Pleural Mesothelioma Gets New Clinical Guidelines
Physicians around the country who treat patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma are getting familiar with the first-ever guidelines for handling this rare disease. The new guidelines were presented in March at the 15th Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) by Lee M. Krug, MD of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lining around the lungs and other organs and is caused primarily by exposure to asbestos. In the United States, about 2,000 people annually are diagnosed with the disease, which can lay dormant for 20 to 50 years after contact with asbestos. It is four times more common in men than in women.
Although there have been accepted practice standards for treating mesothelioma since the disease first began to attract the attention of the medical community in the 1970's, the NCCN guidelines represent the first comprehensive blueprint for tackling this hard-to-treat cancer. Diagnosis is typically made through a combination of CT or PET scanning, X-rays, history of asbestos exposure, blood serum tests and/or tissue biopsy. Although mesothelioma can affect other parts of the body, pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the space around the lungs, is the most common type.
When mesothelioma is suspected, the new NCCN guidelines recommend Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning for pretreatment evaluation. Dr. Krug says this test can detect metastases – or places in the body to which the cancer has spread – in about ten percent of cases. Size and location of these metastases will impact treatment approach.
For Stage I and Stage II mesothelioma, surgery is usually recommended as long as the patient is healthy enough to tolerate it. There are two main types of surgery for pleural mesothelioma – pleurectomy/decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy. During pleurectomy/decortication, the surgeon removes the involved pleura (in the space between the lung and the chest wall) and frees the lung to expand again, reducing symptoms.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy removes not only the cancerous pleura, but the affected lung, diaphragm and pericardium, as well. Major complications may occur in 20 to 40 percent of cases. Although the NCCN guidelines support extrapleural pneumonectomy as a reasonable option for otherwise healthy patients, Dr. Krug says it is unclear whether either surgery offers a survival advantage.
For most mesothelioma patients, the new guidelines recommend a multi-modality approach, combining surgery with chemotherapy and post-surgical radiation. In one study, patients who completed all three of these treatments had a median survival of 29.1 months, compared to 16.8 months for patients who did not complete all of these treatments.
The guidelines recommend a combination of premetrexed and cisplatin chemotherapy drugs as the ‘standard first-line treatment', but leave it up to individual physicians to decide whether it should be administered before or after surgery. Because of its tendency to damage healthy lung tissue, radiation is only recommended after surgery or as a palliative measure. Dr. Krug said the new mesothelioma guidelines are derived from evidence-based research and are the consensus of a panel of thirty-five oncologists, surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists and hematology oncologists.
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pleural mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of mesothelioma, a rare cancer that develops in the mesothelial cells that make up the mesothelium, a membrane that lines many of the body's organs and cavities.
Patients from abroad get Pleural mesothelioma surgery in India done at excellent hospitals of Mumbai under best cancer surgeons of India having a vast experience in treating abroad patients. Pleural mesothelioma surgery in India can involve surgical removal of the cancer by chemotherapy or radiation therapy, as well as combinations of these treatments. The decision about which treatments will be appropriate for a given individual must take into account the location....
Pleural mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lung called the pleura or pleural membrane. Pleural Mesothelioma is one of the most common types of Mesothelioma.
Pleural mesothelioma is the most diagnosed form of mesothelioma and is over 60 percent of all cases of mesothelioma discovered in the United States yearly. Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and chest cavity, called the pleura.
Pleural Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is most often found in people who have, at some point during their lives been exposed to high levels of asbestos. Asbestos is a type of naturally occurring mineral that was, for many years mixed with cement, plaster and paint and used in the interiors of houses. It was used as it is highly resistant to heat and is surprisingly strong. Unfortunately asbestos is made up of thin fibres which have since been found to be highly toxic to humans when they g
If you look in a medical dictionary you will read that a disease that affects the lining of the lungs, or lung pleura is called pleural mesothelioma.
Cancer translational research brings together scientists' and clinicians' suggestions to develop solutions to biomedical complications. This kind of applied research strives to offer strategies to questions surrounding the etiology, pathology, diagnosis, prevention and treating cancer.
Orbs are actually a lumpectomy or quadrantectomy combined with rotating the breast tissue or mobilize the flap into the cavity of the surgery time fill is removed. It also includes the comparative change in shape and size is doing in relation to breast and moved if necessary, does not affect the conversion of the breast. The deferred plan the reconstruction is not part of endoplasmic techniques. Both procedures are performed by specific thoracic surgeons.
What every woman fears for is losing her self confidence , losing hope and losing her personality. The term "Breast Cancer" is a very negative word and that it creates negative vibrations in her heart. So, to make her comfortable with the basics of breast cancer and to make her means any woman understand that this type of cancer is the least dangerous than all cancers and that if it is detected early then you will fight with it successfully. Causes, Symptoms, treatment, discussed in detail.
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that originates in the mesothelium. The mesothelium is the protective lining that covers the body's internal organs. Mesothelioma occurs when the mesothelium cells start to divide uncontrollably.
Chemotherapy is a treatment for killing cancerous cells which is given intravenous or extra-venous to the cancer patient. Even breast cancer patients have to go through the treatment. This treatment mainly focuses on the cancerous cells that are spread in the blood stream in the whole body . If any cancerous cells are there then they are killed by the chemotherapy medicine. The medicine is very costly and it has to be taken for one or two days continuously for every 21 days .
Asbestos fibers are microscopic, though they are also quite durable. For this reason, asbestos was used in a number of different industrial compounds to enhance strength and resistance to temperature extremes- two properties at which the mineral is highly adept.
It has long been known that smoking is hazardous to one's health, causing a marked increase in instances of mesothelioma lung cancer among those who smoke regularly.
Exposure to asbestos particles is one of the principal causes of mesothelioma cancer, also known as asbestos cancer. As a naturally occurring mineral with useful commercial applications, asbestos is found in plumbing, insulation and other building materials and products.
There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood that a person will develop mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma Information – Basics Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is usually caused by previous exposure to asbestos.
