The exposure to asbestos commonly cause a couple of types of cancer, which includes mesothelioma and lung cancer. Both of these cancers affect the chest and lung by triggering pain and reducing lung function. The death rates for lung cancer and mesothelioma tend to correlate with each other.
Each disease can take even a number of decades of develop but just a few months to spread to the distant areas in the body. In addition, they pose similar diagnostic procedures as well as treatment options. In addition, mesothelioma and lung cancerhave rather overlapping symptoms. These both generally cause chest pain, difficulty breathing, coughing, weight loss and fatigue. If a patient has the symptoms along with the long history of asbestos exposure and/or the history of smoking, specialists and doctors should immediately suspect lung cancer and mesothelioma. However, in spite of having a number of commonalities, these cancers are different in terms of the physical characteristics and also the existence of asbestos exposure.
The Differences in Development between Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer
While mesothelioma and lung cancer can develop after the exposure to asbestos, each will commonly occur in various areas in the body. Lung cancer develops in the lung, while mesothelioma commonly develops in the lining of lung. In addition mesothelioma can develop in the lining of the abdomen, testicles, or heart. These cancers ted to grow in different areas in different manners. Lung cancer tends to develop in individual masses with some defined borders. On the other hand, mesothelioma starts as a tiny tumor nodules which scatter the mesothelial sac, and finally grow together to create a sheath-like tumor surrounding the organ.
Mesothelioma is almost exclusively the impact of the exposure to asbestos, while the most cases of lung cancer are associated with such causes as tobacco use and also the environmental exposures to second-hand smoke and radon gas. Also while smoking does not impact the risk of mesothelioma, it commonly increase an individual’s risks of suffering from lung cancer. People who have the highest risk of growing lung cancer are smokers who have the history of asbestos exposure. By themselves, each of the risk factor damages the lung tissue and then makes it even more susceptible to the diseases. Therefore, when smoking and the exposure to asbestos are present, an individual’s lung cancer risk increase even fiftyfold.
The Treatment Options for Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer
For lung cancer and mesothelioma, the options of treatment are largely dependent on how much the cancer has metastasized or spread. Most treatment options include some of the combinations of radiation, surgery, chemotherapy, and therapy. If the cancer has been localized to the lung area, then surgery may be able to remove the whole or most of the tumor that has developed. However, surgeries are quite various by specific kind of cancer.
To treat pleural mesothelioma, a surgeon might remove the lining of the lung, the entre cancerous lung, or the affected area of the lung. Typical lung cancer surgeries include the removal of small portion of the lung, the lobe of the lung or even the whole lung.
