Stage 1 Mesothelioma

Stage 1 mesothelioma tumors remain localized in and around the lining of a lung. Stage 1 mesothelioma affects only the pleura (lining) of a lung or a relatively small portion of the abdomen. Stage 1 mesothelioma is earliest stage of the disease. The patients diagnosed at this stage have the most treatment options and the best prognosis. It is the simplest level that needs to be treated, as it does not spread to other parts of the body. The cancer is still localized in one part of the body, like the lung mucosa, and has not spread to nearby organs or lymph nodes. Patients at this stage rarely have symptoms, which makes early diagnosis of mesothelioma difficult.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the thin membrane that protects some of the body's most important organs, including the lungs, abdomen, and heart. Stage 1 mesothelioma is the earliest stage of the disease in which the tumor is confined to a specific area and has not yet spread to other parts of the body. Doctors use mesothelioma stages to describe how advanced their disease is. Stage 1 mesothelioma is the least advanced. It describes patients whose tumors do not grow and spread beyond their origin. Very few mesothelioma cases are caught in stage 1, but they usually live for 21 months or longer. The treatment of this disease includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Early-stage of mesothelioma

Early mesothelioma has a better prognosis than cancer, which is diagnosed at later stages. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are more effective in controlling stage 1 disease. The control of cancer prolongs life. Stage 1 mesothelioma has not spread beyond the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart. The doctors can remove it with surgery and extend your life expectancy. At stage 1 of the pleural mesothelioma, tumors on the pleural lining have developed. This is the thin protective tissue that surrounds the lungs.

The first stage of the pleural mesothelioma consists of two parts: 1A and 1B. In stage 1A, tiny tumors develop in one or both layers of the pleural lining on one side of the breast.

In stage 1B, the tumors spread to other tissues adjacent to the pleural mesothelioma. It may include the lung tissue under the lining or the chest wall outside of it. Cancer can also spread to the muscle under the lung (the diaphragm) or into the area between the lungs (the mediastinum). Even if the mesothelioma has spread to nearby tissues, a Stage 1 diagnosis means that the cancer has not spread to lymph nodes or distant sites throughout the body.

Stage 1 Mesothelioma Facts

If you have been diagnosed with stage 1 mesothelioma, you have the most treatment options - and the best prognosis - because the disease is limited to the lining of one lung and is easier to remove by traditional treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy.

• Often causes no major symptoms
• Cancer can be removed if the patient is eligible for surgery
• Healing treatments are most effective at this stage
• The life expectancy of a stage 1 mesothelioma patient is between 30 and 40 months
• The two-year survival rate is between 41 and 46 percent

First Signs of Mesothelioma

Level 1 cases are often discovered by chance when a doctor performs an X-ray or CT scan, looking for something else. At this time, most patients have no symptoms or the symptoms are so mild that patients do not feel cared for. The symptoms are caused by tumors that begin to wrap around and restrict the affected lung. The patient may experience pain, shortness of breath or chronic cough with increasing tumor.

These symptoms can also be caused by fluid build-up between the two layers of the pleura, which puts pressure on the lungs. Mesothelioma cancer is therefore rarely diagnosed at stage 1. Patients and doctors often confuse the symptoms of mesothelioma with more common illnesses such as flu or pneumonia.

Additional Level 1 cases are caught because a patient with known asbestos exposure to cancer diagnostics received a cancer screening. This condition is called pleural effusion and is a common sign of cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs.

Defining Stage 1 Mesothelioma

In stage 1 mesothelioma is the least advanced stage of mesothelioma. It is the pleura on one side of the body. There is no involvement of the lymph nodes. The doctors use 3 staging systems to describe how far stage 1 mesothelioma has spread. These systems help you determine which treatment options are best for your diagnosis. There are three staging systems for assessing the spread of the pleural mesothelioma. They use slightly different Level 1 definitions.

TNM Staging System

TNM is the most common staging system used by physicians to describe the spread of mesothelioma. The tumor is located on only one side of the pleura or pericardium and may have spread to the lungs or diaphragm on the same side. No lymph node involvement. It may have begun to spread to tissue in the lungs, chest wall, diaphragm or mediastinum.

Butchart Staging System

The doctors use the Butchart system to describe the location of the main tumor rather than its growth. The tumor is located on one side and is confined to one area of the mesothelium. The cancer affects the pleura only on one side of the breast. Tumors may have spread to the pericardium (pericardium) or the respiratory muscle (diaphragm). It can also be found in the membrane, but only on one side. Stage 1 mesothelioma under the Butchart system has not spread further where it first appeared in the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart.

Brigham Staging System

In Brigham staging system focuses on how easily a doctor can remove the mesothelioma tumor. Tumors remain in the pleural layer of the lung. Cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes. The tumor can be operated on for removal. Due to the extremely long latency, it is rare to catch the disease in stage 1. If you have been diagnosed with stage 1 mesothelioma using the Brigham system, you are probably a good candidate for a curative operation.

