If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, you should find a mesothelioma doctor specializing in the treatment of this type of cancer. Finding a regular doctor or even an oncologist will not be the best option. Mesothelioma is very rare and that means there is not much knowledge or experience in dealing with this type of cancer. There are specialists who can offer you much better care. These specialists are rare because there are only about 3,000 mesothelioma diagnoses each year. A specialist can help improve your prognosis and even extend your life expectancy.
Note that not all specialists treat the same type of mesothelioma. The earlier you discover a diagnosis, the greater the chance that you will be in contact with a specialist who can help you.
Diagnosis
Most people who have been diagnosed with this type of cancer will have symptoms that are just like pneumonia - they show a lot of coughing. The symptoms seem to come from nowhere because the latency for mesothelioma is between 20 and 50 years. If you have persistent symptoms, the doctor will often ask for tests that contain medical images so that they can look for different signs that cancer may be the cause.
Some of the various tests that can be used include X-rays, PET scans, and even CT scans. After these tests, blood tests are usually performed to see if there are any cancer proteins that can be found in the blood.
If the doctor thinks he or she needs to confirm that there is cancer, they can get some of the tumor out of your body. This is called a biopsy. Please note that this is usually considered a serious operation and that you can stay in the hospital for a few days.
Performing the biopsy helps to determine the cell type of cancer. There are three major cell variations related to mesothelioma. They are epitheloid, sarcomatoid and biphasic. When you get these results, the doctor can determine what type of cancer you have so that they can provide you with the best care. [*]
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