Benign cystic mesothelioma is a very rare form of mesothelioma that is not associated with exposure to asbestos. It usually occurs in the peritoneal cavity and is often called benign cystic peritoneal mesothelioma. Unlike the typically low mesothelioma survival rate, benign cystic mesothelioma is not considered life threatening, though it does have a tendency to recur locally.
Because the condition is so rare, a simple, non- or minimally-invasive diagnostic technique has not been developed. Many of the patients who are diagnosed with benign cystic mesothelioma have a history of previous pelvic operations, endometriosis, or pelvic inflammatory disease. Patients are most often female (with a 5:1 female to male ratio for this condition overall), and in their reproductive years. In many cases, patients have no mesothelioma symptoms that can indicate how many and how large the tumors are. In fact, benign cystic mesothelioma is usually only found incidentally. When there are symptoms, they may include tenderness in the abdominal area, and the detection of a mass in the abdomen or pelvic region.
Benign cystic mesothelioma is not easy to diagnose without surgical biopsy. Computed tomography (CT) scans, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, along with ultrasound can be used, but the only way to confirm the diagnosis is through biopsy surgery. If the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment usually consists of removal of the tumors as completely as possible. While they may recur, they do not metastasize in the way that malignant mesothelioma does. Recurrence rates are 50% to 60%, and the treatment for new tumors is the same: remove them as thoroughly as possible.
Though benign cystic mesothelioma can be problematic, its survival rate is basically 100%, while the malignant mesothelioma survival rate is much lower.
Malignant mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, unlike benign cystic mesothelioma, whose causes are unknown. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of malignant mesothelioma. Other types include peritoneal mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma, and mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis.
The forms of malignant mesothelioma tend not to produce mesothelioma symptoms until they are fairly advanced, which is a huge factor in the mesothelioma survival rate. Scientists are trying to find ways to detect mesothelioma at earlier stages, so if you have been exposed to asbestos in your workplace or if you have regularly handled the clothing of a person who regularly had asbestos exposure, it is very important to tell your doctor so that should an early diagnostic test be developed, you can find out about it easily.
The symptoms of pleural mesothelioma mimic the symptoms of other conditions and include shortness of breath, cough, weakness, and chest pain. Since many other conditions have these same mesothelioma symptoms, they will be checked out first unless the physician knows that the patient has been exposed to asbestos. Even so, it takes an average of three to six months from the first doctor’s visit for a patient to be officially diagnosed as having malignant mesothelioma.
The date of diagnosis of mesothelioma is very important because of the numbers of lawsuits filed against workplaces where workers were exposed to asbestos. Each state has a different statute of limitations about how long a person can wait from the day of diagnosis until he or she files suit. In some states, the statute of limitations is only one year, and in others it may be as long as six years. In most states, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of diagnosis.
Mesothelioma is not only deadly, but it is very expensive to treat, and many former asbestos workers have successfully collected compensation from their former employers to help pay for the costs of treatment and compensate them and their families for the suffering mesothelioma causes. Many cases settle out of court, and mesothelioma patients may participate in any pre-trial preparations and the trial itself without actually traveling to where the court case is being decided.
As soon as a diagnosis of mesothelioma is made, treatment begins and may include chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Surgery is rarely able to take care of the problem totally, and chemotherapy is almost always required. Numerous different treatment regimens have been developed over the years, and new ones are being developed all the time. There are dozens of clinical trials going on at any given time that are evaluating treatment options for malignant mesothelioma and their effects on the mesothelioma survival rate.
Clinical trials sometimes require patients who have not yet had any mesothelioma treatments, and other clinical trials require patients who have been through various forms of therapy for their mesothelioma where the treatment has not worked. People who have recently been diagnosed with mesothelioma can be overwhelmed by all the new information they must take in. Many are understandably pessimistic because the mesothelioma survival rate has historically been very low.
