Mesothelioma Diagnosis

The First Steps

The first step towards a mesothelioma diagnosis is recognizing the signs of the disease, the level of risk and asbestos exposure, or both. Some of symptoms of mesothelioma include:

• Chest Pains
• Shortness of Breath
• Painful Coughs
• Abdominal Pain and Swelling
• Unexplained Weight Loss
• Lumps on the Chest

These signs are often overlooked as symptoms of mesothelioma because they are characteristic of other conditions. If you experience these symptoms and especially if they persist and if you know or suspect you have been exposed to asbestos, it is crucial that you ask about mesothelioma.

Once you recognize that you may have some symptoms of this type of cancer, a visit to your general doctor is the next step. A primary care doctor can refer you if necessary to the next expert. This initial step is important because your doctor will do all the basic and routine examination steps that could actually rule out mesothelioma. Your primary doctor can also rule out other conditions that are more common and less serious. If your doctor cannot make a conclusive diagnosis or all other conditions are ruled out, an oncologist will be the next professional you will see to make an official diagnosis.

Staging Mesothelioma

Once you have a diagnosis of mesothelioma your doctor will want to stage it. This means looking at various factors to determine how advanced the cancer is. This helps your medical team plan for your treatment and helps you make better choices about treatment. Mesothelioma can be staged as one, two, three, or four, with one being the earliest stage and four the latest and most advanced.

The staging system most often used for mesothelioma is called TNM. To use it doctors look at how much the original, or primary tumor has spread, the extent to which cancerous cells have spread to the lymph nodes, and how much the cancer has metastasized, or spread to other organs beyond the mesothelium and lymph nodes.

Misdiagnoses and Second Opinions

Diagnosing mesothelioma is not perfect or clear cut. There is no single or simple test that can give a yes or no answer. Misdiagnoses happen all too often. Initially a patient may be diagnosed with something less serious and more common, but when it doesn’t resolve a cancer diagnosis may be given. Sometimes this results in a misdiagnosis of another type of cancer, like lung cancer. Part of the reason for this is that early-stage mesothelioma is difficult to diagnose and it mimics other types of cancers.

For instance, when examining the cells from a biopsy, it can be very challenging to see the difference between mesothelioma cells and those represented by other types of cancer. As the disease advances, though, it becomes clearer that it is mesothelioma. It is important that if you are not comfortable with a diagnosis that you have received that you see another specialist for a second opinion.

What to Do Next

If you do get a diagnosis for mesothelioma, it can feel like your world is crashing down around you. It is important that you have loved ones around you to support you and that you can rely on as you make the very difficult decisions about what to do next. Your next step may be a second opinion, or if you are satisfied with the diagnosis, a discussion with your oncologist of treatment options.

Make sure you take the time to educate yourself about this disease. Let your oncologist give you resources to read, so that you can make informed decisions. Ask all the questions you have before starting on a treatment plan so you feel comfortable with the next steps. Involve your loved ones so you have support and help making important decisions.