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Peritoneal mesothelioma
By Eden Ali | June 15, 2007
Peritoneal mesothelioma is simply a cancer of the peritoneum membrane. The organs of the abdomen are surrounded and covered and guarded by a thin membrane of mesothelial cell. The only known cause in this case is exposure to Asbestos. However, it often times take decades before symptoms of this disease are seen. Statistically, this type of mesothelioma makes for about one-fifth of all types of mesotheliomas diagnosed in the US each year.
Despite the fact that peritoneal mesothelioma is less common than pleural mesothelioma, they still tend to be more invasive, and thereby often result in reducing the life expectancy of the victim.Just like all cancers, peritoneal mesothelioma exist in two types:
Benign type and malignant type.
Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma:
May be abdominal pains, weakness, loss of weight, anorexia, nausea, and sweeling of the abdomen. The sypmtoms could be similar to that of pleural mesothelioma. Sometimes there is accumulation of fliud in the peritoneal cavity, which results in a condition reffered to as Ascites. The symptoms often start slowly, but over with they become more rapid.
The mesothelioma diagnosis involve X-rays and CT scans, but a comfirmatory mesothelioma diagnosis is only achieved with a biopsy. This is when a tissue sample is examined by a pathologist.
If it is comfirmed positive, despite the different treatment options available, there is still no known curative treatment of mesothelioma.
Also the prognosis is usually based on different factors which includes the size and development of the tumor, the type of cell, and also the response of the tumor to treatments. Notwithstanding, an early mesothelioma diagnosis is important in the treatment of mesothelioma.
The treatment of mesothelioma include:
- chemotherapy;
- surgery.
Topics: Mesothelioma types |