This section covers the following:

Symptoms
Questions for your doctor
The stages
Treatment
Making a claim

Symptoms

In its early stages, mesothelioma does not have many symptoms.  When symptoms do develop, they are often caused by the cancer growing and pressing on a nerve or other body organ.

The symptoms of the 2 main types  of mesothelioma are different.

The symptoms of pleural mesothelioma  are

Questions for your doctor

The stages

Doctors often determine treatment options depending on the stage of mesothelioma. Doctors currently use one of three staging systems. Each system measures somewhat different variables.

Doctors most often use the Butchart System, the oldest staging system and the one that mainly considers the extent of primary tumor mass and divides mesothelioma into four stages. The more recent TNM system considers tumor in mass and spread, lymph node involvement, and metastasis. The Brigham System, the latest system, stages mesothelioma according to resectability (the ability to surgically remove) and lymph node involvement.

Butchart System

Stage I of the Butchart System consists of the presence of mesothelioma in the lining of the right or left lung and may also involve the diaphragm on the same side. Stage II includes the invasion of mesothelioma into the chest wall or esophagus, hear, or lung lining on bother sides. In addition, lymph nodes in the chest may also be involved. The onset of Stage III begins when the mesothelioma penetrates through the diaphragm into the lining of the abdominal cavity or peritoneum. In this stage the cancer may also affect lymph nodes beyond those in the chest. Doctors identify Stage IV, the final stage, when evidence of metastasis or the spread of cancer to other organs exists.

TNM System

Stage I of the TNM System involves the lining of the right or left lung, pericardium, or diaphragm on the same side. At this stage, lymph nodes are not involved. Stage II begins when mesothelioma spreads from the lining of the lung on one side to a lymph node on the same side. At this stage, the cancer may also spread to the lung, pericardium, or diaphragm on the same side. Stage III begins when mesothelioma exists in the chest wall, muscle, ribs, heart, esophagus, or other organs in the chest on the same side as the primary tumor. In the final stage, Stage IV, the mesothelioma has spread into the lymph nodes in the chest on the side opposite the primary tumor, or extends into the lung opposite the primary tumor, or directly into the organs in the abdominal cavity or neck. Metastasis is included in this stage.

Brigham System

The Brigham System concerns itself primarily with the resectability (or ability to surgically remove) the mesothelioma mass. In Stage I the tumor is resectable and lymph nodes are unaffected. In Stage II the tumor remains respectable but the mesothelioma affects the lymph nodes. In Stage III the tumor becomes unresectable and extends into the chest wall, heart, or through the diaphragm, peritoneum. Stage III can occur with or without lymph node involvement. Stage IV occurs when doctors discover metastasic disease of distant organs.

Once doctors identify the stage of a patient's malignant mesothelioma, the patient and doctor can discuss and consider the various treatment options available. The treatment program for mesothelioma depends on many factors, including: the stage of the cancer, the location of the cancer, the spread of the cancer, the characteristics of the cancer cells under a microscope and the patient's age and desires.

Treatment

The chance of recovery (mesothelioma prognosis) depends on the size of the cancer, where the cancer is, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope, how the cancer responds to mesothelioma treatment, and the patient's age and general health. Standard mesothelioma treatment may be considered because of its effectiveness in patients in past studies, or participation in a clinical trial may be considered.

There are a number of mesothelioma treatment options available to mesothelioma patients. Extrapleural pneumonectomy in selected patient with very early stage disease may improve recurrence-free survival, but its impact on overall survival is unknown. Pleurectomy and Decortication can provide palliative relief from symptomatic effusions, discomfort caused by tumor burden, and pain caused by invasive tumors. The use of radiation therapy in pleural mesothelioma has been shown to alleviate pain in the majority of patients treated. Unfortunately, the duration of symptom control is short-lived. Single agent and combined chemotherapy have reported higher response rates in STAGE II patients, but the toxicity reported is also higher, and there is no evidence that combination treatments result in longer survival or longer control of the mesothelioma symptoms.

Standard Treatments

There are treatments for all patients with malignant mesothelioma.

Three kinds of treatment are used:

chemotheraphy (using drugs to fight the cancer).

surgery (taking out the cancer).

radiation therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells) chemotherapy (using drugs to fight the cancer).

Surgery is a common treatment of malignant mesothelioma. The doctor may remove part of the lining of the chest or abdomen and some of the tissue around it. Depending on how far the cancer has spread, a lung also may be removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy. Sometimes part of the diaphragm, the muscle below the lungs that helps with breathing, is also removed.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy) or from putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer cells are found (internal radiation therapy). If fluid has collected in the chest or abdomen, the doctor may drain the fluid out of the body by putting a needle into the chest or abdomen and using gentle suction to remove the fluid. If fluid is removed from the chest, this is called thoracentesis. If fluid is removed from the abdomen, this is called paracentesis. The doctor may also put drugs through a tube into the chest to prevent more fluid from accumulating.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in the vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. In mesothelioma, chemotherapy may be put directly into the chest (intrapleural chemotherapy).

Intraoperative symptomsdynamic therapy is a new type of treatment that uses special drugs and light to kill cancer cells during surgery. A drug that makes cancer cells more sensitive to light is injected into a vein several days before surgery. During surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible, a special light is used to shine on the pleura. This treatment is being studied for early stages of mesothelioma in the chest.

Side Effects

Cancer treatments all have side effects. It is hard to kill cancer cells at the same time as keeping all healthy cells safe. Side effects of treatment depend on the type of treatment and the person’s overall health when treatment starts.

Experimental Treatments

Not all patients are cured with standard therapy, and some standard treatments may have more side effects than are desired. Clinical trials, therefore, are designed to find better ways to treat cancer patients and are based on the most up-to-date information. Clinical trials are ongoing in many parts of the country for many patients with malignant mesothelioma.

These new approaches often combine two or more traditional treatments or consist of other promising innovations.

Making a claim

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma in the last 3 years you will be able to make a claim. The success of the claim will depend on whether the company where the exposure occured is still in existance. If you are not sure, don't worry; it could be that the company was taken over, or that the insurers of the company still exist.

There are various solicitors who will take your case, simply do a a search on any of the major search engines to find one!