pleural mesothelioma, develops in the lining of the lungs.
form of peritoneal mesothelioma in the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. It is the second most common type. The majority of mesothelioma specialists treat patients with one of two types.
The most rare forms of the disease, pericardial and testicular mesothelioma. pericardial mesothelioma starts in the lining of the heart, while testicular mesothelioma develops in the lining of the testicles. Together, these types account for less than 2 percent of all mesothelioma diagnoses.
The main cause of All Types of Mesothelioma
All types and subtypes of the disease share a common thread of this. They are mainly caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos, usually in the workplace. If the doctor suspects that you have a form of mesothelioma, you have to think back through the background of your job to find a connection to when you are working with or around asbestos materials and products.
Most patients with pleural mesothelioma remember a time when they are inhaling asbestos fibers. In the case of peritoneal mesothelioma, patients often swallow fibers. The researchers are less certain about how asbestos triggers form pericardial and testicular diseases.
How common is each kind of mesothelioma?
It is usually not difficult for doctors to distinguish one from the other types of mesothelioma. This is because the cancer grows directly into the structure of the body near where it was formed before it spreads to other parts of the body. Doctors will clearly see the tumor growth more in the chest cavity with pleural mesothelioma, and tumor growth more in the abdominal cavity with peritoneal mesothelioma.
While the same scan imaging and biopsy techniques used to diagnose all types of mesothelioma, the name and location of the procedure will be different depending on the type of mesothelioma is suspected. certain minor surgical procedure that helps with the diagnosis of mesothelioma also vary depending on the type of mesothelioma is suspected.
For example, mediastinoscopy is a small operation that takes a tissue sample mediastinal lymph nodes such as a network, to help determine how far the tumor has spread pleural mesothelioma in the chest. A paracentesis is a test for peritoneal mesothelioma that extracts fluid from the abdominal cavity so that the doctor can check for signs of cancer.
Doctors consider any form of mesothelioma become scarce. They also take into consideration all kinds quickly spread, which explains why they want to determine the stage of the cancer as soon as possible. This type of cancer affects the choice of treatment and impact your life expectancy. Medical research shows that the more successful oncologist treating peritoneal mesothelioma from three other types.