Stages of Mesothelioma
Posted on March 18, 2008
Filed Under Health Care | Leave a Comment
Mesothelioma is a dreaded cancer of serous membranes of the body. It primarily affects lungs and so it is called pleural mesothelioma. It can also affect abdominal peritoneum rarely. As with any cancer, staging mesothelioma is an important step before commencing on to treatment plan. Accurate staging helps to outline the prognosis of the case and also feasibility of any clinical trial if the patient is willing.
The staging depends on location of primary tumor, size and number if tumors, lymph node involvement and metastasis. Clinical examination, imaging techniques like CT scan and pathology reports of biopsy help to determine. Though there are many staging methods, TNM (Tumor, Node, Metastasis) staging is only used like in many other cancers for the staging of pleural mesothelioma. It is as below-
- Right or left pleural is involved. There is usually no spread of the cancer except for nearby lungs, diaphragm, etc. Lymph nodes are spared.
- Cancer has spread to the lungs and the lymph nodes by the side of it. The diaphragm and pericardium may be involved.
- Cancer spreads to chest wall, muscles, ribs, esophagus, heart or other nearby organs with lymph node involvement.
- Organs of abdominal cavity and neck may be involved. Even distant organ metastasis is included in this stage.
Depending upon this, deciding the treatment plan whether surgery, chemotherapy or radiation is easy.
Tags:chemotherapy, chest wall, ct scan, diaphragm, Health Care, lymph node involvement lymph nodes
Comments
Leave a Reply