Staging
Most diseases have stages. When your physician speaks of
staging, s/he is referring to the element of his/her
diagnosis in which the
stage of the disease is determined - in other words, how far it has progressed.
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When it comes to
mesothelioma, oncologists recognize four stages of the
disease, which are considered either localized or advanced. The first
stage is that in which the disease is found only on the surface of the
mesothelium, which is a thin membrane covering the lungs, inner chest and abdominal wall and other internal organs. At this stage, mesothelioma is considered localized, and can be removed
surgically without many complications. Once the diseased tissues have been removed, additional medications may need to be injected directly into the area in order to prevent recurrence.
In the second stage, mesothelioma spreads to the lymph nodes on whichever side of the chest the cancer first appeared.
By the time it reaches the third stage, mesothelioma has spread into the trachea (windpipe), the esophagus (food passage), the thymus and/or the heart. The disease may also be found in the lymph nodes on the opposite side of the chest and the lining of the abdominal wall as well.
When mesothelioma is in the fourth and final stage, it has spread to distant parts of the body; at this point, all an oncologist can do is attempt to relieve the patients pain and discomfort.
Staging is a necessary process for the oncologists to determine an effective course of treatment. While surgery may cure the disease in its early stage, later stages require aggressive treatments that include chemotherapy, radiation treatments and surgical or other invasive procedures. This may involve actual removal of part of the lung and diaphragm in order to relieve the pressure caused by fluid build-up in the chest cavity.