Types of Mesothelioma Cancer Cell Types and Tumors

Mesothelioma is actually a common term for various cancers. Mesothelioma itself exists in four different ways. In addition, there are several types of mesothelioma cells.

Let's take a closer look.

Pleural Mesothelioma

The pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of mesothelioma. It has a specific effect on the lining of the lungs. It is usually asymptomatic in its initial stages. Although some patients report persistent pain in one part of the chest and weight loss. As the disease progresses, more severe symptoms appear.

Symptoms include:

• Persistent dry cough
• shortness of breath
• difficulties swallowing
• Persistent pain in the chest
• Fatigue
• Fever and night sweats

Unfortunately, mesothelioma is one of the few cancers that can not be diagnosed by serum markers, meaning that it is often overlooked. Survival of pleural mesothelioma is very low. Only 8% survive between three and five years, most of them dying within 12 to 18 months. The treatment is mainly palliative but depends on the stage of the cancer. If caught the early enough, the radiotherapy and surgery may be offered.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma

The second type of the mesothelioma affects the lining of the abdomen. Usually also spreads other areas such as intestine, spleen, and liver. The most common and first symptom is severe abdominal pain. In addition, patients may find that fluid is accumulating in the abdominal wall. Other common symptoms, especially in later stages, are:

• Vomit
• nausea
• Difficulty in overtaking stools
• Swollen feet
• fever
• weight loss
• diarrhea
• stomach pain
• Fatigue

The prognosis for peritoneal mesothelioma is very poor. On average, patients survive 10 months after the first onset of mesothelioma cancer symptoms. It often the takes a while to get a diagnosis. However, there are some different results, with some surviving much longer.

There are very few options for mesothelioma treatment. This is also because cancer spreads very quickly. However, warm chemotherapy has shown some good results.

Pericardial Mesothelioma

These types of mesothelioma affect the lining of the heart. It is very rare but occurs in some cases. The cancer progresses fairly quickly, and as a result, the heart is unable to efficiently deliver oxygen to the rest of the body. Overall health, therefore, decreases very quickly. The symptoms of the pericardial mesothelioma are closely related to heart attacks and include:

• shortness of breath
• chest pain
• nausea
• Irregular heartbeat
• Night sweats and fever
• to a cough
• Fatigue

Pericardial mesothelioma is treated almost exclusively palliatively. Because the tumors are so close to the heart. It is almost impossible to remove them through surgery.

Testicular Mesothelioma

This is the rarest type of mesothelioma. It develops in the lining of the testicles, the tunica vaginalis. As such it appears exclusively in men. Less than 1% of all cases of mesothelioma are testes. It is almost completely asymptomatic. The condition is generally discovered when the patient is being treated or operated on for another condition.

Because the testicular mesothelioma is so rare. Medical researchers could not produce a list of common symptoms. For most cancer patients, who are generally at an advanced stage, the following may occur:

• Painless lumps on either or one of the testicles
• Swelling of the scrotum

As a rule, the diagnosis only occurs when abnormalities occur. However, one of the better things with testicular mesothelioma is that it has a much better prognosis. In most cases, the affected testis can be surgically removed. Patients can be treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which has proven to be successful.

How Are Common the Different Types of Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a relatively the rare form of cancer overall. The four types are divided as such:

1. 75% of cases are pleural mesothelioma
2. 10% to 20% of cases are peritoneal mesothelioma
3. 1% of cases are pericardial mesothelioma
4. Less than 1% of cases are testicular mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is caused, as far as the researchers know, by asbestos exposure. The pleural mesothelioma is the most common because the asbestos fibers are inhaled. Peritoneal is the next most common by accidental ingestion. Pericardial mesothelioma is rarer. This would mean that the particles could detach from the lungs and reach the heart. However, scientists do not know what causes testicular mesothelioma. There is some evidence that it is not related to asbestos.

Mesothelioma Tumors

There are two different types of mesothelioma tumors:

1. Malignant mesothelioma tumors are the aggressive type that spreads and ultimately leads to complete organ failure. Unfortunately, they remain hidden for a long time. Once they become active, they spread very quickly. As such, malignant mesothelioma cancer cells are known to be difficult to treat by conventional cancer treatment such as surgery. This condition is caused by asbestos exposure and has a very long latency period.
2. Benign mesothelioma is very rare. However, it is also much easier to treat. In most cases, patients can fully recover from benign mesothelioma. However, it is more likely that the condition will return later in life.

Mesothelioma Cell Types

Finally, there are several cell types in mesothelioma.

These are:

• Epithelioid mesothelioma, which is most prevalent and occurs in 50% to 70% of all cases. These are uniform cells and have a clearly elongated pattern. Therefore, they can be easily detected after a biopsy under a microscope. Interestingly, these are not common in mesothelioma carcinomas. But are more likely to cancer of the lungs.
• Sarcomatoid mesothelioma, which is not so common. Between the 7% and 20% of cases have these cells. Here the cancer cells from muscles, bones and other supporting structures grow in the body.
• Biphasic mesothelioma is a mixture of sarcomatoid cells and epithelial cells. The treatment of these cell types is the same as normal, but the prognosis is much worse as the tissues from which the cells spread out.
• In papillary mesothelioma is sometimes referred to as well-differentiated mesothelioma. It is most commonly found in women with asbestos exposure. Therefore, it usually does not spread.