Stage 1 Mesothelioma Treatment Options

A mesothelioma specialist will develop a mesothelioma treatment plan based on the specific case. In a stage 1 mesothelioma, treatment can often be more aggressive as the disease is better in the early stages and the patients are generally better overall. Those lucky enough to be diagnosed early have more treatment options. Mesothelioma requires aggressive treatment such as surgery. Stage 1 patients can benefit most from aggressive treatments.

In such cases, the treatment plan often includes a multimodal approach involving surgery in conjunction with chemotherapy and / or radiation. Often the mesothelioma is treated with a combination of treatments, including surgery and chemo. In early stages of mesothelioma, curative surgery is still an option and often provides the best chance of survival.

Patients with localized cancer have the most available treatment options. However, it also depends on the general health of the patient. Patients must be healthy enough to deal with an aggressive treatment plan. Palliative care is usually not the first treatment for stage 1. In cases where palliative therapy is considered necessary, these treatments can alleviate symptoms by reducing discomfort and pain. Patients undergoing multimodal therapy may live years above the average mesothelioma prognosis.

Surgery

Mesothelioma surgery is often just a treatment option for patients diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 because the cancer is localized. Many of these operations are considered aggressive treatments because they are very bulky and invasive. There are two main surgical options for the pleural mesothelioma. Surgery is a good option for many stage 1 mesothelioma patients. Most commonly, this involves removal of the lining of the lungs or abdomen where the tumor develops. One removes the diseased tissue around the lungs, while the other also removes the lungs. In some patients with pleural mesothelioma, extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) is performed, which removes the entire diseased lung, pleural lining of the chest and heart, and the diaphragm.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy alone does not have a high success rate; studies show a 5-year survival rate of about 4%. However, in combination with surgery, researchers achieved better results and some patients extended survival beyond 5 years. Doctors may use chemo alone or in combination with surgery. After a patient has recovered from surgery, he usually receives chemotherapy. Chemotherapy destroys fast-growing cancer cells. This kills cancer that has remained behind after surgery and helps to reduce the risk of recurrence. The goal is to kill all cancer cells in the body. Clinical trials continue to test new combinations of chemotherapy and chemotherapy with other emerging treatments such as immunotherapy.

Radiation Therapy

Rarely an individual treatment, radiotherapy is sometimes used after surgery and chemotherapy to kill cancer cells. Patients diagnosed at an advanced stage are rarely treated with radiation because it is a localized treatment. Doctors traditionally use radiotherapy after surgery to prevent reoccurrence of the sites. The use of pre-surgical radiotherapy may improve survival in certain patients. Radiation therapy can also cause more serious side effects, as treatment often damages healthy tissue.

Radiation therapy helps to inhibit the spread of mesothelioma cells and generally provides positive results for stage I mesothelioma patients. Surgery is usually combined with chemotherapy or radiation. Doctors may prescribe radiation before or after surgery. Chemotherapy is used before, after and during surgery.


LEARN MORE ABOUT MESOTHELIOMA TREATMENT OPTIONS

Clinical Trials & Emerging Treatments

Personalized cancer vaccines based on the individual genetic makeup of a tumor have become a growing focus of cancer research. These voluntary research trials are testing experimental drugs and therapies that have not yet been approved for routine use by the US Food and Drug Administration. Some early clinical studies have shown that the vaccines can extend the life expectancy of mesothelioma to over 5 years in some patients.

Many early-onset patients with otherwise good health qualify for mesothelioma studies. Immunotherapy and other emerging treatments have shown promise in the treatment of mesothelioma, even for patients with more advanced disease. While immunotherapies such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda) have been the focus of many clinical studies and have shown success in extending life expectancy, researchers are also developing new immunotherapies and combinations in the early stages of the study.

Stage 1 Mesothelioma Life Expectancy

In addition to early diagnosis, the prognosis of patients varies according to the type of mesothelioma, cell type, genetics, general health, and age and sex of the patient. The average life expectancy for such an early diagnosis is 21 to 40 months, although some patients could survive for at least 5 years. Many of these factors also affect the treatment options available. Because the tumors are localized, patients with stage 1 mesothelioma have more curative treatment options and a better prognosis.

Stage 1 Mesothelioma by Types

Since the cancer is localized and the tumors are generally smaller, all mesothelioma types diagnosed in stage 1 offer most curative treatment options, such as: As the surgical resection. Without metastases and more treatment options, patients have a longer life expectancy. In stage 1 mesothelioma patients are in the minority of people diagnosed with mesothelioma. The disease is often caught in later stages. That is, you have reason to hope that you will live longer than your average prognosis.

