Malignant mesothelioma ~ Medical Researches

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Malignant mesothelioma

A cancerous tumor of the mesothelium is called a malignant

mesothelioma, although this

is often shortened to just mesothelioma. Mesotheliomas can start in 4 main areas in the

body.

· Pleural mesotheliomas start in the chest. About 3 out of 4 mesotheliomas are pleural

mesotheliomas.

· Peritoneal mesotheliomas begin in the abdomen. They make up most of the

remaining cases.

· Pericardial mesotheliomas start in the covering around the heart and are very rare.

· Mesotheliomas of the tunica vaginalis are very rare tumors that start in the covering

layer of the testicles.

Malignant mesotheliomas can also be classified into 3 main types based on how the cells

are arranged:

· About 50% to 60% of mesotheliomas are epithelioid. This type tends to have a better

outlook (prognosis) than the other types.

· About 10% to 20% of mesotheliomas are sarcomatoid (fibrous).

· Mixed (biphasic) mesotheliomas have both epithelioid and sarcomatoid areas. They

make up about 30% to 40% of mesotheliomas.