Malignant Mesothelioma

Symptoms of Mesothelioma

The symptoms of mesothelioma do not appear until several decades after exposure to asbestos. These symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), chronic cough, fatigue, persistent pain in the chest or upper back, wheezing, painful breathing, weight loss, coughing up blood (hemoptysis), and frequent lung infections. Generally, by the time these symptoms appear, the disease has already developed to an advanced stage. Even then, the vague natures of these symptoms are often mistaken for a lingering cold and medical advice is not immediately sought.

Like any cancer, mesothelioma results from atypical cell reproduction. Clumps of these abnormal cells form tumors. As a tumor develops, it causes thickening of the pleural membrane around the lungs and breathing becomes progressively more difficult. The tumor can cause an effusion of fluid to accumulate in the chest.

This buildup of fluid or pleural effusion can further restrict the expansion of the lungs. At first, a person with mesothelioma might experience breathing difficulties only during exercise, but as lung function decreases, breathing becomes difficult even at rest. Growth of the tumor can invade nearby tissues of the chest wall and ribs, and spread to distant tissues through the blood and lymph.

Diagnosis

Because mesothelioma is rare and its symptoms are not unique, this cancer is difficult to recognize. Typically, mesothelioma cannot be seen on an X-ray and, therefore, it is not unusual for this disease to go undetected during a routine physical examination. A person with respiratory symptoms and a history of exposure to asbestos should be evaluated with more advanced imaging techniques such as computed axial tomography (CAT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These techniques consist of a series of thin, cross-sectional X-rays that better detect thickening of the pleural membrane. Still more sophisticated in its ability to identify mesothelioma is the positron emission tomography (PET) imaging technique.

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