What is mesothelioma | Medinfographics.com

Mesothelioma is a cancer that develops in the tissues covering the inside of the chest or the abdomen, the lungs, or rarely the heart.

Asbestos exposure (mostly occupational) is the single most important cause of mesothelioma.

If the airborne asbestos fibers are inhaled or ingested, they can be deposited on the outer covering of the chest or abdomen, the lung or heart.

The lining or covering tissue is called mesothelium and the cells in the tissue are called mesothelial cells.

Asbestos fibers can cause scarring and inflammation of the mesothelium and cause DNA damages to the mesothelial cells.

Mesothelioma develops when a mesothelial cell undergo cancerous transformation and grows out of control.

Read more about mesothelioma causes

Mesothelioma statistics

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer. In the US, about 3,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 2,500 mesothelioma deaths occur each year. Mesothelioma mostly affects white men. About 80% of mesothelioma deaths occurred in men and 95% in white Americans.

Mesothelioma incidence and mortality increase with age. Mesothelioma incidence strongly increased in men from 1973 to the early and started to decline thereafter. It has remained stable in women. The overall incidence of mesothelioma is still increasing worldwide.

Read more about mesothelioma statistics

Mesothelioma latency

Mesothelioma has been known as an insidious disease because of its very long latency period. Mesothelioma may develop 20-40 years after first exposure to asbestos.

Despite a dramatic decline in asbestos use since the 1970s, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related lung diseases remains still a significant health concern.

In the US, the total number of asbestos-related deaths is estimated to be more than 200,000 by the year 2030.

Types of mesothelioma

The two main types of mesothelioma are pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. Primary pericardial mesotheliomas start in covering around the heart and are extremely rare.

Pleural mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma starts in the chest, in the tissue surrounding the lung (pleura). It is the most common form of mesothelioma, accounting for about 3 out of 4 mesothelioma. The vast majority of pleural mesotheliomas are related to asbestos exposure.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a quite rare cancer, but it is extremely aggressive cancer associated with a dismal prognosis. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is one of the most difficult forms of cancer to cure.

Pleural mesothelioma is about 5 times more common in men than in women, and about 90% of mesotheliomas in men are pleural mesothelioma.

The common symptoms of malignant pleural mesothelioma are pain in the chest and difficulty, painful breathing.

Read more about malignant pleural mesothelioma symptoms

Peritoneal mesothelioma

Most of the remaining cases are peritoneal mesothelioma that starts in the abdomen, in the tissue lining the abdominal cavity (peritoneum). Diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (DMPM) is the second most common type of mesothelioma, representing about one-fourth of all mesothelioma.

The gender difference is smaller with peritoneal mesotheliomas. Men are about 1.5 times more like to develop peritoneal mesotheliomas than women. Pathologically, peritoneal mesothelioma is similar to pleural mesothelioma. It also grows rapidly, highly invasive, and mostly fatal after diagnosis.

The common symptoms of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma are abdominal pain and distension caused by growing tumors and ascetic fluid.

Read more about peritoneal mesothelioma symptoms

Pericardial mesothelioma

Primary pericardial mesotheliomas starts in covering around the heart and are extremely rare, accounting for less than 1% of all mesothelioma cases. Pericardial mesothelioma is about 3 times more common in men than in women.

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