Asbestos Cancer

The most common form of asbestos cancer that’s associated with asbestos exposure is malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a malignant asbestos lung cancer that develops in the mesothelium, a thin layer of cells lining the lungs (pleural mesothelium), abdominal cavity (peritoneal mesothelium), heart (pericardial mesothelium), and other internal organs of the body. Whenever asbestos cancer develops in the mesothelial tissue of a specific organ, it takes the name of that particular organ’s mesothelium. For example, the tissue lining the lungs is called the pleural mesothelium, and therefore asbestos-caused cancer in this tissue is referred to as pleural mesothelioma. However, there are other cancers that can be caused by asbestos exposure such as asbestos lung cancer. In addition, exposure to asbestos can also cause other diseases such as asbestosis, which is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the lungs.

Although mesothelioma can affect other organs, it is almost always found in the lungs, abdomen, and heart. About 75% of all diagnosed cases involve the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), 20% involve the abdominal cavity (peritoneal mesothelioma), and about 5% affect the heart (pericardial mesothelioma).

Asbestos Cancer Diagnosis

Making an asbestos cancer diagnosis is usually very difficult because asbestos exposure symptoms are similar to those of many other illnesses. Typical asbestos symptoms can include shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain, all of which are commonly seen in many other minor illnesses. If you’ve been exposed to asbestos, be sure to let your doctor know immediately. Without this knowledge, a doctor may assume your asbestos cancer symptoms are actually being caused by a less serious health condition.

Asbestos Cancer Treatment

The three main types of asbestos cancer treatment are surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, with most mesothelioma treatment plans including a combination of these therapies. By the time malignant cancer symptoms eventually appear, the disease is usually in its later stages. Due to the long latency period where the cancer goes undetected, malignancy can be all but impossible to resect. In these cases, if surgical resection is performed it will not get all of the malignancy. For this reason, chemotherapy is often used in combination with surgery in an effort to kill any cancer cells that still remain after resection.

Although it is uncommon to diagnose asbestos cancer in the early stages, surgical removal of the tumor during the earliest stages will be much more successful. The two most common forms of surgery are pleurectomy and extrapleural pneumonectomy. These surgeries are performed with pleural mesothelioma and are both very extensive surgeries. Surgery for malignant mesothelioma that develops in the abdominal cavity or heart is much less common. The reason for this is because a tumor in these locations is usually much more difficult to access and surgery can endanger the life of the patient.

The most commonly used treatment for malignant mesothelioma is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy treats the cancer with chemicals which have a toxic effect on the cancer cells. There are many drugs used with this form of treatment, but the only drugs to date that have been approved by the FDA are Cisplatin and Alimta. These drugs are used in an effort to slow or stop the spread of the malignancy. In addition to these two FDA-approved drugs, there are other experimental drugs being used in clinical trials. Clinical trials allow new drugs to be tested and evaluated, some of which are showing positive results, giving patients a hope that better treatments will become available in the future. In addition to malignant mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer is also a disease that can be treated with chemotherapy. In fact, there are many more chemotherapy drug options available for asbestos lung cancer than there is for mesothelioma.

Radiation therapy is usually used for pain relief, which is referred to as palliative care, but is also used after surgery to reduce the chance of malignant cells from coming back and taking hold again. Radiation therapy can be used in higher dosages for asbestos cancer found in the lungs and abdominal cavity, and in lower dosages when found in the heart.

There is no cure for mesothelioma, but new treatment methods are increasing the mesothelioma survival rates for patients every year. Unfortunately, due to the fact that asbestos cancer is usually not diagnosed until the later stages of the disease, the mesothelioma prognosis continues to be poor. As it appears now, the best hope for mesothelioma patients is improved diagnostic techniques. Having the ability to diagnose asbestos-related cancers in the early stages can give patients much more successful treatment options.

Asbestos Cancer Lawsuit with an Asbestos Cancer Lawyer

With the help of an experienced asbestos cancer lawyer, patients can file an asbestos cancer lawsuit in an effort to get compensation for their disease. Many patients have successfully collected money from companies who were responsible for their exposure. Most people are unaware that many manufacturers of asbestos products knew the risks associated with asbestos exposure, but elected to continue exposing their workers to this potentially deadly mineral anyway.

Asbestos Removal

Although most asbestos related cancer cases involve people who worked in asbestos-related industries, asbestos is also found in public buildings and homes. If you live in a home that was built prior to 1980, there is a very good chance that it contains asbestos products. Common asbestos products include asbestos insulation, asbestos floor and ceiling tiles, asbestos roofing, acoustic wall and ceiling plaster, popcorn ceilings, and many others. Whenever a possible asbestos product is discovered, it is important to perform asbestos testing immediately to verify or rule out its existence. And once asbestos is verified, no matter how high the asbestos removal cost may be, asbestos removal should be completed. Without taking the necessary steps to avoid asbestos exposure, asbestos cancer could possibly be the end result.