Mesothelioma is extremely difficult to diagnose, and a missed diagnosis can lead to deadly delays in treatment. But just as it’s important to correctly and quickly identify the rare, asbestos-related disease, patients with symptoms of mesothelioma need to work with experienced professionals to ensure that they don’t have some other, dangerous condition. A newly published case report details what happened when another illness was wrongly diagnosed as mesothelioma, unnecessarily putting a 45-year-old woman through two rounds of chemotherapy before discovering she actually had a much less serious ovarian condition that only mimicked the disease.
Mesothelioma Symptoms Can Have Other Causes
There are specific symptoms that can lead a physician to suspect mesothelioma, especially in a patient with known asbestos exposure. A buildup of fluid around the lungs, shortness of breath, and abnormal pleural biopsy results should all be taken quite seriously. But there are other conditions that share these warning signs, including a rare condition called pseudo-Meigs’ syndrome. Caused by an ovarian tumor, this syndrome can produce the same fluid buildup as is true of mesothelioma, and it can even trigger elevated tumor marker levels that doctors typically associate with the rare and fatal disease. In this case, the patient’s pleural fluid marker was more than 150 times the normal limit, leading pathologists to mark her biopsy as “suspicious for mesothelioma.”
Rather than pursue secondary diagnostic tests to confirm the pathologist’s suggestion of mesothelioma, doctors treating the woman chose to act quickly rather than look elsewhere in the body for an explanation. It wasn’t until the patient had begun mesothelioma treatment and new abdominal symptoms appeared that an ovarian mass was found. Removing the mass resolved both the chest and abdominal fluid completely, and the patient has remained cancer-free for four years.
Mesothelioma Cases Call for Specialist Review
While it’s essential for patients suspected of having mesothelioma to be seen by experienced physicians who act quickly, it’s just as important to get the right diagnosis, whether it confirms the aggressive cancer or rules it out. Experts note that reactive mesothelial tissue can look deceptively similar to cancerous mesothelioma cells under a microscope, and misdiagnosis rates can be as high as 10 to 15 percent, even among experienced pathologists. Patients and families facing a mesothelioma diagnosis are encouraged to seek a second opinion from a specialist who sees enough cases to recognize when something doesn’t quite fit the pattern.
The most effective mesothelioma treatment often includes intensive chemotherapy, and it has a significant physical impact. As this patient’s case shows, getting an accurate diagnosis before any treatment begins can be the difference between unnecessary chemotherapy and a curable surgical fix.
If you or someone you love suspects mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help you find the best doctors to diagnose your disease. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
