Mesothelioma

What is the pleura?

The pleura – serous membrane that covers the inside of the chest, lung outside. The pleura produces and absorbs fluid to reduce friction on the thorax lung during inhalation and exhalation.

The tumors of the pleura

Pleural Tumors can be primary (mesothelioma) or metastatic (cancer of the lung, kidney, breast) .

The causes of pleural tumors

It is believed that pleural mesothelioma develops due to prolonged exposure to asbestos, in the tumor tissue are simian virus -40 (SV-40), which enters the body when the polio vaccine when vaccine made from the blood of Rhesus monkeys (50-60 years of the last century).

The symptoms of pleural tumor lesions

The first manifestations of pleural tumors are often shortness of breath and fluid accumulation in the chest, can also disturb pains in the chest and weakness .

Epidemiology

Malignant pleural mesothelioma occurs in 3-5sluchayah to 1,000,000 people. In the Republic of Belarus annually to 60 new cases of mesothelioma disease.

Diagnostics

In order to establish the diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma is necessary to perform a chest X-ray, a puncture with evacuation of liquid, the liquid to investigate the abnormal cells, pleural biopsy .

Treatment

Mesothelioma Treatment should be integrated with the first stage of intrapleural perfusion thermochemotherapy, then surgical treatment and ends with 4 courses of chemotherapy .

The treatment of pleural mesothelioma

• Stage I-III – complex treatment is carried out in the absence of contraindications (Intrapleural thermochemotherapy plevropnevmonektomy and 4 courses of chemotherapy), if comprehensive treatment is intolerable, then provditsya chemoradiotherapy .
• Stage IV – chemoradiotherapy .
• Intrapleural thermochemotherapy – performed by thoracotomy or thoracoscopic (a lateral incision of the chest wall with ribs breeding) with special equipment held washing the pleural cavity heated to 42 ° C Ringer’s solution with the addition of chemotherapy (cisplatin, vinorelbine).
• plevropnevmonektomii – removal of the pleura, lung, diaphragm and the outer lining of the heart on the side of the lesion .