Biphasic Mesothelioma

Malignant biphasic mesothelioma is the second most common cell type of the disease. Patients with this form of cancer will have varying life expectancy rates because prognosis will depend on the ratio of epithelial and sarcomatoid cells. Learning about biphasic and understanding its characteristics, how it is diagnosed, and how this type affects treatment can help you make informed decisions with your doctor.

Approximately 20 to 35 percent of all malignant mesothelioma cases are classified as biphasic. This cell type is more common among pleural patients. It is important to determine which cells are present because this information may have an impact on your prognosis.

Characteristics

In biphasic cases, epithelioid cells and sarcomatoid cells can exist in close proximity or, more frequently, within distinctly separate areas of a tumor. These cell types are important to detect because some clinical trials and treatments can be targeted at specific cell types. The characteristics of your cell type do not affect your symptoms and they may only affect your prognosis by a few months.

Epithelioid

Epithelioid mesothelioma is comprised of round, cube-like cells that have long and slender microvilli, which are small hair-like protrusions in the cell membrane.

Biphasic

Biphasic mesothelioma is often called the "mixed" cell type because it is made up of cells from both of the other mesothelioma cell types.

Sarcomatoid

Sarcomatoid mesothelioma is made up of spindle-shaped cells arranged in a disorganized fashion.

Continue reading ...

Adenomatoid Mesothelioma

Adenomatoid mesothelioma is a specific subset of epithelioid mesothelioma. It is sometimes known as glandular or microglandular mesothelioma. This subtype is one of the more common secondary patterns of epithelial malignant mesothelioma.
Any type of mesothelioma can have an adenomatoid growth pattern. Pleural, peritoneal or pericardial cancers may all feature this differentiation.
This type of mesothelioma can mimic several other types of tumors, including benign adenomatoid tumors and pleural metastases of adenocarcinoma. To correctly diagnose a patient, doctors will need to evaluate the patient’s clinical presentation as well as the unique histological features of the tumor.

Growth Patterns

These cells can be either flat or cube-shaped. In adenomatoid mesothelioma, the cells line small, gland-like structures.
As with other types of epithelioid mesothelioma, adenomatoid cells grow in a uniform pattern. Some tumors grow into microcystic structures. These patterns can have a lace-like appearance.
Adenomatoid growth patterns may coexist with other growth patterns in epithelial tumors, but are often the predominant pattern.

Lesions vs. Mesothelioma

The subtype of asbestos cancer is not the same thing as an adenomatoid mesothelial lesion. These lesions grow in mesothelial cells, but these tumors have a different cellular makeup than malignant tumors. Lesions typically develop in the pelvic organs, but they can also arise in the pleura, mesentery or omentum. These benign tumors are very small and lack significant cellular abnormalities.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Malignant mesotheliomas are often diagnosed differently than lesions. The benign growths often develop in the genital tract (in both males and females), and they are often diagnosed incidentally during a pelvic surgery. A handful of these tumors have also been detected in the pleura during a debulking surgery for other lung masses.
However, when doctors diagnose a patient with malignant mesothelioma of the adenomatoid variety, the diagnostic process is the same as it is for any other type of malignant mesothelioma. Patients typically present with chest pain, shortness of breath and coughing. The oncologist then runs several imaging scans and biopsies that lead to diagnosis.

Continue reading ...

Mesothelioma Histology

Cancer specialists can uncover important microscopic features of your disease with the science of histology. These features play an important role in diagnosis, treatment and your life expectancy.


Histology is a branch of biology and medicine that involves the study of the cells and tissues of animals and plants. Samples of tissue are stained on a slide and observed under a microscope to study the structure and composition of each cell. Mesothelioma histology is the study of the various types of mesothelioma cells. The study of diseased cells, such as those found in tumors, is a branch of histology called histopathology. Trained medical doctors, usually board-certified pathologists, examine the tumor tissue under a microscope and classify cells by type.
There are several types of mesothelioma cancer cells. Each cellular type responds to different treatments and affects the individual patient's prognosis, so an accurate diagnosis of cancer cell type is essential to develop an effective treatment plan. After treatment is administered, studying tissue samples can also provide insight on the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs and other treatments.
Histology also helps prevent mesothelioma misdiagnosis. For example, peritoneal cancer in women and ovarian cancer can be difficult to differentiate without analyzing the cell type through histology. If patients are pursuing legal action against an asbestos-producing company that may have caused their cancer, a misdiagnosis can also negatively affect their chances of obtaining compensation.

Cell Types

When specifically examining a tumor sample for the presence of mesothelioma, a histopathologist will carefully inspect the sample for three types of cells:

Epithelial cells appear most often in these tumors, and this subtype accounts for 50 to 70 percent of all cases. These cells, which are uniform and sharply defined, feature prominent nuclei and often form complex branching patterns.

These spindle-shaped sarcomatoid cells typically lack strong characteristics and occur in approximately 10 to 20 percent of reported cases. While they are the most aggressive cell type, they are also the least common of the disease's cell types.

Malignant mesothelioma is considered biphasic when both epithelial and sarcomatoid cells are present and each type accounts for at least 10 percent of the tumor's mass. Biphasic (mixed) cells are present in 20 to 35 percent of all malignant cases.

