Sunday 28 February 2010

MESOTHELIOMA PROGNOSIS

Pleural mesothelioma is a difficult cancer to treat because it can spread so extensively and it is generally not diagnosed until it is in the more advanced sages , maling surgical removal of all the cancer difficult or impossible . Because it is a relatively rare cance, mesothelioma has been studied as much as more common forms of cancer . The stage at which treatment for meothelioma is begun has a tremendous impact on the patient"s prospects for long -term survival .

The American Cance Society reportsthat some pleural mesothelioma patents in stage i have had their mesothelioma successfully removed through an involved surgical procedure calledextraoleural pneumonectomy . Extrapleural pneumonectomy is a grueling surgery only ofered to patients in otherwise good health. The entire affected lung plus the pleural lining of the chest wal, diaphragm, and pericardim on the affected side are removed. Srgeons then reconstuct the diaphragm and the percardium .

This procedure works best for patients with eitelioid ceel mesothelioma.

Some patients who ave had a successful extrapleural pneumonectomy are now enjoying long remissions . A study of 120 patients, who underwent extraplural pneumonectomy at the dana-Farber cancer lnstitute in Boston between the years 1980 and 1995, revealed that 22 persent of these patients suvvied five years or longer. The surgery for these patients had beemn ollowed by chemotherapy and radation (cancer help UK,2008).

removing most o the mesothelioma from patient in stage 111 in a procedure called pleurectomy / decortication may also incrase apatient"s life expectancy. The aim of this prcedure is palliative, as it can cntrl fluid buildup and relieve pain and pressure. Factors lnfluencing the Prognosis
The patient"s overall health status ans age affect the prognosis.

The Ameican cancer sociely reports that 75 percent of those diagnosed with mesothelioma are 65 years old or older . Men are five times more likely to have mesothelioma than women are .

When mesothelioma is dagnosed , the doctors look at how far the cancer has spread and several health factors . Pleural mesothelioma patients have a poorer prgosis if they are experiencing chest pain , shortness of breath , inablity to perfrm daily tasks , weight loos , a low red blood cell count , a high white blood cell count , and hig blood levels of a substance called LDH. American cancer society , most mesothelioma patients who have all these factors present pa away within six months of theri diagnosis . It is rere mesothelioma survival rate .

The percent of cancer patients who live five years or more ater heir diagnosis for cancer is called the five year survival rate. In 2006, the five years for mesothelioma was estimated at around 10present .The American cancer society reminds people that this rate is slowly improving and that it is based on people who were diagnosed and teated more than five years ago.Patients who are newly diagnosed may have a higher survival rate because treatment for mesothelioma is continuing to improve.

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