The kind of side effects mesothelioma patients pass through and the severity of the effects, relies on the kind of chemotherapy mesothelioma patients are undergoing, the pharmacology of the drugs, dosage administered and how their body reacts to this type of treatment of mesothelioma. Before chemotherapy treatment begins and starts, mesothelioma patients will be told to sign an agreeement form. Before signing the form, make sure your doctor gives you adequate and all informations of all the facts as regarding the chemotherapy treatment he/she will be administering, also to include necessary and adequate information about the chemotherapy drug or combination of chemotherapy drugs to be administered, the side effects, and risks involved in using each chemotherapy drugs, the amount of chemotherapy treatment of mesothelioma you will undergo and how frequent, and whether you will under a hospital stay, or admission or as an outpatient basis.

Anti-nausea treatment for chemotherapy mesothelioma patients also play a vital role in the treatment of mesothelioma cancers.

Nausea is often times a side effect of mesothelioma treatments.

Mild and temporary side effects such as nausea and vomiting, anorexia, loss of hair, and mouth sores. If some blood producing cells are damaged, there could be low blood cell count. This could also lead to a substantial or high risk of infection, blood klotting process could be impaired after minor cuts or injuries, and experiencing exhaustion or shortness of breath could also be seen.

Asbestos and Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma attacks the mesothelium. The mesothelium is the protective lining of organs such as lungs, abdomen, chest, and other internal organs. Asbestos is a mineral silicate which naturally occurs in the environment, and was used extensively in construction, automotive and fire resistant materials, especially throughout the 20th Century. Today, the use of this type of silicate is prohibited by the Environmental Protection Agency. Since 1989, the use of asbestos has been outlawed in the U.S.

Despite this regulation, mesothelioma still affects as many as 8 million people in the United States, including as many as 3,000 new cases per year. These individuals had dangerous levels of exposure to asbestos. While there has been a decrease in the diagnosis of males, the number of females exposed has remained stable. This is an indication that this type of cancer occurs in other environments or settings.

Some occupations have higher risks of asbestos exposure than others, such as miners, construction workers, factory workers, demolition workers, railroad workers, and veterans of branches of the military, including the Navy. Ship disassembling workers and building workers are also at high risk. Mesothelioma sometimes affects the families of these workers, due to the possibility of carrying the asbestos fibers from work, on the clothing and hair.

Today, as many as 15 percent of school buildings in the USA may contain asbestos. Other public buildings are estimated to contain it as well, according to the EPA significant findings.

Effects in the Respiratory System

Asbestos fibers are made from silicates. These fibers can be inhaled and spread throughout the respiratory system. Asbestos fibers can be swallowed as well, affecting the abdomen’s inner lining. This condition is known as peritoneal mesothelioma. When asbestos fibers reach the lungs, they can penetrate the lining and the inner surface of the chest area.

Mesothelioma is a cancer in which the protective linings of the body’s internal organs get affected by malignant cells. These linings include:
•Pleura: the outer lining surrounding the lungs and chest cavity;
•Peritoneum: the lining of the abdominal cavity; and
•Pericardium: a sac holding the heart.

The symptoms of mesothelioma affecting these organs can vary due to the special nature and functions of the organs. Some of these symptoms are severe, and also some of the symptoms are rare. It is, therefore, recommended to contact a physician if the symptoms prevail.

Following are the symptoms of mesothelioma, categorized by types:

Pleural Mesothelioma Symptoms:
•Shortness of breath
•Coughing up blood
•Pain in chest
•Pleural effusions (fluid accumulation in the lung lining)
•Back pain
•Hoarseness
•Weakness
•Problem in swallowing
•Loss of appetite
•Weight loss
•Excessive coughing
•Swelling
•Paralysis
•Fever

In severe cases, a pleural mesothelioma patient can develop pneumothorax or lung cancer (lung failure). Nonetheless, some patients may show almost no symptoms.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma Symptoms:
•Swelling or mass accumulation in the abdomen
•Weight Loss
•Abdominal pain
•Bowel obstruction
•Blood clots
•Fever
•Nausea
•Vomiting
•Hernia

Pericardium Mesothelioma Symptoms:
•Chest pain
•Shortness of breath
•Cough
•Unusual heart beating
•Irregular breathing patterns

These symptoms of mesothelioma can also be the indications of other minor diseases. However, if diagnosed soon, these symptoms can help the doctors to cure the cancer at a primitive stage. Remember that only a doctor can confirm the presence of mesothelioma by examining medical reports, asbestos exposure history, MRI and/or CT scan. In some cases, a needle biopsy can also be conducted.

Chemotherapy is any treatment where patients are given chemical medication specifically designed to attack the cancer cells as the undergo cell division. The drug is swallowed or injected into the bloodstream regularly over a period of weeks or months, in cycles that give a patient some recovery time in between treatments. A patient could stay at home, only requiring visits to a doctor’s office for treatments; sometimes, they can even have the treatments at home. In some cases, doctors may choose to apply chemotherapy drugs directly to the cancerous tissue; this requires surgery, so patients must check into a hospital. There are many different kinds of chemotherapy drugs, and scientists are trying to develop better ones every day.

