Stage 2 Mesothelioma – Treatable on Early Diagnosis, Mesotheioma Staging

Mesothelioma staging is the process by which the extent and nature of cancer is determined and appropriate Mesothelioma treatment is designed. Oncologists use staging to indicate malignancies and its classifications based on the location and spread of primary tumor. Pleural Mesothelioma is the most common form of Mesothelioma cancer and the only form for which the staging systems exist.
Early diagnosis of Stage 1 or Stage 2 Mesothelioma can increase life expectancy in patient through surgical removable of the tumor. Follow up treatment through chemotherapy and radiation can arrest the spread of cancer to other organs and regions of the body.
There are 3 distinct staging systems for Pleural Mesothelioma cancer that base their classification on the growth and nature of the main tumor over 4 primary stages:

• Stage 1 Mesothelioma where the tumor is relatively small and has affected one organ or area of the body and is confined to it.
• Stage 2 Mesothelioma where the tumor has increased in size and spread to one other tissue.
• Stage 3 Mesothelioma where tumor has spread from its original site to other adjacent areas.
• Stage 4 Mesothelioma where the tumor has metastasized to the other organs of the body.

ü  According to the Butchart Staging System, Stage 2 Mesothelioma is when the tumor has spread from its original site to the opposite side of the body to affect an adjacent tissue.
In Stage 1, if the left pleural has been affected, in Stage 2 the tumor will have spread to affect the right pleural. Tumor will also spread to the esophagus or the heart, and may not involve the lymph nodes in the chest, the diaphragm and pericardium on the same side.
ü  The TNM Staging System is a more detailed and precise staging system than the Butchart system.