What is Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma?

Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare and deadly form of cancer that affects the thin layer that surrounds many internal organs. Pleural mesothelioma, which is the one that affects the lining of the lungs, representing 30% of cases. Consequently, exposure to asbestos fibers is the primary risk factor for developing a mesothelioma asbestos exposure and mesothelioma risk increases from 10 or 20%. The next most common form of mesothelioma is peritoneal mesothelioma that affects the layer surrounding the internal abdominal organs.

Prognosis and life expectancy

Unfortunately mesothelioma is almost always diagnosed after the tumor has spread and the prognosis is very poor. The measure of survival among patients is between 8 and 14 months even with treatment.

Sarcomatoid mesothelioma and histological types

Mesothelioma histological type, in terms of life expectancy, is the sarcomatoid. This type occurs between 10 and 20% of patients with mesothelioma. The other types are epithelial and biphasic affecting between 50 and 60% and between 30 and 40% of patients respectively. The biphasic mesothelioma consists of cells with epithelial and sarcomatoid form. Sort mesothelioma tumors with this type is useful for diagnosis and for predicting the survival rate. For example, epithelial tumors respond better to treatment as there is evidence of increased survival and mixed tumors usually have an intermediate response to treatment

Features sarcomatoid mesothelioma

Sarcomatoid mesothelioma is one of the three histological subtypes mesothelioma Histopathologically studying tissue characteristics of damaged cells, is a diagnostic tool for different types of cancer, including mesothelioma.

Only between 10 and 20% of cases are diagnosed as sarcomatoid mesothelioma, the rest are epithelial or biphasic. These cancer terms used to distinguish the appearance of the cells under the microscope and categorize them according to cell shape and structure.

The sarcomatoid cells are named for their resemblance to sarcoma cells. The structure of these cells is similarly stretched and a spindle. These cells normally overlap to a fibrous and random pattern. Since these cells to fibrosarcomas or soft tissue tumors are similar, it is usually difficult to diagnose as sarcomatoid mesothelioma

Symptoms of sarcomatoid mesothelioma

Symptoms patients who initially present may include:

Trouble breathing
Chest pain
Pain when coughing
Lumps under the skin
An unexplained weight loss
Once there has been exposure to asbestos, symptoms may be delayed between 20 and 50 years to appear.

Diagnosing the disease
The diagnosis of mesothelioma can take many forms. A history of asbestos exposure, if known, is considered very useful for diagnosis. Saliva samples and lung may be examined to determine a concentration of fibers than normal asbestos. Pleural effusion is a liquid that forms around the damaged lungs, can be examined for signs of malignancy. A more effective but more invasive form may be what is called thoracoscopy, which involves sampling a biopsy of the pleural cavity using an endoscope and then execute a definitive number of histological methods in said sample.

Since cells apparently do look to other diseases like lung sarcomatoid carcinoma, immunohistochemical data is imperative to distinguish sarcomatoid mesothelioma from other spindle-shaped cells and other diseases. Sarcomatoid mesothelioma cells are positive keratin meaning antiqueratinos react with antibodies that are used during the sampling

Treating Disease
Treatment usually consists of combining chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Since the diagnosis of mesothelioma usually occurs in stage III or later, the goal of treatment typically focus on prolonging patient survival and improve their quality of life.

The ratio of incidence of mesothelioma in the USA is about 0.97 per 100,000 between 1973 and 1999. Between 2,000 and 3,000 new cases are discovered each year

references:
American Cancer Society
American Society of Clinical Oncology

Posted by Alfiansyah

Tweet