Mesothelioma symptoms

Mesothelioma symptoms 

In its early stages, mesothelioma does not have many symptoms. When symptoms do develop, they are often caused by the cancer growing and pressing on a nerve or other body organ.
The symptoms of pleural mesothelioma are pain in the lower back or the side of the chest, a persistent cough, shortness of breath, a hoarse or husky voice, losing more than 10% of your weight when not dieting, difficulty swallowing, sweating and high temperatures.
The symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma are pain in the abdomen (tummy), swelling in the abdomen, feeling or being sick, poor appetite, losing more than 10% of your weight when not dieting, diarrhoea or constipation.

All of these symptoms are more likely to be caused by some other illness, rather than by mesothelioma. But if you have these symptoms, see your doctor. This is particularly important if you have been exposed to asbestos in the past. 

Types of mesothelioma 

There are 2 main types of mesothelioma:
• Pleural mesothelioma

 The pleural type grows in the tissues covering the lungs. 

• Peritoneal mesothelioma
The peritoneal type grows in the tissue lining the inside of the abdomen. Pleural mesothelioma is much more common than peritoneal mesothelioma.

Screening for mesothelioma 

Screening means testing people for early stages of a disease before they have any symptoms.
Before screening for any type of cancer can be carried out, doctors must have an accurate test to use. The test must be reliable in picking up cancers that are there. And it must not give false positive results in people who do not have cancer.

There is currently no reliable screening test for mesothelioma. The aim of screening is to pick up cancers at an early stage of the disease before symptoms develop. At the moment it can be difficult to diagnose mesothelioma. The usual tests for lung diseases often appear to be negative. 

Source: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

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