When a patient presenting with symptoms of malignant mesothelioma first goes through diagnosis, one of the most important steps of the process is having their cancer “staged.” Staging refers to assessing exactly how far the cancer has progressed within the body. It provides physicians with essential information on which to basis a treatment protocol. Though there is a standard staging process used in assessing all cancer patients, a study conducted recently by researchers from Harvard has questioned the use of that particular tool for patients with the rare and fatal asbestos-related disease. They have concluded that the standard TNM method of staging provides inaccurate information, and that patients would be better served using an alternative system that relies more heavily on the results of diagnostic imaging and other testing methods.
Though at this point in time, mesothelioma patients are generally staged using the standard TNM method, the Harvard researchers compared the TNM stage assessments of nearly 500 patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma against their actual clinical status. What they found was that there was a marked difference between the assessment and the reality in 60 percent of the patients, and that this disparity had a significant impact on the prognosis that each patient was given.
When a mesothelioma patient’s cancer is identified, clinicians measure three different parameters to determine how far it has advanced. Those factors are the size of the tumor (T), whether the lymph nodes have been involved (N), and whether and how far it has metastasized (M) – thus the name TNM. Though this process is generally found to be accurate and useful for patients diagnosed with other forms of cancer, the researchers from Harvard found that when the staging method was applied to patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma it provided an accurate picture of the disease’s progression in only 36 percent of the patients in their study. Some patients disease state was more advanced than reflected in the staging process, while in others the staging indicated that they were sicker than was actually the case.
Though at this point in time, mesothelioma patients are generally staged using the standard TNM method, the Harvard researchers compared the TNM stage assessments of nearly 500 patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma against their actual clinical status. What they found was that there was a marked difference between the assessment and the reality in 60 percent of the patients, and that this disparity had a significant impact on the prognosis that each patient was given.
When a mesothelioma patient’s cancer is identified, clinicians measure three different parameters to determine how far it has advanced. Those factors are the size of the tumor (T), whether the lymph nodes have been involved (N), and whether and how far it has metastasized (M) – thus the name TNM. Though this process is generally found to be accurate and useful for patients diagnosed with other forms of cancer, the researchers from Harvard found that when the staging method was applied to patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma it provided an accurate picture of the disease’s progression in only 36 percent of the patients in their study. Some patients disease state was more advanced than reflected in the staging process, while in others the staging indicated that they were sicker than was actually the case.
As a result of their findings, the researchers concluded that mesothelioma’s unique nature requires the use of a different system that relies more heavily on technologies such as 3D CT imaging or maximal visual thickness of their tumors in order to provide doctors and patients alike with the most accurate and useful sense of their disease status. To learn more about the various innovations and treatments available to those diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net at 1-800-692-8608.