Stage 1 Pleural Mesothelioma

Although all three cases describe the cancer similarly, many physicians prefer the TNM system because it is regularly updated with the latest mesothelioma information. Mesothelioma specialists use three staging systems to characterize pleural mesothelioma, including the Butchart system, the Brigham system, and the TNM system. The TNM system notes the size and location of tumors as well as lymph node involvement and extent of metastasis. According to the latest edition, the researchers updated the descriptions for stage 1 malignant mesothelioma.

Stage 1 Peritoneal Mesothelioma

When using PCI, physicians assess the size and number of visible tumors that are located in 13 different areas of the abdominal area. With only about 500 cases a year, research for peritoneal mesothelioma is rather limited. Therefore, physicians have not developed special staging systems for this type of disease, rather than relying on general mesothelioma features or peritoneal cancer index (PCI). The results are added together with the total values referring to the cancer stage. Researchers have estimated a rating of 1 to 10, suggesting stage 1 abdominal carcinoma.

Stage 1 Pericardial Mesothelioma

Although all forms of mesothelioma can be considered aggressive, researchers have seen the pericardial mesothelioma progress even faster. The diagnosis of pericardial mesothelioma at this stage is extremely difficult given the rarity and aggressive nature of the cancer. Because of its location and severity of symptoms. Unfortunately, the majority of patients with this form of mesothelioma are diagnosed at an advanced stage or posthumously.

Symptoms of Stage 1 Mesothelioma

In most cases, the mesothelioma symptoms in stage 1 are relatively low, as the tumor has not yet spread. In later stages of the disease the symptoms become more pronounced. The symptoms of stage 1 mesothelioma are easy to miss. The most common symptoms of pleural mesothelioma have not yet occurred in stage 1. This is because tumors are small and confined to a small part of the lung lining. The most common symptoms in stage 1 mesothelioma are body pain, cough and shortness of breath, general chest discomfort and fever.

Stage 1 mesothelioma tumors are usually small and localized, so the symptoms are usually absent or very mild. Therefore, patients are rarely diagnosed at this stage. In patients who experience symptoms, they can easily be mistaken for common conditions such as cold or flu.

Some symptoms that can occur at level 1 are:

• shortness of breath
• Persistent cough
• Possible bouts of bronchitis or pneumonia
• chest pain
• fever
• body aches

Prognosis of Stage 1 Mesothelioma

In prognosis for patients with stage 1 mesothelioma is generally positive. Of the four stages of mesothelioma, the first stage has the best prognosis, though it may still have a rather poor prognosis. In patients with stage 1 mesothelioma, other factors also play an important role in the prognosis. These can affect the type of treatments and the spread of the disease. The life expectancy of patients diagnosed with stage 1 mesothelioma is usually 21 months or more. The sooner the mesothelioma is diagnosed, the more treatment options are available. The remission prospects are also higher than for the later stages of the mesothelioma.

Other important prognostic factors for stage 1 patients are:

Age

Younger patients usually live longer than older patients. This applies to every phase. However, it may affect your eligibility for Level 1 treatments. They being said, your health may be more important than your age.

Health

Age often correlates with overall health. Healthier patients can perform more aggressive treatments that improve their prognosis. Older patients in good health may be better candidates for surgery than younger patients.

Cell type

Stage 1 patients with an epithelial cell type have the best prognosis. This cell type is spreading slowly. This facilitates the treatment with surgery. Patients with sarcomatoid cell types may not respond as well to their surgery as epithelioid-diagnosed patients.

Unfortunately, stage 1 diagnoses are rare. The latency associated with mesothelioma can be up to 40 years from the time of exposure to asbestos. The actual life expectancy of a particular mesothelioma patient may depend to a great extent on the specifics of their diagnosis, including cell type (histology), location and size of the tumor, and gender, age and environmental risk factors of the patient.

When symptoms appear, many patients refer their symptoms to age or common diseases, such as cold or indigestion. Intercepting mesothelioma at an early stage can significantly extend the life expectancy of the patient. However, this does not mean that patients at a later stage can not improve their prognosis. Second opinions sometimes show a previous disease than the original diagnosis.

Diagnosis

If a patient has diagnosed mesothelioma at the earliest stage, he may expect a better prognosis compared to patients with a later stage. The people with stage 1 mesothelioma may have few to no symptoms. If something is wrong, doctors start with imaging scans. In stage 1 mesothelioma radiographs, a small tumor appears on one side of the breast. Patients with stage 1 mesothelioma are diagnosed by various imaging tests such as X-rays or CT scans. The most common biopsy is a surgical biopsy.

This procedure involves the extraction and examination of tissue and fluid from the tumor site. A thoracotomy (chest) or laparotomy (abdomen) can be performed to diagnose stage 1 mesothelioma. In order to complete a correct diagnosis, doctors rely on biopsies. When doctors find something that looks like cancer in a scan, they need to do a biopsy. A biopsy is a tissue sample. Only then can doctors find out what is on the X-ray.