Pericardial mesothelioma is a deadly and painful form of cancer that targets the lining of the heart. When the cancer has spread, physicians call it diffuse pericardial mesothelioma.
Pericardial mesothelioma begins when a person breathes in asbestos fibers, usually as part of their job. Asbestos is a natural mineral, resistant to heat, fire, and electricity. Until the late 1970s, it was widely used in the automotive, building, fireproofing, roofing, and shipbuilding industries. Adhesives, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, paint, and many plastics contained asbestos. Easily released into the air, asbestos fibers are tiny, allowing workers to breathe them into their lungs. The above industries no longer use asbestos. Asbestos removal is a tedious process using protective clothing and respirators.
The asbestos fibers enter the body and move to the heart lining, or pericardium, by means of blood circulation from the lungs. The asbestos fibers expand, disrupting and causing a pericardial mesothelioma cancerous tumor in the heart lining.
The latency period for pericardial mesothelioma can be up to fifty years with symptoms remaining dormant after exposure. By the time symptoms appear, the pericardial mesothelioma has usually progressed. Also adding difficulty, the symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma are common and with such a long incubation period after exposure, a physician may treat you for the wrong illness.
Pericardial mesothelioma symptoms can be mistaken for a number of illnesses and ailments, making it difficult to diagnose without the correct testing. The symptoms of pericardial mesothelioma include chest pain, coughing, fluid retention, shortness of breath, and/or rapid and unusual heartbeat.
Treatment options for pericardial mesothelioma depend on the extent the cancer has progressed. Other factors include the patient's age, health, and medical history. Treatment options usually include:
Chemotherapy - The most common treatment for pericardial mesothelioma, chemotherapy may kill cancerous cells.
Radiation - Radiation therapy may shrink a pericardial mesothelioma tumor and kill cancer cells.
Surgery - Surgery for pericardial mesothelioma involves removing the tumor and possibly portions of the heart lining or pericardium.
New treatments for pericardial mesothelioma include dual therapy, intraoperative photodynamic therapy, gene therapy, immunoaugmentative therapy, and alternative medicine.
A cure for pericardial mesothelioma may be just around the corner for sufferers of this disease. If you have had past exposure to asbestos, get tested immediately for the three types of mesothelioma: peritoneal mesothelioma (cancer of the abdominal lining), pleural mesothelioma (cancer of the lung lining), or pericardial mesothelioma (cancer of the heart lining).
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