Continue reading ...

Testicular Mesothelioma

Testicular mesothelioma is a cancer of the membrane lining that covers the testicle. Also called mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis, this rare disease accounts for less than 1 percent of all mesothelioma cases.

In addition, the disease puzzles researchers, because typical mesothelioma patients can trace their disease to the inhalation or ingestion of asbestos dust or fibers while most testicular cancer patients have no history of asbestos exposure.
There is a scarcity of research about the testicular type because it is so rare. Despite that, men with this type of cancer enjoy a significantly better prognosis than most people with other forms of mesothelioma cancer. Most studies found median survivals of about 20 to 23 months, and one patient lived 15 years after diagnosis.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Due to the rarity of this disease, there is no recognized set of symptoms for testicular mesothelioma cancer. The cancer is often mistaken for more common ailments such as a hernia, so many testicular mesothelioma patients initially receive a wrong diagnosis. Typically, testicular mesothelioma is only properly diagnosed during surgery.
The most common symptom is a hydrocele, a buildup of fluid in the scrotum. Men may notice a swollen testicle.

Treatment

Testicular mesothelioma treatment typically involves removal of a portion of one testicle, or even an entire testicle if necessary, depending on the extent of the cancer.
Treatment for testicular mesothelioma often involves surgery which may include aspiration, hydrocelectomy, inguinal orchiectomy, hemiscrotectomy and lymphadenectomy. Treatment may be followed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells.
Because this type of cancer is often a secondary tumor, with the primary tumor located within the peritoneum (the membrane lining the abdominal cavity), treatment may not be as simple as removing testicular tumors. In these cases, the primary tumors must be treated as well.

It should be noted that both peritoneal and testicular mesothelioma are classified as being clinically aggressive types of cancer. This means they can spread rapidly. In addition, the testicular type tends to recur within a few years, even in cases where tumors are surgically removed.

Asbestos and Testicular Mesothelioma

Because this type of cancer is extremely rare, very little is known about how it develops. Most researchers theorize there are two possible points of origin for testicular mesothelioma. The tunica vaginalis, the membrane where the cancer develops, is composed of mesothelial cells, which are present in most of the body's membranous linings. The tunica vaginalis is made up of two layers, known as the parietal (outer) and visceral (inner) layers.
Firm white-yellow nodules can be found on the serosal surface of the tunica. The nodules can eventually encase the contents of the scrotum, and cause the tunica vaginalis to thicken.
While there is currently no theory to explain how asbestos exposure might cause a primary tumor to develop in the testicles, it is understood that once the asbestos fibers are in the body, they can become lodged in organs and cause inflammation or infection that can result in the development of mesothelioma. The fibers cause cancerous cells to divide abnormally, causing buildup of fluid and the development of tumors.
Once cells have become cancerous, they are no longer able to regulate their own cycles of growth and division. A primary tumor that develops in the testicle is formed from cancerous cells that divide without restraint, which causes the thickening of the tunica vaginalis and can eventually lead to the formation of tumors.

Continue reading ...

Pericardial Mesothelioma

It's one of the rarest types of asbestos-related cancers. Treatment options are few because the heart lining, which is where tumors develop, is too close to the delicate organ; however, there are some cases where surgery can help remove small tumors.

Pericardial mesothelioma develops in the thin membrane surrounding the heart, known as the pericardium. The membrane has two layers: A outer layer called the parietal layer, heart sac or theca cordis; and an inner layer known as the visceral layer or epicardium.
There are four common forms of mesothelioma, and pericardial and testicular are the rarest. To date, approximately 200 cases of pericardial mesothelioma are presented in medical literature - that's 1 percent of all known diagnosed mesotheliomas.
Almost all mesothelioma cancers can be traced to asbestos exposure, but medical researchers continue to study the link between asbestos and cancer of the pericardium. Studies are clear on how inhaled microscopic fibers reach the lungs, but less clear on how the fibers reach the heart.
This form of cancer strikes twice as many men as women, and is most often diagnosed in people between the ages of 50 and 70. Like the other forms of this cancer, the disease develops over a long period of time — one to five decades — and is typically discovered at a later stage. Symptoms include chest pain, fatigue and shortness of breath. Diagnosis is difficult because symptoms mimic those of other disorders.

Pericardial treatment options: Surgery (if a patient is deemed healthy enough), chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of all three modalities. About half of the people who contract the pericardial type survive longer than six months.

Symptoms

The clinical presentation of symptoms isn't always apparent when the cancer initially develops, a fact that contributes to a late-stage diagnosis. The fact that symptoms resemble those of other heart conditions also makes the cancer difficult to accurately diagnose.
Most symptoms are caused by the buildup of fluid and the thickening of pericardial layers. The presence of any of these symptoms should be followed by a visit to the doctor with recommended screenings such as an X-ray or CT scan.

The following symptoms may indicate pericardial mesothelioma:

Heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
Difficulty breathing, even when at rest (dyspnea)
Murmurs
Cough
Shortness of breath when lying flat
Chest pain
Fatigue
Fever or night sweats

Continue reading ...