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Identifying the various stages in Mesothelioma |
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer. A malignant tumor in the Mesothelial tissues of the lungs and the abdomen arising from the inhalation of the asbestos. Due to its rarity people hardly know about this disease and some of the cases are people who die due to Mesothelioma without any checkup with the doctor. Now days the awareness among the people are increased but still there are high percentage of people who don’t know about this diseases. Even some specialist physicians are hired to detect this disease because its symptoms are similar to the symptoms of the lung cancer and pneumonia. It takes time for the patient who are exposed to asbestos to develop Mesothelioma – at the age of fifty or more.
The person suffering from the Mesothelioma must be aware about the stages of cancer, the kind of treatment and chances of recovering depends upon the stages of illness.
Basically there are two staging system used for pleural Mesothelioma i.e. TNM system and Brighan System (theses two systems are also used in other type of cancers). TNM is most commonly used. There are variables in TNM such as tumor, lymph nodes, Metastasis.
Stage-1
During the first stage of the Mesothelioma cancer the Mesothelial cells grows and multiply with only one layer of the pleural. Pleura is basically a membrane which encloses the lungs and cover the wall of chest cavity.
Stage-2
In the second stage, the two layers of Mesothelioma are already affected by Mesothelioma; however in this stage only one side of the body is affected. The pleuron produces small amount of lubricant fluid which allows in expending and contracting of lungs. During the stage the fluid starts to buildup between the membrane of lungs and membranes of the chest walls, resulting in pleural effusion. If the amount of fluid produced in the membranes increases it may cause shortness of breath and chest pain while patients experiencing dry and persistent cough.
Stage-3
In the third stage the malignant cells has already spread to the chest wall, esophagus and lymph nodes on one part of the chest the patient may suffers from severe pains near the affected parts. When not treated immediately and if the Mesothelioma patient doesn’t respond to the medicine then the person is in the advance stage of the Mesothelioma cancer it mean the fourth stage.
Stage-4
In the stage of Mesothelioma, cells are penetrated to the bloodstreams and other organs in the body like liver, bones etc. The lymph nodes on the other side of the chest may also be affected in the fourth stage.
Brighan staging system on the other hand determines that whether the Mesothelioma can be surgically removed or not or whether the lymph nodes are affected or not. In the first stage the lymph node is not affected and yet can be removed from surgery, in the second stage some of the lymph are affected but can removed through surgery, in the third stage one side of the chest are affected then surgery is not advisable and the last and the final stage of the Mesothelioma the malignant cells go through the heart, brain, bones, liver etc there is no chance of surgery to recover from the disease.
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