Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Once a patient is diagnosed, a doctor will likely discuss their prognosis, or probable course and outcome of the cancer’s influence on the body. These following steps will help to improve the outcome of the cancer:
Early Detection
-The best way to avoid a poor prognosis is through early detection. Mesothelioma is not generally diagnosed until the latest stages of development because of the amount of time it takes for patients to display symptoms associated with the disease.
In addition to this, the symptoms of mesothelioma are very general and often resemble less serious conditions, which can make the cancer difficult to diagnose. As a result, the prognosis for the majority of patients is poor, but many doctors can recommend treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to help combat the disease.
So if you have worked in industries and other places where the risk of exposure is high, like people that worked in shipyards especially military shipyards, factories that produce car brake pads, and other industries where asbestos exposure was high, you need to have a high index of suspicion especially when you start showing early symptoms of mesothelioma like chest pain, persistent coughing ,difficulty in breathing, and abdominal pain. Once you start experiencing these symptoms you should inform their doctor and not assume that they are just mild symptoms of less dangerous diseases.
Stage of cancer
-The stage of the cancer also at detection and the beginning of treatment also affects the outcome of the disease. Doctors typically address the cancer in terms of stages, ranging from stage one to stage four. The earlier stage of the cancer at detection the better the prognosis. Unfortunately, once mesothelioma cancer has reached stage three or four, treatment options not only become more limited but less effective as well.
When a patient is diagnosed with stage four mesothelioma, their health condition often rules out the possibility of surgery. Treating mesothelioma becomes more difficult the later a diagnosis occurs. So you should start treatment immediately once you have been diagnosed.
Quality of Medical Care
-The quality of medical care that you receive also determines the outcome of the cancer. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer and there are few doctors that have experience in treating the cancer, it is not enough to be seen by a medical specialist ,you need to be attended to by a specialist with the necessary experience in treating mesothelioma.
Unfortunately most of these experienced mesothelioma experts are only available in the major hospitals in the major cities and their services are very expensive.
Age of the patient
Malignant mesothelioma is typically diagnosed in individuals over 55 years old, though there are certainly exceptions. Some patients already have multiple medical problems caused by advancing age, making treatment even more difficult and increasing the mortality rate among mesothelioma patients. So the lower your age at diagnosis, the better your outcome.
-The type of mesothelioma – pleural, peritoneal, pericardial or testicular.
The commoner types of mesothelioma which are the pleural and abdominal mesothelioma have the best chances of having a good outcome, the other less common types are very difficult to treat because of their closeness to the heart and since they occur very rarely doctors have very limited experience in treating them.
-The size of the tumor
The smaller the size of your tumor, the better the outcome of your cancer.
-The location of the tumor and whether it can be surgically removed
Uncommon types of mesothelioma like pericardial mesothelioma have very limited chances of long time survival because of the closeness of the tumor to the heart
-The extent of other symptoms, including fluid in the lungs or abdomen
If by the time of diagnosis you are showing symptoms of advanced spread of the cancer like weight loss, fluid in the stomach, fluid in the lungs you chances of long time survival is limited.
-Smoking
Smoking worsens the outcome of the cancer so if you are smoking you need to stop it.
According to statistics published by the American Cancer Society, the five-year relative survival rate for patients with mesothelioma is approximately 10 percent. That number has improved in the last five years, up from 9 percent reported at the end of 2002. In addition, recent studies show that the one-year survival rate is now about 40 percent, a number that has also increased in the past five years. Throughout the 1990s, it was rare for a patient to survive more than a year after diagnosis.
The average length of survival reported throughout the last five years has been 10 to 11 months after diagnosis.
There has also been exciting stories about mesothelioma survivors that have continued to surface, providing hope to mesothelioma patients and their loved ones.
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