The initial stage of mesothelioma affects only the pleura or lining of one lung or relatively small portion of the abdomen. It is actually the easiest stage to treat since it has yet to spread to other parts of the body.
The Earliest Stage
Stage 1 mesothelioma denotes the least advanced stage of the disease. It includes the pleura on one side of the body. There has yet to be involvement of the lymph nodes. Patients with stage 1 mesothelioma have the best prognosis since many different treatment approaches are possible for stage 1 patients.
Treatment Options for Stage 1 Mesothelioma
Surgical treatments are widely available since the tumor is still localized and bit easier to remove. Chemotherapy and radiation treatment are also operative at this stage so as to make surgery more successful and to nullify Extrapleural Pneumonectomy. Used on patients with stage 1 mesothelioma, an EPP is the entirely complete removal of the affected pleura, lung, and part of the diaphragm. There are of course some other treatments available.
Pleurectomy with Decortication
This is the removal of the lining of the lung, which is called pleura. Stage 1 pleural mesothelioma patients usually receive a pleurectomy in order to remove cancerous tumors.
Cytoreduction
A cytoreduction is the removal of the lining of the abdomen, which is called the peritoneum. Stage 1 peritoneal mesothelioma patients usually undergo this surgical treatment in order to stop any future growth of mesothelioma tumors.
Stage 1 Mesothelioma Diagnosis
When patient is diagnosed with mesothelioma in the earliest stage, they can expect to have better prognosis in comparison to those with later stages of mesothelioma. Patients with stage 1 mesothelioma are usually diagnosed through various imaging tests, such as CT scans or X-rays. To conclude a proper diagnosis further, physicians can rely on biopsies. The most common biopsy is surgical biopsy. This particular procedure includes the extraction and the exam of tissues as well as fluid from the tumor site. A laparotomy or thoracotomy may be carried out to diagnose stage 1 mesothelioma.
Some basic characteristics of stage 1 mesothelioma include symptoms varying from barely noticeable to chest pain, fever, and coughing; cancer localized to certain area of the body; no metastasis or the spread of lymph node; both palliative and curative surgeries provide the most hopeful outlook.
What to Expect
Patients might misapprehend stage 1 mesothelioma with pneumonia due to the similarity of symptoms. These symptoms may cover chest pain, coughing, body aches, and fever. Second, patients can expect curative surgeries to be carried out, which includes pleurectomies or cytoreduction surgeries. Chemotherapy can be prescribed as the precursor to running surgery. Following the surgery, patients might be advised to undergo radiation or chemotherapy. These particular treatments may be done so as to prevent further growth of the cell or to get to areas which surgery may have missed. Patients also can expect surgical treatment which is aimed at increasing the patient’s comfort, which includes paracentesis and pleurodesis surgeries. These particular surgeries will reduce fluid buildup so as to relieve the pain. If the patients are in good health, otherwise, they can expect their physician or doctor to take a more aggressive action in dealing with their mesothelioma.
Possible Treatment Options
There are a number of treatment options for stage 1 mesothelioma patients. They have a higher chance of survival and are better applicants for interventions through surgeries. Radiation and chemotherapy are carried out after the surgeries so as to assure any remaining cancer cells have been killed. In accordance with one study carried out at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, there is about 60 percent chance stage 1 patients survive thirty months or even longer with surgical treatments.
These figures were concluded in patients that received pleurectomy with decoration. This investigation was carried out in 1995, and with the recent scientific advances, the survival rates of patients that have had the pleurectomy with decoration have increased significantly.
Another study which is conducted by Dr. David Sugarbaker evinces patients that underwent extrapleural pneumonectomy have 60 percent chance of living past two years after the initial surgery date. The chances of living longer subsequent to pleurectomy for stage 1 patients are assumed to be better than the extrapleural pneumonectomy by some since the pleurectomy spares the lung. After an EPP, the patient loses one lung and does not have the similar working as they did before the surgery. In this regard, the pleurectomy is more common than is the EPP in stage 1 patients, yet pleurectomy may be impossible if the mesothelioma has metastasized to other areas of the lung other than the pleura.
The Prognosis of Stage 1 Mesothelioma
The prognosis for patient that are diagnosed with stage 1 mesothelioma is positive generally. The earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the more options of treatment are available. The outlook for remission is also higher than it is on patients with later stages of mesothelioma. Stage 1 mesothelioma patients commonly have typical prognosis that is more than one year or twelve months longer than average patients of mesothelioma. Unluckily stage 1 mesothelioma diagnoses are quite rare. The latency period which is associated with mesothelioma may be up until 40 years from the time of exposure to asbestos. When the symptoms start cropping up, a lot of patients relate their years from the time of asbestos illnesses, such as indigestion or common cold. Catching mesothelioma in the early stages can add a great amount of time to the patient’s life expectancy, yet this does not mean that the later stage patients cannot improve their life expectancy. In this case second opinions may reveal an earlier stage ailment than the original diagnosis. This was the case with Alexis Kidd, a survivor of mesothelioma. Stage 1 patients have the best opportunities to gain better prognosis. There are some guides of recognizing the stages of mesothelioma you can use. However, no matter which diagnosis and treatment chosen, Alexis did mention that no one could give apt and accurate prediction of how long patient with mesothelioma can live as it depends on various factors.
