As with most cancers, early detection is the key to fighting mesothelioma.
That’s sometimes easier said than done.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is one of the toughest cancers for doctors to diagnose. It’s a relatively rare cancer and the disease’s symptoms are similar to lung cancer. The treatments, however, are different. With a quick, accurate diagnosis, mesothelioma can be a manageable disease.
According to new research, a group of Danish doctors may have cracked the code on early diagnoses of pleural mesothelioma, which occurs in the lining of the lung. The doctors relied on biomarkers, or the structure of the blood and lung fluid, to identify mesothelioma in its early stages.
The team found absent or decreased levels of the enzyme methylthioadenosine phosphorylase in the majority of mesothelioma patients tested. When combined with other forms of testing, this could provide earlier diagnosis and increase the chances of surviving longer. Symptoms of the illness include shortness of breath, fatigue and painful coughing fits.
The Danish doctors measured MTAP levels in more than 100 patients. They found that 65 percent of the patients had decreased levels of MTAP. In a second study, the doctors found that they could diagnose mesothelioma accurately the majority of the time.
Pleural mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the lung. Mesothelioma can also strike in the abdomen or the heart.
An estimated 3,000 patients are diagnosed in the United States with mesothelioma each year. The disease is caused by exposure to asbestos.
Patients who are diagnosed with the disease live for about two years. But when detected and treated in its early stages, patients have lived for more than decade. But not every doctor is familiar with the disease and sometimes it’s misdiagnosed as lung cancer.
The Danish report is encouraging for those suffering from the incurable disease.
Anybody who has worked around asbestos is at risk of contracting mesothelioma. Trades commonly associated with the disease are pipefitters, railroad workers and roofers. But it’s not uncommon for schoolteachers whose classrooms were coated with asbestos material to become victims.
Diagnosis is also complicated by the fact that the latency period is 10 years or more after initial asbestos exposure. Some cases have seen latency periods up to 40 years or more.
Patients who exhibit the first onset of symptoms are encouraged to visit a mesothelioma specialist to receive an accurate diagnosis.