Mesothelioma Law

Two of the effects that mesothelioma can have on the body are tumors and collection of fluid in and around the affected organs and tissues. And some of the medical procedures used to diagnose mesothelioma involve the observation, collection, and analysis of these fluids and tissues. The simplest forms of these tests involve a needle which is inserted into the examined area, whether it is the chest or the abdomen, and fluid is removed from the body and examined. Using a microscope, doctors are usually able to see if cancer cells are present.

While this technique seems to be the simplest, it is not the most effective. One of the problems with mesothelioma is that it can be easily mistaken for other forms of cancer. For this reason, doctors have sought out new techniques for diagnosing mesothelioma.

Technological advances have given doctors a chance to send small video cameras into the human body. Connected to small telescoping instruments that are inserted into the body, these cameras offer doctors a close up view of the tumor or tissues under question. In the case of a pleural or pericardial tumor, a small incision can be made into the chest, through which the small camera can be fed through the body.

This process is called a thorascopy. If the doctors require further analysis of the tumor, they will surgically enter the chest doing what is called a thoracotomy, and remove all or part of the tumor in question. When the problem is in the abdominal cavity and a peritoneal tumor must be investigated, the procedure with the incision and the video camera is called a laparoscopy. If the doctors then need to further the study of the peritoneal tumor, they can surgically open the abdomen and perform what is called a laparotomy.

Doctors have also been known to perform mediastinoscopies, which do not use cameras but instead insert small lighted tubes into the chest cavity. With the aid of these lighted tubes, doctors can view small clumps of immune system cells, called lymph nodes. Lymph nodes, like all immune system cells, help the body to fight off diseases as well as cancers. While mesothelioma is not known to do this, cancer in the chest cavities have been known to spread to the lymph nodes. Not only can a mediastinoscopy help to survey the size and spread of cancer, but it can also help doctors identify whether the problem is mesothelioma or some other form of cancer.

Due to the fact that mesothelioma is often hard to diagnose and can appear similar to other forms of cancer, doctors do not always rely on the results of these liquid and tissue tests. The fact is that sometimes doctors must be looking at the cancer at the cellular level to determine it to be mesothelioma. In what is called an immunohistochemistry, doctors use a powerful electron microscope to view the surface of the cells in question. The test looks for identifiable proteins that if present on the cells can decipher what form of cancer they are dealing with.

Another test which is called a DNA Microarray Analysis, uses the electron microscope to study the genetic make up of the cancer cells. Different cancers have different gene patterns and doctors can use this test to decipher mesothelioma from other cancer possibilities. In order to have a set process for monitoring the spread of cancer, doctors develop and utilize staging processes. Each stage is representative of a new level of the cancer’s spread. In developing the staging systems for mesothelioma, doctors used studies of x-rays and other visual scans. For more information on mesothelioma testing procedures, click on:

• Types of Tissue and Sampling Tests
• Imaging Tests

Staging mesothelioma is important because the treatment options for mesothelioma patients depend on the stage of the cancer’s spread. Due to the fact that pleural mesothelioma accounts for the overwhelming majority of mesothelioma cases, it is the only form of the disease that the medical world bothers to stage. There are actually two staging systems. Traditionally, the most widely used staging system for mesothelioma is the Butchart System, which stages the cancer’s spread by studying the growth and development of the initial tumor mass.

A second staging system which is gaining acceptance from major cancer centers is known as the TNM System. While the Butchart system stages mesothelioma primarily on the size and extent of the main tumor, the TNM System groups information from three different categories of analysis to provide a more detailed staging system. In the name, “TNM”, the T stands for Tumor, or which the size and spread is analyzed. The N represents the spread of mesothelioma to the body’s lymph nodes. The M stands for Metastasis, which is when the cancer uses body’s bloodstream to spread throughout the body and reach new organs.

While this system is relatively new and is not as well known or used as the Butchart system, it is gaining acceptance and favor among major cancer centers as well as the American Joint Committee on Cancer. The TNM system takes a much more detailed analysis of the size and spread of Mesothelioma by analyzing three different categories of the cancer’s presence in the human body.