There are many factors that influence mesothelioma survival rates. The type of mesothelioma is one such factor, with benign cystic mesothelioma being considered at least controllable and at most curable. Malignant forms of mesothelioma, however, are generally not considered curable. Early diagnosis is one very important factor in how well treatment works. The fact that so many malignant mesothelioma patients are not diagnosed until their disease is advanced or has metastasized is a huge factor in mesothelioma survival rates. That’s why so many research studies are trying to come up with early diagnostic procedures, or even screening procedures for those who know they have been exposed to asbestos.
It is very important for anyone diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma to understand that there have been mesothelioma patients who have survived well beyond what doctors predicted. There are even a few patients who have been cured of malignant mesothelioma and who have no trace of the disease several years after treatment. Many people have been able to survive for several years even with some low level of cancer activity in their bodies.
One factor that appears to be important for longer term survival of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma is a strong and stimulated immune system. Some of the most promising treatments for malignant mesothelioma include treatments that stimulate the patient’s own immune system so that the patient’s body can itself fight the disease. Many long term survivors of mesothelioma are patients who have been treated with immune system therapy. Combined with earlier diagnosis of the disease, immune system treatments could be the key to surviving malignant mesothelioma, whether it’s pleural mesothelioma or peritoneal mesothelioma.
Long term survival of mesothelioma and improvements in mesothelioma survival rates also depend on the skills of the pathologists who are called upon during the diagnosis stage of care. Pathologists examine tissues or fluids under electron and regular microscopes to determine whether the cells biopsied are indeed mesothelioma cells. Some of the best hospitals have board certified pathologists, some of whom specialize specifically in diagnosing mesothelioma.
Accurate determination of the stage of malignant mesothelioma is another key factor to improving the mesothelioma survival rate. For example, if the cancerous cells are only found in the pleural space (the space between the lungs and its outer covering), then the cancer is considered to be localized. If the disease has spread to become a type of lung cancer, or to the peritoneal cavity, lymph nodes, or chest walls, then the mesothelioma is considered to be advanced.
Another complicating factor in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is differentiating it from other cancers that are very similar. The most common type of cancer that must be differentiated is called adenocarcinoma. Pathologists can tell differences between adenocarcinoma and mesothelioma, but it is not always an easy distinction to make. Fine differences in cell structures and the structure of the cell layers are the difference between the two types of mesothelioma, and certain types of staining studies help pathologists figure out which is which. That is why pathologists preserve tissue samples in such a way that smaller sub-samples can be extracted and examined without using up all the tissue that must be examined.
Another technique that pathologists use to diagnose malignant mesothelioma is known as immunohistochemistry, which identifies cell types depending on what kinds of antibodies bind to the cells in various locations. Immunohistochemistry allows pathologists to distinguish between adenocarcinoma, mesothelioma, or some other kind of cancer.
Mesothelioma victims, mesothelioma doctors, and scientists in a number of specialties are all working to improve the mesothelioma survival rate by trying new diagnostic techniques and mesothelioma treatments. Benign cystic mesothelioma can be a painful problem, but it is totally different from malignant mesothelioma, which has a high mortality rate. Benign cystic mesothelioma for all practical purposes is curable and its development doesn’t predispose a person toward having malignant mesothelioma, which is caused by asbestos exposure.
The types of mesothelioma, such as sarcomatoid mesothelioma or epithelial mesothelioma, the location of the disease, such as the pleural cavity, the peritoneum, or elsewhere, and whether it is metastatic mesothelioma are all very important factors in estimating mesothelioma survival rates. But anyone diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma should not automatically expect the worst. There have been several cases of people far outliving predictions, even in cases where the disease was very advanced. Malignant mesothelioma is a formidable disease, but there are treatments, and there are survivors of several years.
Benign cystic mesothelioma is exceedingly rare – even compared to malignant mesothelioma, which is a fairly rare form of cancer. Benign cystic mesothelioma is not caused by exposure to asbestos, while malignant mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure. The two diseases are separate and proceed in very different ways.