Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma

Diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma, or DMM is a rare but very aggressive type of cancer. It occurs in the thin layer of tissue, the pleura, the lining of the chest cavity and lungs. Once diagnosed with a DMM that most patients do not survive more than a year. This cancer is more common in men than in women and the elderly.

Most people with DMM have a history of asbestos, but if they do not realize that such exposure has occurred, they may not realize thatthey are in danger. A patient with DMM typically has one or more of the following symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, fever or cough. An X-ray shows that the pleural usually in the lung tissue has thickened to the development of a number of nodules or small cancerous growths. Sometimes it can be to a single large growth. If a biopsy is done in cancer tissues, the types of cells that make up the pancreatic cancerepithelioid, sarcomatoid or mixed. People with epithelioid cell tumors tend to survive longer, have sarcomatoid with cancer in general, the shortest survival.

DMM always be treated aggressively as possible. The type of treatment depends on the dominant cell type of the cancer, the extent of the spread of this cancer is, and subjected to the general health of the person to a treatment. An operation is a preferred option if the majority of cancer can be removed. Many anti-cancerDrugs are trying to treat DMM, short-term with varying success. Radiation therapy can also be an option. A number of clinical studies are ongoing to try and find a treatment that can improve the prospects for the DMM patients. However, only seven percent of people with DMM survive for five years.

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