Pericardial Mesothelioma

Pericardial mesothelioma is cancer that begins in the mesothelium around the heart. It is the rarest of the types of mesothelioma and accounts for only a small percent of the 2000 – 3000 mesothelioma cases that are diagnosed each year.

How does Pericardial Mesothelioma Form?

As is the case with other types of mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma is primarily caused by asbestos exposure. In some people, the fibers migrate to the mesothelial lining where, over years, they cause changes to the cells that eventually lead to mesothelioma. In pericardial mesothelioma, fibers that were breathed in or swallowed migrate from the esophagus, trachea, lungs or stomach to the heart.

Diagnosis and Treatment

As is true for other types of mesothelioma, such as pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma, pericardial mesothelioma is rarely detected early. Early detection is important because it usually offers the patient more treatment options that may help them survive longer and have a better quality of life.
Because mesothelioma is so rare, and pericardial mesothelioma is even rarer, it can take months for the disease to be diagnosed.

Symptoms

Those with pericardial mesothelioma may experience some or all of these symptoms:

• Discomfort, pressure or pain in the chest
• Shortness of breath
• Persistent cough
• Heart palpitations
• Fatigue
• A general feeling of being unwell

Mesothelioma typically begins in the mesothelial lining, but rapidly spreads to other nearby organs and tissues, eventually spreading in the bloodstream to the lymph nodes and throughout the body. As the cancer spreads, victims will have additional symptoms.

Diagnosis

A pericardial mesothelioma diagnosis typically comes months after symptoms have been present and the patient has been seeing a doctor. Blood tests and diagnostic procedures such as x-rays and MRI are usually conducted. Once these indicate a build up of fluid or a mass, it is common for a biopsy to be done.
A biopsy is a short surgical procedure in which the doctor removes samples of tissue or fluid from a suspect area. The sample is then sent to a laboratory to be examined. When cancer of the mesothelial cells around the heart is detected, and it is believed that is where the cancer began, a pericardial mesothelioma diagnosis is made.

Treatment

Treatment for pericardial mesothelioma depends on a number of factors:

• The age and general health of the patient.
• What mesothelioma stage the patient is in.
• The treatment team's recommendations.
• The center the patient chooses to receive treatment.
• The patient's wishes and those of their family.

There is currently no cure for pericardial mesothelioma. Three types of treatment are being used:
Palliative treatment - palliative treatment is meant to ease the patient's discomfort or pain through pain medication, removal of large tumors that are putting pressure on other organs, or by draining fluid that also causes painful pressure and swelling.
Any kind of treatment that brings comfort to a patient is considered palliative, so non-medical therapies such as yoga, meditation, prayer, herbal or nutritional supplements or other methods are also considered palliative treatments. It is important to stress that while some people may find these therapies beneficial for other reasons, there is no scientific evidence to indicate that they do anything to cure mesothelioma.
Curative treatment - because mesothelioma is always terminal, treatments that may be curative for other types of cancer are at best only helpful in delaying the progression of mesothelioma. These therapies include chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or any combination of those.
They are meant to decrease the amount of cancer in the body to help the patient survive longer and have a better quality of life.
Experimental treatments - these are therapies currently in the research or clinical trial phase. They can be either palliative or curative in nature. Patients that wish to receive experimental therapies must meet certain criteria.
To date, there is no treatment that has been proven to cure pericardial mesothelioma. However, several new clinical trials , such as immunotherapy, gene therapy, photodynamic therapy and anti-angiogenesis therapy give hope that a cure may not be far off.

Survival

The prognosis for pericardial mesothelioma victims is grim. Some people die within weeks of being diagnosed. Few live longer than a year, although a tiny percentage has lived as long as five years after diagnosis.