Papillary Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the mesothelial lining around the heart, lungs, stomach, and abdomen. Most types are overwhelmingly caused by asbestos exposure and are aggressive and incurable.
Papillary mesothelioma is an extremely rare type of mesothelioma. It is malignant (cancerous) but unlike other forms of mesothelioma, it doesn't always spread to other areas of the body. However, since so few cases have occurred, and almost all of the cases differed in location and prognosis, more research is needed to best understand how it occurs, if/how it spreads, it's prognosis, and to find better treatment options.

How does Papillary Mesothelioma Form?

WDPM is so rare that how it forms is not entirely understood. Other forms of mesothelioma are overwhelmingly caused by exposure to asbestos. Some of the people that have developed WDPM have been exposed to asbestos; either directly or as a result of secondary exposure. Others have no traceable history.
Papillary mesothelioma more often affects areas not typically affected by other forms of mesothelioma. These areas include ovaries in women and the tunica vaginalis (membrane covering the front and sides of the testicles and epididymis) in men. The disease may also affect the mesothelial lining of the heart, lungs, stomach and abdomen.
While WDPM is malignant, or cancerous, in a good portion of the few cases that have occurred, it did not rapidly spread to other areas of the body like other types of mesothelioma typically do. In other cases, the disease has spread.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Symptoms

In the few cases that have occurred, symptoms of the disease have varied depending on the location of the tumor.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of papillary mesothelioma is dependent upon the detection and identification of the tumor and the cells causing it. An x-ray, MRI, or CT scan may detect the tumor, and blood tests and biopsy identify the type of cell causing the tumor.

Treatment

Since the disease is so rare, no uniform method of treating it has been established. To date, the tumors have most often been treated by surgery and chemotherapy. While papillary mesothelioma doesn't spread to other parts of the body as often as other types of malignant mesothelioma, it does seem to have a high incidence of recurrence. Therefore, more effective treatments to completely cure the disease are being explored.

Survival

The prognosis, or survival rate, for papillary mesothelioma is usually better than other forms of mesothelioma. However, patients may have to repeatedly return for more surgery and chemotherapy as tumors recur.