Pericardial Mesothelioma Symptoms

Of all the cancers caused by asbestos dust (mesothelioma), pericardial mesothelioma is the most rare, accounting for a fraction of all cases (5%). It is a cancer that grows on the pericardium (the lining of the heart). This is a delicate ‘film’, and any infection on the pericardium may have deadly consequences.

Once an person has been diagnosed with pericardial mesothelioma they are offered three dissimilar treatment options. These are radiation, surgery and chemotherapy. Pericardial mesothelioma is exceedingly difficult to treat (due to the intricacies involved in removing the tumours from the pericardium), and a patient’s chances of survival are slim. All three methods have a poor success rate primarily due to the fact that pericardial mesothelioma is detected in the mature stages of development. (The reason for this is because in the early stages of the cancer the sensations or changes resemble those of sicknesses such as pneumonia). The prognosis for a patient undergoing treatment at this point (mature stage) is ordinarily less than a year.

Before treatment, the patient requires a doctor’s evaluation in order to determine which of the three treatments are suitable for him/her. Details such as age, weight, medical history, and general well-being are considered prior to the commencement of treatment. So, how do you treat pericardial mesothelioma?

Radiation – As with all cancer treatments that use this method, huge doses of radiation are employed to kill the cancerous cells on the pericardium. The downside to radiation treatment is that not only are you killing off the cancerous cells, but you are also detrimental the critical organs in close proximity to the heart, namely the lungs. The heart also gets damaged (due to the huge doses of radiation).

Surgery – We may break this down into two parts; aggressive surgery and palliative procedures. Aggressive surgery involves the remotion of the cancerous cell. Since these are very close to the heart and lungs, this makes it an exceedingly precarious procedure and one that requires an exceedingly skilled surgeon.

Palliative procedures are applied in the latest of stages of pericardial mesothelioma and serve the sole intent of reducing the symptoms. Usually at this stage the cancer is practically incurable.

Chemotherapy – This is the most widely-used of cancer therapies which involves the use of drugs to kill the cancerous cells. Unfortunately, the majority of drugs employed have a low success rate with pericardial mesothelioma. Research is being conducted to come up with a cocktail of drugs that have a more favourable outcome.

There does subsist another form of treatment which involves using all three aforementioned treatment options. It is known as Dual Therapy. Surgery is employed to remove the cancerous cells, then chemotherapy and radiation are applied to kill the remaining cells. The success rate for this method is higher than just using radiation, surgery or chemotherapy alone, but may still be dangerous.