Pericardial Mesothelioma

Pericardial Mesothelioma is an extremely difficult cancer to treat and presently, all treatment methods used have a poor success rate. The chances of a patient’s survival depend largely on how early and how aggressively the cancer is treated.

Pericardial Mesothelioma affects the thin lining of tissue that surrounds the heart, or the pericardium. This cancer can occur at any age, although the mean age of presentation is 46. As these malignant pericardial mesothelioma cells continue to grow, they cause thickening of the pericardial membranes, and eventually cause tumors to develop. These changes in the pericardial membrane lead to the build-up of fluid between the pericardial layers, and this, combined with the thickening of the layers, puts pressure on the heart.

Treatment options for pericardial mesothelioma include radiation therapies, physical therapy, chemotherapy and surgical procedures such as pericardiocentesis or extrapleural pneumonectomy. There is no certain cure to pericardial mesothelioma and all of the treatment methods used have a poor success rate. The chances of survival of a patient depend strongly on how early and aggressively the cancer is treated. The rarest type of the asbestos cancer is pericardial mesothelioma, which attacks the membrane covering the heart, or the pericardium.

If pericardial mesothelioma is treated when it has fully developed and matured then the chances of a patient's survival is very small. The prognosis could be only a couple of months. In pericardial mesothelioma, it is still not yet unravelled how the asbestos fibers become deposited in the pericardium. It could be that asbestos fibers, after it break down into small pieces in the lungs, are transported into the blood stream.

Some of the common symptoms of Pericardial Mesothelioma include shortness of breath, persistent coughing, chest pain and heart palpitations. After a diagnosis has been established, several factors are taken into consideration before Mesothelioma treatment begins. Pericardial mesothelioma is a cancerous disease that affects the membranous lining of the heart. It is commonly misconcepted that mesothelioma is a primary lung cancer; whereas it is not. Pericardial mesothelioma affects the lining that surrounds the heart, pericardium and is caused by asbestos. The pericardium consists of cells that produce a lubricating fluid which protects the heart and allow it to move freely when it pumps blood to other parts of the body.

Elderly men who are approaching 60 - 70 years of age are just starting to suffer from pericardial mesothelioma due to its long latency period (amount of time the symptoms take to show) of 30 - 50 years. They are suffering because this was the generation who worked with asbestos and amongst asbestos when asbestos was an extremely popular building material in the 1950s ? Patients with pericardial mesothelioma are not generally offered surgery. Pericardial Mesothelioma often presents with mesothelioma symptoms, which include shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, and a persistent cough.

As with the other two forms of mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma is a cancer that could have been avoided, and individuals that have this disease should seek out attorneys that specialize in mesothelioma cases. The legal action against asbestos manufacturers on behalf of those who suffer must be taken with careful consideration and swift action. Pericardial Mesothelioma causes shortness of breath, a persistent cough, chest pains and heart palpitations. With all three forms of the disease, the signs grow more acute with time and yet can still evade diagnosis by being chalked up to other diseases with similar symptoms. Pericardial Mesothelioma is cancer of the membranous lining that surrounds the heart. Of the three forms of this asbestos related cancer, Pericardial Mesothelioma is the rarest.

Pericardial mesothelioma starts from the cavity which surrounds the heart. Pericardial mesothelioma is the least common form of mesothelioma. Pericardial mesothelioma, as the name suggests, involves the heart. Pericardial mesothelioma attacks the pericardial sac surrounding the heart or the scortum and testes.