Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The New Form of Cancer : Mesothelimia

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the organs. The most common site is the pleura (the outer layer of the lungs and internal chest wall), but may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), heart, pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.


Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibers in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of family members who work with asbestos can put someone at risk for developing mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer, no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases the risk of other asbestos-caused cancer. Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma.


Symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. Diagnosis can be suspected with chest X-rays and a CT scan, and confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. This allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carry a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.




Posted on 7:27 AM / 6 comments / Read More

The Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer

Hi friends ... I have not made any new posts .... I hope you miss me. This time I want to write about one type of cancer. We know there are many types of cancer, and it is featured each day, will never be finished. Cancer that I will tell is a cancer that attacks the pancreas or commonly referred to as Pancreatic Cancer. 


Pancreatic Cancer often goes undetected until it's advanced and difficult to treat. In the vast majority of cases, symptoms only develop after pancreatic cancer has grown and begun to spread. What are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer, and can any symptoms lead to earlier detection? Because more than 95% of pancreatic cancer is the adenocarcinoma type, we'll describe those symptoms first, followed by symptoms of rare forms of pancreatic cancer.


Because the pancreas is located deep within the abdominal cavity in front of the spine, pancreatic cancer often grows silently months before detection. The first symptoms may be absent or it must be very thin. The most recognizable symptoms develop after a tumor grows large enough to overwhelm other nearby structures such as nerves (pain), intestines (which influence appetite and cause nausea, weight loss) or the biliary ducts (which causes jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and may cause loss of appetite and itching). Symptoms in women are often different from men. After the tumour is cancerous cells in the blood and lymph systems, and metastasized, more symptoms usually occur depending on the location of the metastasis. Frequent metastatic pancreatic cancer sites, including the liver, lymph nodes and the mucous membrane of the stomach (called peritoneum). Unfortunately, most types of pancreatic cancer are after cancer has grown outside of the pancreas or has metastasized to other places.




Posted on 7:27 AM / 1 comments / Read More
 
Copyright © 2011. Mesothelioma Clinics . All Rights Reserved