Mesothelioma Prognosis - What Are Your Chances?
About 2000 to 3000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Once a patient receives a diagnosis of this cancer, his or her physician will most likely discuss the prognosis or probable course and outcome of the disease with the patient.
Factors That Determine Prognosis
Most times a diagnosis of mesothelioma is made when the cancer has reached an advanced stage as it usually takes a very long amount of time after the contact with asbestos before most victims start displaying the symptoms associated with the disease.
In addition to this fact, even when the symptoms of this cancer do eventually surface, they often resemble the symptoms of more general diseases like pneumonia, influenza and some other lung diseases. This fact coupled with the long delay in appearance of symptoms makes the accurate diagnosis of mesothelioma a very difficult one.
Thus as result of these factors, prognosis for majority of the patients is poor, but many doctors recommend treatment options like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy to help combat the disease.
Factors that affect prognosis include:
A} The stage of the cancer:
Medically the progression of the cancer is classified in form of stages. The stages range from stage one to stage four. The higher the stage the, the more advanced the cancer. Unfortunately, once the cancer has reached stages three to stage four, treatment options become limited and less effective. In stage four of the cancer, the cancer has spread to other parts of the body and the tumor has often deeply eaten into various key organs and tissues in the body. Stage 4 is not suitable for surgery. Generally the higher the stage of the cancer the worse the prognosis.
B} Histological type of cancer:
Histology refers to the basic cell structure and type of the cancer. Histologically, there are four types of mesothelioma:a}Epithelial,b}Sarcomatoid c}Biphasic{mixed} d}Desmoplastic{variant of sarcomatoid}
Epithelial mesothelioma has a better prognosis than the other types and the sarcomatoid form has the worst prognosis.
C} Age and general condition of victim
Malignant mesothelioma is often diagnosed in people above the age of 55 years old, although there may be exceptions. So some of the victims would have developed chronic diseases associated with old age like diabetes and hypertension and this worsens their prognosis.
D} The size of the tumor
E} The location of the tumor and whether the tumor is operable{whether it can be removed surgically}
F} The extent of other symptoms, including fluid in the lungs or abdomen.
G} Whether or not the patient is a smoker.
When discussing the survival rate of any cancer, references are often made to the "five year survival rate". The five year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least five years after receiving their diagnosis. According to the American Cancer Society, the five year survival relative survival rate for mesothelioma is approximately 10%.The number has improved over the last five years up from the 9% reported at the end of 2002.
In general, the average length of survival reported throughout the last five years has been 10-11 months after diagnosis.
When you notice the symptoms of mesothelioma in your body, the place you go to is to see the doctor who can then run the various tests to confirm the diagnosis. When you realize that indeed you do have the disease, you ask the doctor a vital question which will change your whole outlook on life as you know it. You ask what the mesothelioma prognosis is. The doctor will take some time to explain how exactly the illness occurs and the possibilities for treatment before they get to the point. Prognosis for mesothelioma is usually not very good. A prognosis is the chance or hope for recovery. It is the prediction according to the stage of the disease in your body, of how the outcome of the illness will be in regard to your body.
Mesothelioma prognosis is often described as the recovery chance of a patient. The prognosis is very poor because when the illness is discovered, it is usually very advanced and all that can be done is to treat the discomfort and discourage the cancer from spreading. All this is according to the statistics that are available. There is not confirmations or details that can confirm the statics and it is often left to very individual cases to judge the outcome in other people. One thing that seems to be a fact though is the low survival rate. Many patients may not feel comfortable going through this facts because it might seem hopeless to fight on.
Each case has its uniqueness and people have been reported to survive for over 10 years when they were given 1 year to live. It is also a fact that there is always hope for every patient. According to the statistics, only about 20 cases of all the reported cases manage to survive. Some factors like the kind of treatment they are undergoing play a major part in helping prolong life and patients should go for every medical opportunity available. There are constant studies being undertaken to come up with a cure or a better treatment for mesothelioma and the experts state that the future of mesothelioma prognosis looks bright. Some patients often opt to take medications on trial and this can help some people.
Nobody can really give an accurate mesothelioma prognosis and keeping a positive attitude will boost your immunity and give you strength to face the future with confidence. Apart from the stage of the cancer you are at, your general well being will also contribute to the mesothelioma prognosis. If your are in good health, then you might respond to treatment better than people whose immune systems are compromised. Another factor that might affect the prognosis is where the cancer is located and this means that it might be of the lungs or the abdomen. All in all, you might be mislead by statistics and it will be vital to consider your case individually and see how best you are going to overcome the problem. The key is keeping in mind that even with a poor prognosis, your case can be unique and better.