Recently theres been a lot of discussion all over the world, about mesothelioma. There are awareness groups in almost every city in the USA. There is also a Mesothelioma Memorial Scholarship that is offered every quarter. This scholarship is given in remembrance and honor of those that have been touched by mesothelioma. Billions of dollars have been used in trying to combat this deadly disease and in research to find a cure.

What then is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma  is a  cancer that attacks the membranes around the lungs, the heart and the abdominal cavity. Mesothelioma cancer of the lungs is the  commonest form. The sadest thing about mesothelioma diagnosis,is that it takes decades after initial exposure to asbestos for the desease to manifest.
This is so because it takes years for the asbestos fibers to find their way into the human membranes. What happens is that, after a long presence, they begin to cause fluid accumulation and tumor development. The early  symptoms persistent cough or shortness of breath - symptoms that are often mistaken for evidence of more common lung problems, which delays the mesothelioma diagnosis even further.


In over seventy-five percent of all mesothelioma cases, the cancer develops in the visceral pleura as inhaled asbestos fibers have worked their way through the lung wall and into the outer lining.  Over time, the fibers become an irritant and eventually results in the growth of deformed malignant cells. These cells begin to reproduce at an uncontrollable rate.  This attack on the mesothelial cells causes pleural effusion,which is a principal symptom of mesothelioma cancer.  The malformed cells makes the pleural surfaces to thicken, thus producing an excess of fluid which develops between them.


For majority of pleural mesothelioma patients, the first noticeable symptoms is pleural effusion chest pain.  The additional fluid creates pressure between the lungs and the chest wall, resulting in breathing difficulty and pain whenever the patient inhales.  Once a doctor diagnosis this , he will extracts a sample of the fluid and test its characteristics in a lab.

Two different types of fluid forms in the pleural area, one is called an exudate and the other a transudate.  The former is associated with localized conditions such as cancer growth while the latter, with systemic failure such as congestive heart failure or cirrhosis.  Exudative pleural effusion shows that the medical problem may be a viral infection, pneumonia or a cancerous condition in the pleural area.  If the medical problem is mesothelioma a tissue sample extracted through biopsy will confirm that the condition is malignant pleural effusion caused by cancerous mesothelial cells.

Mesothelioma is not technically classified as lung cancer.  It is cancer of the lining of the lungs, which in its final stages may result to development of a tumor or tumors within the lung.  Generally, pleural mesothelioma exhibits diffuse small tumors which cause the thickening of the pleural membrane and the development of exudative pleural effusion.

However pleural effusion with lung cancer has a standard pairing of symptom and diagnosis as well.  Pleural effusion can also be symptomatic of pneumonia and other viral infections. Thus  mesothelioma is often  diagnosed in its late stages.  Another reason is that it,shares symptoms with a number of other, much more common diseases.

It should be emphasized that the disease  causes effusion, or fluid buildup, in those instances when it develops in the pericardial mesothelium around the heart or the peritoneal mesothelium on the abdominal wall.  Reports from the National Cancer Institute,shows that malignant pleural effusions are caused most commonly by carcinomas of the breast, lung, gastrointestinal tract or ovary and by lymphomas, which is common to many diseases.

Finally, lung cancer may or may not result in malignant pleural effusion, but the symptom will develop with pleural mesothelioma on virtually all occasions except those rare instances when the disease is treated in its early stages.  Pairing asbestos with pleural effusion is unfortunately only one of many potential diagnoses and too often goes ignored until every other option is ruled out.