Mesothelioma is a malignant tumor in the lining of the chest and abdominal cavities. It is a rare form of cancer, with about 3,500 cases diagnosed in the United States each year. Most people who develop this cancer have a history of exposure to the widely found carcinogen asbestos.

Malignant mesothelioma is usually not curable, although some surgical cures have been reported in a very few patients with very localized tumors. Most patients, however, have widespread disease at the time of diagnosis, with chest pain and a buildup of fluid within the cavity involved-chest or abdominal-that causes shortness of breath or abdominal swelling. Treatment at this stage, which may involve removing the fluid and the tumor, is usually directed toward relieving these symptoms.

Types
Malignant mesothelioma is a tumor that can have fibrous and epithelial elements. Epithelial cancers that develop in the tissues that cover the surface of or line internal organs are carcinomas, so the epithelial form of mesothelioma is sometimes confused with adenocarcinomas of the lung or metastatic carcinomas. Epithelial mesotheliomas seem to have a better prognosis than other types.

How It Spreads
Mesotheliomas start in the membranes lining the chest or in the membranes of the abdominal cavity. They can spread via the lymphatic channels to the lymph nodes of the middle of the chest. They can also spread via the bloodstream within and beyond the cavity of origin and metastasize to other organs such as the lungs and chest wall and to abdominal organs such as the bowel.

What Causes Mesothelioma
Inhalation of asbestos fibers is a primary cause. About 70,000 tons of asbestos is used in the United States each year, in cement, brake linings, roof shingles, insulation, flooring products and packing materials. Asbestos has also been found as a contaminant in talc, which is also associated with ovarian cancer. Many urban water reservoirs contain asbestos-like fibers, and most public and private buildings contain asbestos. Only recently has the strong association between asbestos exposure and malignancy been recognized and appropriate industrial and health standards for exposure been put into effect.

It is sometimes difficult to prove the relationship between asbestos exposure and the development of mesothelioma. The risk of developing the disease begins about fifteen years after the first exposure and increases each year up to forty to forty-five years after the first exposure. It is estimated that about 8 million people living in the United States have been occupationally exposed to asbestos over the last half century during the mining and milling of the mineral and during various manufacturing processes. It has been estimated that there will be 250,000 cases of mesothelioma in the United States and United Kingdom by the year 2025.

1. Still waiting for answers on beach asbestos (Chicago Sun-Times) - If you’re headed to Illinois’ most popular beach this weekend, what do you know about asbestos fibers in the sand you’ll be sitting on or your kid is making a sandcastle with?
2. Test cases put compensation in doubt for asbestos widow (Eastbourne Today) - COMPENSATION has been awarded to the wife of a man who died from an asbestos-related disease — but a court case on insurance company payouts means she may not receive it. (03/07/2008 13:56:23)
3. The Mesothelioma Victims Center Offers Victims Of Asbestos Related Cancer & Their Loved Ones The Most Comprehensive … (PRWeb via Yahoo! News) - Americas Watchdog created the Mesothelioma Center as a way for victims, or the family members & loved ones of Mesothelioma victims to get help,very honest advice & tailor made assistance at no cost to the victim, or their family members.
4. Man died from asbestos exposure (Gazette) - A MAN died from a lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure when he worked for a power company, an inquest has been told.
5. New Clinical Trial For Patients With Asbestos-Associated Lung Cancer (Medical News Today) - The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung’s lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.
6. Asbestos a growing worry in renovation boom (Otago Daily Times) - As the ageing housing stock heads towards a wave of renovation and demolition work, there’s concern that even those in the building trade do not know how to recognise asbestos.
7. BBC pay out in asbestos case (Harrow Times) - A KINGSBURY woman has angrily attacked the BBC after it gave her £55,000 at the end of a hearing into her father’s death. Derek Leach, a BBC technician for 30 years, died in January 2006 from mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
8. Why are our schools full of deadly asbestos and why isn’t anything being done about it? (Daily Mail) - Don’t tell anyone, but we have a problem. Most of the 24,000 schools in this country have significant amounts of asbestos.
9. New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer (EurekAlert!) - NEW YORK (June 26, 2008) - The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung’s lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to …
10. Cancer researcher’s interests coalesce in kitchen (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) - An espresso maker sputters fragrant liquid into delicate china cups while Italian music plays from the speakers behind Dr. Michele Carbone’s desk in the biomedical research building of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Cancer, epithelial cancers, malignant mesothelioma, malignant tumor metastatic carcinomas

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