Mesothelioma Tests and Diagnosis
There are several tests that doctors can run to determine if a patient has mesothelioma. These mesothelioma tests may vary in terms of intrusion into the body and on accuracy. A time line for testing a person suspected of having mesothelioma varies as well.Some of the primary tests that doctors perform on their patients to determine what they are suffering may include a physical exam that usually consists of the doctor listening to the breath sounds of a patient. He does this to ascertain the normality of the sounds coming from within the chest cavity. He may also check for enlarged lymph nodes as well as doing a tapping test on the chest to listen for dull thumping sounds that may indicate fluid build up in the lungs.
Sometimes, when a patient first presents at the doctor’s office complaining about abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, or pneumonia type symptoms, the primary care physician will take an X-ray or CT scan to determine the presence of asbestos in or around the lungs, heart or stomach.
Once the detection of asbestos is noted, the doctor will look for telltale signs of cancer including, but not limited to, tumors in the vital organs. If tumors are seen present, the primary care physician will typically refer the patient to a specialist for various other tests to determine whether or not there is a possibility of a mesothelioma diagnosis.
A mesothelioma diagnosis is generally tested for in one of two ways. Depending on the patient’s condition, the doctor would decide to proceed with an intrusive procedure called a needle biopsy. Often performed under local anesthesia, the said procedure allows the doctor to abstract cells suspected of cancer infection from the lining affected area. This procedure, however, only provides very little tissue for testing. The doctor can run a few tests on the mesothelial cells obtained in this manner to determine the proper diagnosis for the patient. There are other ways in which the doctor can perform a tissue biopsy in order to run more tests to look for the possibility of mesothelioma. A laparoscopy or thoracoscopy involves making a minutes incision and using a tiny camera to look at the affected area. At this time a small tissue sample can be taken. The tissue samples will be sent away to a pathologists for further tests. Your doctor may decide to do a needle biopsy, where a hollow needle is inserted through the skin and inside the chest cavity. However, needle biopsies such as these have proven to be less than precise.
The second, more common and probably more accurate way that doctors test for mesothelioma is to surgically enter the patients body. This is when they cut a small piece of infected tissue for biopsy purposes. This test is known as an "open biopsy". Often done under general anesthesia, this procedure is usually performed in the sterile and safer environment of a hospital operating room. The extracted tissue fro this type of a biopsy is then sent out for testing by a specialist. The testing process generally takes several days. If the tests reveal the presence of mesothelioma, the doctor will then determine whether the diagnosed mesothelioma is benign or malignant.
If the doctor diagnosis that the mesothelioma diagnosis is malignant, they will have to refer the patient to an oncologist or a cancer doctor for additional tests and treatment.
The oncologist will most likely test the patient to determine the progression of the cancer or how far along the mesothelioma is and the prognosis for the future. At this time the oncologist will likely decide on what treatment option is best for the patient and make recommendations to that effect.
Generally, the oncologist will start the patient on a series of chemotherapy treatments to slow the growth of the mesothelioma. If the doctor determines, after running tests, that the patient is not a candidate for chemotherapy, the oncologists may prescribe medication to help the patient with pain management.
