Mesothelioma Diagnosis
Diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma can be difficult. To understand this, you must it is imperative to understand how mesothelioma develops. Mesothelioma is typically caused by exposure to asbestos. While there have been a few cases, in which mesothelioma has occurred in patients with no asbestos-exposure in their medical history, these are generally considered to be anomalies among medical professionals. Asbestos exposure may happen thirty-forty years before the cancer develops within the body. This is because of the complicated nature of asbestos. Because the materials are quite durable, they will remain in the body and irritate the body ever so slightly over a period of time. Over a sustained period of irritation, a harmful scar tissue will grow, thus laying the groundwork for mesothelioma to develop. This generally happens over a long period of time.
Physicians have misdiagnosed mesothelioma before as a different form of cancer, mainly due to unfamiliarity with the patient's asbestos history. The patient themselves may be unaware of their exposure history, leaving the causal relationship between exposure and the cancer all that much more difficult to establish.
In any event, the diagnosis is further complicated by a lack of symptoms. Often patients will not be diagnosed with mesothelioma until Stage II or III. Why is this? Mesothelioma in its early stages carries very few symptoms and if it is discovered in an early stage it is often by incidental encounter rather than patient concerns.
Tools for Mesothelioma Diganosis
The first encounter with mesothelioma will often be incidental. For example while a patient is having a routine chest scan or X-ray for another purpose a physician may encounter the disease in the pleura or other internal body structure. At that point the physician will share their concern with the patient and in all likelihood, recommend further testing to identify the nature of the disease.
The next step in the process will likely be some variety of intensive body scan. The two most popular methods for this purpose are a magnetic resonance image (MRI) or a computer topography scan (CT scan). Each of these creates a reliable image of the internal body structures to ensure the validity of a foreign growth. During an MRI a patient will likely have to remain on a bed within an MRI machine, which can be somewhat uncomfortable, particularly for those who are claustrophobic. Those who are concerned about the MRI should ask their physician if there is an alternative MRI image machine available with the open design. The duress of possibly life-threatening cancer need not be compounded by an uncomfortable diagnosis process. A CT scan requires that a computer construct a 3-dimensional image of the patient's internal structures. This type of image can be especially helpful in determining the nature of a certain cancer.
If body scans affirm the presence of a cancer, the last step will likely be a biopsy. A biopsy is a small surgical procedure in which a small amount of the affected tissue is removed for lab analysis. This may sound incredibly uncomfortable but a localized or general anesthetic will usually be used to ensure the patient feels no pain during this minor procedure. A long syringe or other extracting device will pull cancer and surrounding tissue from the affected area and then be examined under a high-powered microscope to determine the variety of cancer and the nature of its growth. Among the better ways to determine these key features of the tumor is to determine what type of cancer cells are present. The lab analysis will provide the exact diagnosis and will contribute to the treatment recommendation going forward.