Radiation therapy seeks to kill the cancer cells with high-energy rays of radiation, such as x-rays, that stop them from growing. With external-beam radiation, patients will be subjected to directed rays of radiation directed as specific parts of the body affected by cancer. This treatment lasts about 30 minutes a day and is given in the exact same way each day over a period of weeks. In internal radiation therapy (brachytherapy), doctors put a container of radioactive material next to the cancerous tissue, using surgery or an existing body cavity. Some will be left in the body; others will be removed and replaced. Lastly, radiopharmaceuticals are sometimes used to administer radiation treatments, with the drugs being either injected, inserted into a body cavity or swallowed.

Being unaware of Mesothelioma poses higher risks since it deters diagnosis and treatment. A person undergoing treatment must know the different stages of the cancer or the extent of the disease. Chances of recovering from Mesothelioma and the kind of treatment depend on the stage of the illness.

There are basically two staging systems used for Pleural Mesothelioma (lungs): TNM system and Brighan system. These staging systems are also used in other kinds of cancers; however, the first is commonly used. There is no established method in determining the stage of the Peritoneal Mesothelioma cancer (abdominal) so the TNM system is used. There are three variables in the TNM system: tumor, lymph nodes and metastasis. In the earliest stage of Mesothelioma, stage I, the malignant Mesothelioma cells start to grow and multiply only one layer of the pleura. The pleura is the membrane that encloses the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. However, there are some instances wherein the pericardium (membrane that covers the heart) and diaphragm cover are already affected. In this case, the cancer patient is still in stage I Mesothelioma.

In the second stage, the two layers of the pleura are already affected by Mesothelioma. Take note, however, that in this stage, only one side of the body is affected. Normally, the pleura produces only small amount of lubricating fluid that allows easy expanding and contracting of the lungs. The excess fluid is absorbed by the blood and the lymph vessels so there’s a balance between the amount of fluid produced and removed. During the second stage Mesothelioma, fluid starts to build up between the membrane of the lungs and the membrane of the chest wall, resulting to pleural effusion. The increase in the volume of fluid produced causes shortness of breath and chest pain. Other Mesothelioma cancer patients experience dry and persistent cough. Diagnosis of the pleural effusion is achieved through a chest x-ray.

Stage III Mesothelioma means that the malignant cells have already spread to the chest wall, esophagus and the lymph nodes on one part of the chest. The patient may suffer severe pain near the parts affected. When not treated immediately or when the Mesothelioma patient doesn’t respond well to medication, the cancer may advance to the fourth stage. The fourth stage Mesothelioma is formidable since at this stage the Mesothelioma cells have penetrated into the bloodstream and other organs in the body like the liver, the bones and the brain. The lymph nodes on the other side of the chest may also be affected by Mesothelioma in stage IV.

Brighan staging system, on the other hand, determines whether the Mesothelioma can be surgically removed or not and whether the lymph nodes are affected or not. In stage I Mesothelioma, the lymph nodes are not yet affected and the patient can still recover through surgery. In stage II, surgery can still be executed but some lymph nodes have already been infiltrated by the cancer cells. In stage III, the heart and chest wall are already affected; thus, surgery is no longer advisable. The lymph nodes in this stage, however, may or may not be affected. In the final stage, stage IV Mesothelioma, cancer cells have already gone to the bloodstream and other parts of the body like the heart, brain, bone and liver. In most cases, a patient who has reached stage IV Mesothelioma only has four to twenty-four months to live

Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma — the kind that affects the abdomen — may be offered cytoredutive surgery. In this surgery, doctors are trying to remove all of the cancerous tissue they can find in the abdomen and gut. They may also choose to do a peritonectomy — removal of the entire lining of the abdomen. Again, this is not an easy surgery and may not be possible for everyone, but it has been successful in some patients. Patients with pericardial mesothelioma are not generally offered surgery.

All of this means that even newly diagnosed mesothelioma patients sometimes are given a very bad chance of recovery by their doctors. Statistics on such issues can be difficult to acquire, but some British doctors and scientists have suggested that some 10 will live five years or longer. For patients in the first stage, 50% live for at least two more years. But doctors can be wrong, and a mesothelioma diagnosis is not necessarily a death sentence. Famed scientist Stephen Jay Gould lived with peritoneal mesothelioma for nearly 20 years. Eventually, he died from another kind of cancer.

There are four stages of malignant mesothelioma, which measure how far the disease has progressed. How a patient’s mesothelioma is treated depends largely on which stage he or she is in when the disease is found.

Stage I: Localized mesothelioma that exists only in the lungs, the diaphragm or the pericardial lining.
Stage II: Advanced mesothelioma that has spread into the lymph nodes of the chest.
Stage III: Advanced mesotheioma that has spread into the wall of the chest, the center of the chest, the lining of the heart and the diaphragm. Stage III malignant mesothelioma may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes.
Stage IV: Advanced mesothelioma that has spread far from the chest and abdomen into other organs.