Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos. Shortness of breath, cough, and pain in the chest due to an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space are often symptoms of pleural mesothelioma.

Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and cachexia, abdominal swelling and pain due to ascites (a buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity). Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.

These symptoms may be caused by mesothelioma or by other, less serious conditions.

Mesothelioma that affects the pleura can cause these signs and symptoms:

* Chest wall pain
* Pleural effusion, or fluid surrounding the lung
* Shortness of breath
* Fatigue or anemia
* Wheezing, hoarseness, or cough
* Blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up (hemoptysis)

In severe cases, the person may have many tumor masses. The individual may develop a pneumothorax, or collapse of the lung. The disease may metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body.

Tumors that affect the abdominal cavity often do not cause symptoms until they are at a late stage. Symptoms include:

* Abdominal pain
* Ascites, or an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen
* A mass in the abdomen
* Problems with bowel function
* Weight loss

In severe cases of the disease, the following signs and symptoms may be present:

* Blood clots in the veins, which may cause thrombophlebitis
* Disseminated intravascular coagulation, a disorder causing severe bleeding in many body organs
* Jaundice, or yellowing of the eyes and skin
* Low blood sugar level
* Pleural effusion
* Pulmonary emboli, or blood clots in the arteries of the lungs
* Severe ascites

A mesothelioma does not usually spread to the bone, brain, or adrenal glands. Pleural tumors are usually found only on one side of the lungs.

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 body’s internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart,[1] the pericardium (a 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 fiber in other ways. Washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can also put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.[2] Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases risk of other asbestos-induced cancer.[3] Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).

The 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. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It 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 carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.

There are many forms of cancer that exist today. One of the more severe types of cancer is mesothelioma. Mesothelioma affects the mesothelial tissues of body organs, typically the lungs or abdomen. The cause of mesothelioma is usually a result of prolonged exposure to asbestos. This is not the only cause as there are many people inflicted with mesothelioma who never had any type of exposure to asbestos.

Years ago, exposure to asbestos was more common. Many companies had employees working with asbestos. Not only were the employees at risk, but their families were too. People who even wash the clothing of people exposed to asbestos are at risk. So it is not unusual for a wife of one of these employees to be affected if she were the sole person washing clothing. Such employees would be in the fields of construction, insulators, and boilermakers to name a few.

There are two different forms of mesothelioma. These are pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. The expected survival timeof a person who has mailgnant mesothelioma is between 4 months and 2 years. This is from the time the symptoms present themselves.

Mesothelioma is not always fatal. The patient will have a chance to survive depending on the size of the cancer, where it is located, how old the patient is, and how their body responds to the different cancer treatments. Typical treatments for mesothelioma are radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and photodynamic therapy. Another form of treatment, though not proven, is that provitamin A or beta-carotene may decrease the risk.

For more information on mesothelioma, coping with the disease, and helping your loved ones, please visit the author’s website .

The costs of treating malignant mesothelioma are extremely high; estimates range from $150,000 to over $ 1 million. The most commonly used anti-cancer drugs used to treat malignant mesothelioma are AlimtaÒ and cisplatin. The combined cost of these drugs for one treatment cycle is approximately $4,100; multiple treatment cycles may be required, and a cure is not assured. In fact, even with aggressive treatment, the median survival of a patient after diagnosis with malignant mesothelioma is between one and two years.

Some mesothelioma treatment costs may be covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. However, many people may not have health insurance or be eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. Information on sources of financial assistance can be obtained from the social services units of hospitals, the Cancer Information Network and the American Cancer Society.

When occupational exposure to asbestos can be proven, patients with malignant mesothelioma may be able to seek damages from former employers through lawsuits. While there is a current cap of $1.1 million on the total amount that can be awarded to a single individual in a mesothelioma lawsuit, this cap is considered insufficient by some mesothelioma treatment advocates. They say that better diagnostic tests, combined with the availability of more effective treatment, means more people with malignant mesothelioma are diagnosed at a younger age and live longer. Increased survival is associated with increased treatment costs.

Some novel mesothelioma treatment options are being investigated in clinical trials. These include more affordable options such as immunotherapy, or expensive options such as gene therapy. In gene therapy, specific materials injected into the patient attack the genes in cancer cells, ultimately killing them. A single session of gene therapy may cost between $150,000 and $950,000. Clinical trials may cover some costs of treatment. However, certain trials only enroll people who have been recently diagnosed and who have not begun any other type of treatment.

Mesothelioma Symptoms provides detailed information on Advanced Mesothelioma Symptoms, Clinical Mesothelioma Symptoms, Mesothelioma Diagnosis: An Introduction, Mesothelioma Stomach Symptoms and more. Mesothelioma Symptoms is affliated with Pleural Mesothelioma Information.