WHAT IS MESOTHELIOMA

Friday, October 30, 2009

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity, but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) pleura or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust and fibre in other ways, such as by washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos, or by home renovation using asbestos cement products. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking.

3 MAIN TYPES OF MESOTHELIOMA

Epithelioid
An epithelioid cell is a cell whose morphology resembles that of epithelial cells, and classified as a primary body tissue. This is the most common type, and it tends to have a better outlook (prognosis) than the other types.

Sarcomatoid (fibrous)
About 1 or 2 out of 10 mesotheliomas are of this type.

Mixed (biphasic
This type has features of the 2 types above. About 3 or 4 out of 10 mesotheliomas are the mixed type.