Thursday, June 26, 2008
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles. However, May they were exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways. These could include working with asbestos or home renovation by the use of asbestos and cement products, even by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos. The disease is rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in Mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body's internal organs.

Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can occur in men or women at any age. About 2000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the USA every year. Although the reported incidence rates have increased over the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer.

There are different procedures used to treat mesothelioma. The type of treatment depends on the location of cancer, stage of disease, and the patient's age and general health.

A treatment of the disease through surgery by removing a portion of the wall of the chest or the abdomen and a portion of tissue around it. For cancer of the pleura, lung May be removed in an operation called a pneumonectomy. Sometimes a portion of the diaphragm, the muscle below the lungs that helps breathing, is also deleted.

Another method is radiotherapy, also called radiotherapy. This involves the use of energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy affects the cancer cells in the treated area. Radiation May come from a machine or putting materials that produce radiation through plastic tubes thin in the area where the cancer cells are located.

Drugs for cancer can be used to kill cancer cells in the body. This is known as chemotherapy and administration of drugs by injection into a vein (intravenous, or IV). Currently, doctors are also studying the effectiveness of putting chemotherapy directly into the chest or the abdomen.

Because mesothelioma is very difficult to control, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) is sponsoring clinical trials aimed at finding new treatments and better ways to use current treatments.

Medical Report